The SweetVinyl Sugarcube SC-1 Mini

This is a guest post by Scott Wilson of The Pressing Matters and Co-Host of Audiophilia’s Everything Classical Music Livestream. Welcome Scott, and thank you.

Audiophiles are a curious group. We love to debate the merits of tubes vs transistors, analog vs digital, and if a $20,000 speaker cable is that much better than a hardware store zip cord. Yet I can't recall a device that provokes such an extreme reaction as the Sweetvinyl Sugarcube.

The Sweetvinyl Sugarcube products all share one core function: removing clicks and pops when playing back vinyl records. While this may seem a noble ideal, where people get concerned is with how this function is performed. The Sugarcube does this by converting the analog signal to digital, where the software removes any clicks or pops before converting it back to analog. That it can do this flawlessly isn’t really in question. The many demonstrations and both professional and user reviews have attested to that. What seems to get under people's skin is the idea of introducing a digital process in what should be an all-analog experience.

The idea of click-and-pop removal is nothing new. Devices and software to deal with this have been around since the 1970s. Units from SAE, Marantz, and others had limited degrees of success with this. Programs like Click Repair are used today for this same function. However, it wasn't until the Sugarcube arrived that it could be done so transparently and conveniently in one compact component.

I first took a look at the Sugarcube SC-1 Mini in 2021 when I was able to borrow one for review on my YouTube channel, The Pressing Matters. In the several weeks I was allowed to audition it, I was suitably impressed, so much so that it was difficult to give the unit up when the day came to return it.

A year went by, and I couldn't get the Sugarcube out of my mind. I watched it go in and out of stock several times before I finally relented and bought the basic unit, the Sugarcube SC-1 Mini, which is the company's lowest price offering. While the upper models offer recording capability and other advanced features, I was solely interested in “on-the-fly” click-and-pop removal. The Sugarcube SC-1 Mini retails for USD 1500, which is not a small chunk of change.

Let's get the technical information out of the way, and I’ll give my experiences and observations living with the unit.

The Sugarcube SC-1 Mini is a solidly built yet rather ordinary-looking black box that removes clicks and pops from vinyl playback on the fly.

From the website:

“The SC-1 Mini incorporates all the technology and features of the revolutionary SC-1 Sugarcube in an integrated platform - all at a lower price.

The rear panel features gold-plated RCA connectors, a gigabit Ethernet port, and four USB-A connections. Inside, It has 192K/24 AKM AD/DA converters.

The front panel allows full control of the basic functions with push buttons, and the pairing function is integrated with the strength knob, while an LCD provides status information.

The SC-1 Mini’s flawless ‘Click & Pop Removal’ process benefits from the latest algorithm updates with version 2.0 software. The iOS and Android apps and web interface provide remote control of ‘Click & Pop Removal’ and ‘Analog Bypass’.”

You might argue that most of your records are click-and-pop-free. A good percentage of mine are, too, and for these records, one can simply switch to bypass mode for the original signal to emerge without correction. The only difference would be an extra pair of interconnects in the path. Yet what if one has a large collection of vintage and used LPs that have more than the occasional tick or pop?

I collected most of my vintage classical and pop records during the great vinyl record purge, and although I clean my records on a vacuum-based machine, they still don't provide perfect playback, and I, for one, appreciate a perfect playback experience.

Specifications

-2.0 Click and Pop Algorithm

-192/24 Bit AKM AD-DA Processing

-Analog Bypass

-Adjustable Removal Strength

-Click & Pop Removal Monitor

-Gold Plated RCA Interconnects

-Front Panel Pairing

-IOS and Android Web Apps

-LCD Front Panel Display

-USB-A and Ethernet Ports

-Compact Size

-Excellent Build Quality

My Use

Installation was simple: just plug the power transformer into an outlet, place the unit after the phono stage, and use interconnects to a line-level input on the preamp or integrated amp. There are several other ways to connect as well. The three buttons are bypass, repair, and monitor. The repair mode is adjustable via a knob, with levels from 1-10, with a recommended level of 5. For my needs, I found 3 to be enough to remove anything objectionable. The third button is called monitor and lets you hear only what is being removed in real-time.

I recently received a gift of about 25 vintage classical titles from a friend. Great labels like EMI, Decca, and Lyrita were among the offerings, and many were very rare. They had been previously cleaned on a VPI, but as I always do, any record coming into my house gets cleaned on my VPI 16.5. Results were good, with no obvious damage but some minor annoyances throughout the group. I then played the records back through the Sugarcube with my preferred setting of 3. The result was pristine sound, with no discernable impact on the music. It was as if you were back in 1961 and had just opened a new record, only better.

How could I say “only better?” Well, I don't know about you, but I've never taken to the notion that an occasional crackle adds to the allure of vinyl. Sure, it's an imperfect medium. However, there's more at play here. With the Sugarcube performing its magic, I was able to let go of my analytical listening and focus squarely on the performance and engineering, knowing that the experience would not be interrupted by the dreaded click or pop. This is a freedom that I found addicting. Once experienced, it's difficult to imagine listening any other way.

I decided to get to the main concern I had with this unit. Is it truly transparent? To test this, I first played some mint records in bypass and switched back and forth to the repair mode. I even upped the processing to the suggested level of 5, which should be more aggressive. Listening carefully, I noticed no shaving off of high-frequency air and no reduction of soundstage. The analog sound I love was evident to the point where the two signals were virtually indistinguishable.

Next, I took a somewhat compromised record and did the same. It was so close as to be a wash. There was an almost imperceptible loss of the highest frequencies, but then again, it wasn't an issue that I would hear under real-world listening. The benefits were so overwhelmingly positive in regards to the repaired signal I can't see how anyone could prefer the uncorrected signal, golden ears or not.

Summary

I have often heard the argument, “Why not just listen to CDs or stream if you want perfect digital playback?” I think this misses the point that many of us love playing vinyl records, have large collections that we are not going to replace, and often enjoy particular masterings that are not available digitally. We like the album jackets and the focus we get when sitting down to play a favourite record. It's for these reasons I consider this component an essential tool in my vinyl playback arsenal and one that I wouldn't care to be without. It has revitalized my passion for listening to my collection in a way I couldn't have imagined.

Further information: SweetVinyl