Although all of the above are benefits, there is one significant downside. And that is even small dust particles are picked up by the laser and these results in more pops and scratch noise. In a traditional player, the stylus naturally plows small dust and other debris out of the way so that it never shows up in the actual audio playback. This unfortunately is not the case with a laser turntable. What the laser sees is what you get at audio output. Much of this can be mitigated by cleaning records well before playback but there will always be some natural dust that is on the surface of the record.
I won't talk to much in the overall audio performance of the player as I have already done that in other posts but it is very transparent. I really enjoy this transparency but the extra superfluous surface noise is not welcome. I explored potential options to try and mitigate this issue. Possibly the best known and reputable options are the click remover gear made by SugarCube. These have gotten very good reviews but come at a substantial monetary cost. I wasn't prepared to make such a substantial investment on this pursuit and unfortunately the units seldom come up for sale on the used market, and when they do, not at a very significant discount. A slightly lesser known hardware option is the Parks Audio Puffin phono preamp. Although not specifically designed for LP audio artifact removal, it does have this option. I was able to get one of these units at a good price and decided to take the plunge.
The first thing I did once I received the unit was to update the firmware. This is done via unscrewing the front screws which exposes the micro-controller board which has a micro usb port. Via this method I was able to load the latest firmware version. It was a relatively easy process. Despite having to access the internals for updating (as there is no external port), the update was quick and the entire process including disassembly and reassembly took me less than 10 minutes.
With the unit updated and ready for play, I connected it to my system for some playback trials. It took some playing with the settings to get the best performance. One nice thing about the puffin is that it has tons of options and characteristics like gain can be adjusted on the fly in 1 db increments. It has many equalizer and audio manipulation functions. The function that I of course was interested in was the surface noise remover.
I listened to a number of LP's while alternating this noise reduction function on and off. Again, it was very convenient to be able to turn this on and off in real-time without having to stop the playing. The unit functions on an on/off button, a toggle wheel, and a selector button. Very easy and quick to operate and move between different functions. I should also note that the gain can also be adjusted on the fly which makes finding the ideal gain level very easy. Most adjustable phono preamps you have to play music, turning everything off, change dip switches, rinse and repeat to find the optimal settings are not present. All adjustments are on the fly with the music actively playing.
After extensive play, I found the results to be pleasing. It certainly did not alleviate all the extra surface noise but it reduce it significantly. I would say a good 80% reduction. I did not notice any over distortion introduced while the setting was on vs off. I presume the more aggressive these kinds of filters are, the greater the risk of it influencing the actual audio signal. A careful balance must be maintained of noise reduction but not interfering with the innate recording.
My conclusion was that the audio sounded better overall with the noise reduction enabled. In essence, it does what it is supposed to do and does it well. It is a big advantage that it can accomplish these things at a very attractive 3 figure cost. Again, in comparison, the SugarCube's are multiple times the cost.
If I compare the sound to my current heavily modified Jolida JD9 phono preamp it is hard to say. The JD9 is a tube based phono pre and I have come to really like the sound. I generally really like the sound of tubes (I'm sure the reason behind my infatuation with CJ) so I think my personal preference is for the JD9 vs the purely digital Puffin. I have elected to keep both units in my system and it has been fun to listen to the same record on both preamps. Perhaps the best way to describe it is "different, but not necessarily better or worse." I will say that on a very noisy record, the Puffin is definitely going to have the upper hand.
As I mentioned, I was very impressed by the performance and at such a reasonable cost, it is viable to keep both phono preamps in the system. And that is exactly what I intend to do. For anybody that is interested in reducing surface noise on the LPs, looking for a versatile phono preamp that will work with any cartridge, and will not break the bank, I would recommend this as a very good option.
https://www.parksaudiollc.com/puffinsupport.html
