Zerodust vs Magic Eraser

Magic Eraser vs Zerodust (or Equivalent) vs Liquids


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  • Poll closed .
The stylus does not pass through the fibers that make up an ME. Yes. With sufficient force, the hooked stylus can pull out of the cantilever, or the cantilever can be bent or pulled out of the holder. You may do with your equipment as you wish. I do not recommend wiping the stylus across one. There are much safer tools for wiping.

Rich P
 
Suit yourself but I just showed you a microscope image of a stylus wiped with ME. Do you see anything dangerous? Do you get a notion of anything dangerous? Does it look harmed? Did the tip fell off? What exactly is "dangerous"???

No need for snark - different strokes for different folks and all that. BUT since you asked, here's why I don't use Magic Eraser:

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It's a melamine matrix with plasticy strands that look ready, willing and able to snag a stylus or fragile cantilever. Glad it's working well for you. It certainly appeared to give your cart a good scrub based on the pictures you posted! :thumbsup:
 
If the stylus dips deep enough into the matrix for the corners of the cantilever to get snagged, there is danger. I need to verify it, but I do not believe that the stylus penetrates more than up to a typical diamond bonding point (1/2 the stylus shank). I will verify that for my own sense of safety. Remember that the active part of the stylus is really the tiniest part of the very tip.

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
A little Joy Dishwashing Liquid (biodegradable and no sulfates) and distilled water (no minerals) and nothing remains on the vinyl. I am thinking about using a thin lambskin shami.
 
Yes, the urea formaldehyde matrix looks scary enough - true. but let's put things into proportion.

Some proportions one needs to look at and what Rich is getting at, you wouldn't do what your doing with a $1000 Boron tip MC cartridge the same as a steal $15 stylus. Boron will snap very very easily and not even give you the gift of bending. Then the stylus your doing that to is just steal in a tube mounted on a plastic mount. I would like to see you recommend that practice if you had a Boron tip MC nakid body cartridge with micro wires extremely close.

In fact when you have carts like this the less you handle them the better, so we would not be playing around cleaning and taking photos for a internet forum. Hell I hold my breath anytime I have to touch my carts to mount, and there is not much one can touch on them. You destroy a nakid body cart touching the sides and most don't have a guard for the stylus.

If you notice in threads like this, the members that have expensive carts will not use something not designed for proper care of a cartridge.

24517668-origpic-8ba0ca.jpg Sumiko_Blackbird_1.jpg kaitora_rua.gif xv1.gif kaitora.gif 512lyra.promo_.jpg
 
Granted, a diamond is harder than the melamine matrix. However, the way that the diamond is attached is not as hard as diamond. Neither is a fine cantilever. If you are advocating dragging a stylus across the surface of a Magic Eraser there is no possible benefit for me to engage you further. You paid for the stylus/cartridge. You may do whatever you want to do with it. However, for the benefit of others reading this thread, I am now, formally going on record as explicitly stating that such a practice is NOT wise, and NOT recommended.

I have been, and remain, an advocate of dipping a stylus in a Magic Erasure, as long as the stylus does not sink into the matrix more than 1/2-way up the shank of the stylus, when the dipping is done at the tracking weight of the mounted cartridge. I have always assumed that to be the case, but I will now verify that for myself. I always have my volume up when I dip, so as to hear any abuse of the stylus. The ME block should be held firmly, so that it does not move while the stylus is sunk into it. The headshell should be installed on the tonearm, and dipping is at tracking weight.

If what you wanted to do is to get my goat, you now have it. I give it to you. I cannot, in good conscience continue to participate in this exchange of wisdom, or lack of same. However, if you find yourself searching for your dislodged stylus, or feeling bad about a bent or twisted cantilever, you were warned.

I'm out.

Rich P
 
If you notice in threads like this, the members that have expensive carts will not use something not designed for proper care of a cartridge.

I wouldn't reproduce this on 1K$ boron cant MC cart because despite what 4-2-7 thinks, us commoners with the less expensive gear are not total morons.

You do what you want a do at your leisure and conduct any test you want for your own education.
It would be nice if you share with the rest of us too.

Some of us try to around here but with F-up attitudes like yours when the discussion goes past the level of gear another might own we get shity comments like this. Loose the envy please. When you get a clue in life you might be abel to communicate with others better. I'm really really burnt out with the attitude around here if someone has some quality equipment we get comments like the one you just made. I bet I have and own a lot less than say someone with a less costly system. However we all decide where we want to put our money in life, I made my choice so get over it.

Maybe Dave can reiterate it better than me...
Do you think AK is about vintage or cheap ?
If you do then you have the wrong web site. Its about a community who appreciates all audio and music.
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/do-you-think-ak-is-about-vintage-or-cheap.161400/
 
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my 2cents - ME works great on my cheapo AT cart, i am very careful with it...but what i wanted to say is that without scale, that picture of the ME fibres is kind of meaningless - all matter, even the densest materials we have here on earth are, on a molecular level, mostly empty space....the open spaces you see in that picture might be too small to catch the tip of the stylus, without the relative scale, you can't know for sure.
 
the open spaces you see in that picture might be too small to catch the tip of the stylus, without the relative scale, you can't know for sure.

True, the ME is dense, but when I tried it several years ago it left fibers on the stylus that had to be removed with a brush, and I went looking for an alternative I liked better.
 
True, the ME is dense, but when I tried it several years ago it left fibers on the stylus that had to be removed with a brush, and I went looking for an alternative I liked better.

hmm - i'm not even using a proper ME - i have the home depot knockoff....still it seems to work ok for the few times i've done it...although i dont have a jewler's loupe to examine it with.
 
hmm - i'm not even using a proper ME - i have the home depot knockoff....still it seems to work ok for the few times i've done it...although i dont have a jewler's loupe to examine it with.

I don't think dipping a stylus into a piece of "genuine" or generic ME does harm. I wouldn't pull it across the cantilever or stylus, but other than that, it's better than some of the stuff I've done to needles over the years.
 
Oh yes - I bet he could. I also bet he could do it without the spelling mistakes, in less than 15,000 posts, and not even need to quote any shit from SOTA. Glad you two are on first name basis here - that must make you a real pillar of community. Keep it up buddy.

Good by
 
I don't think dipping a stylus into a piece of "genuine" or generic ME does harm. I wouldn't pull it across the cantilever or stylus, but other than that, it's better than some of the stuff I've done to needles over the years.
oh, i'm not concerned....mostly because the bulk pack of knockoff MEs that i bought, and my turntable cartridge together cost about the same as a nice dinner.

Also that the humble magic erases has it's own AK acronym, ME, speaks volumes to its effectiveness.
 
The stylus does not pass through the fibers that make up an ME. Yes. With sufficient force, the hooked stylus can pull out of the cantilever, or the cantilever can be bent or pulled out of the holder. You may do with your equipment as you wish. I do not recommend wiping the stylus across one. There are much safer tools for wiping.

Rich P
I know someone who did this to a Benz Wood. Forgot he wasn't using a brush and went with a sweeping motion instead of a dip. End of stylus.
 
Good god....some of you would positively fill your pants if you saw me using one of those dollar store "sticky hands" things to dunk my stylus. :eek:

Of course, it's only a humble M7N21D and/or M3. Certainly not anything like those amazing carts 427 posted. How I'd LOVE to hear those. :idea:

Maybe one day.
 
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