Reviewing the HumminGuru Record Cleaner FINALLY! 

Excellent review (the only one on RU-vid for the Humminguru worth watching thus far). I received my HG about a week ago (Melbourne Australia). So far, I have cleaned five 12" records, 4 were purchased new (ranging from 40 -10 years old but reasonably well looked after) and one was a used 70's record in reasonable condition. I ran a couple using only distilled water (DW) and 3 with 1:200 dilution of Kodak PhotoFlo wetting agent I use for film development (I know that contravenes the warranty!). I used a 5 min US & 10 min dry. For the DW only runs I had to run an extra 5 min of drying time to completely remove all water drops but the wetting agent improved drying times so 10 min was enough. My preliminary observations are that all the records came out pretty clean (by visual inspection) and with eliminated static. They all seemed to sound better after the wash. Quieter and improved detail (both upper and lower frequencies). Most noticeably, the sound was more "relaxed" and the 3D soundstage definitely improved. If I had to, I would say the Photoflo treatment gave slightly improved effects over the DW only-but wasn't a huge difference sonically. Overall, I'm pleased with the performance of the HG for its cost. Any really dirty records I would likely do a pre-clean, but if you have a reasonably maintained collection I think it's fine and very convenient (my spin clean sits in the cupboard unused for ages!). I have ordered some GrooveWasher G-sonic and Tergikleen and look forward to testing these specialist record cleaning agents when they arrive. In the meantime, the PhotoFlo is my go to wash for the HG. I'm happy with the purchase so far-but time may tell.

Was looking forward to this one and you didn’t disappoint.

Thanks for the video. Great job. I received mine yesterday and have cleaned 3 reasonably noisy records. I compared the results to my former system with a SpinClean. The HG did a markedly better job, for me. The records were quieter though, as you noted, they came out needing a another spin and light micro cloth wipe for a couple of drops still on the record. But they played fine with almost no pops or groove grunge I’m happy with the purchase so far.

Thank you for this very comprehensive review!!

Amazing work as always!

Thanks for a great review of the machine. I did go for the DeGritter and I'm very happy with it. Cheers for this!

Amazing review!! Thanks

@The Vinyl Attack! .... Totally spot on review ... Thank You!

Very much appreciate your input I’m holding off buying

Super glad that you did this review as I was very tempted to get one. That said, I would love to see you do an end-to-end budget record cleaning video that covers the basics.

THANK YOU very much for this! So glad there finally is an in depth review of this machine. I almost took the bait when they were in the kickstarter process but I had just purchased an unltrasonic machine and a Record Doctor VI (for drying) so I decided to pass on it. You commented that it is not fair to compare a $450 (+/-) machine to a 3 thousand dollars one but I say it is fair because essentially, Humminguru claims to do just as good as the others. I think, based on your review and some others, that the Humminguru is good for brand new records or slightly dirty ones - but for records that you get from a thrift store, or ebay, this will not be good enough and you'd need to put the good old elbow grease into it.

Excellent review. GO BLUE

I think I’m glad I bought my Degritter, and didn’t wait for this. Great review!

Great review! I’m very happy with mine. I know it voids the warranty, but I use a tiny amount of Spin Clean fluid which helps an incredible amount! I’ll likely get iSonic fluid. I’ve taken to removing the record and giving it a quick wipe dry with a microfiber cloth before it air dries and it always comes out perfectly dry in 5 min. Just a time saving thing. Overall it’s everything I’d hoped for.

I made the same experiences. Given the price I'm okay with the performance of the HG. Thanks for this great test. I would recommend it (the video and the Hummin Guru).

Best review yet on the Humminguru. I have the Humminguru. I also have a wet/vacuum cleaner. I have new and others records bought from charity shops and ebay. All my records were already cleaned using a wet cleaning option. I used the Humminguru with a surfactant initially and later with the degritter cleaning fluid (0.7ml for a Humminguru tank). I found audio test results were that bass instruments were better resolved and there was more information retrieved as well. I only used the 5 minute clean/dry cycle. Yes the records were not fully dry. I think for the UK price of about £360 including shipping this is good addition to my record cleaning options. My T/T is a LP12 with Keel, Ekos SE, Karousel, Kystal MC and Avid Pulses phone pre-amp.

I just purchase one and received it rather quickly. Big plus. I’ve also just finished cleaning all of my LPs with a Okki Nokki machine. At this point I’m hoping that the Huminguru gets what I may have missed on the smallest of particulates. It is a bit of work but I think well worth it in the long run of musical bliss. Thank you for a wonderfully detailed review.

Ah- the timing of that shirt is most interesting! And so is this video! I’ve been waiting for your review of this for close to a year now. I just received my Humminguru today and cleaned 5 albums with it. I only wish I had a Degritter to compare it to. My plan is to do an initial clean using my Project VCE Cleaning machine followed by this device. I do think cleaning solutions make a difference and those formulas will be used on the Project with a follow up with distilled water in the Humminguru. Your test with dust was valid although I would always do a manual clean before ultrasonic in a real-world situation. Results for me varied because not all of mine had my precleaning routine. It comes down to my expectations: I don’t expect perfection from any cleaning machine- only improvement. A difference I noted was that my records were completely dry after the default “double” cycle.

Very fair review. I’m loving mine, but do understand it to be a low power ultrasonic cleaner. I use mine in conjunction with a soft camel hair shaving brush and get amazing results. One quick 2 minute clean only, run over the camel hair brush on both sides then put it into a full auto clean. Haha writing this as I’m listening to your final words :) and you then suggest my solution :) great minds, and all that… 😂

Thank you for the excellent review, and I really appreciate the USB microscope shots because that's something I was really curious about. I actually received one of the first HumminGuru units and I've cleaned about 30 records with it so far. My results are 100% consistent with yours - a record with hair, dust, bits of paper from the sleeve comes out with the detritus more evenly distributed across the surface. Hair is especially difficult for the Humminguru and you're pretty much stuck having to manually remove it otherwise it will survive many wash cycles. I also noticed that in some cases, the record doesn't emerge from the water wet - it looks dry as a bone. Other times there is clearly water in the grooves; I have no idea what's going on. I thought that it was because I had used the same water several times and perhaps it had less oxygen in it from being agitated by the transducers, but this happens even with fresh water. The drying cycle is extremely frustrating because it leaves HUGE water droplets on the record surface and as you pointed out, you could run the drying cycle as long as you want and they will never dry. And no matter how lint-free your cloth is, you will always leave some fibers behind when you dab those droplets - super frustrating. I decided to try using it in conjunction with my spin clean by first cleaning with the spin clean and then rinsing/drying with the HumminGuru. That works well, but, I can't help but feel that I could achieve the same results with a second spin clean (which I typically do) and air drying. The only thing the HumminGuru does is automate the clean cycle and "sort of" dry the record, and is that worth nearly $400? I don't think so. I'll still use it because it does work and I've already paid for it, but if I had it all to do over again I'd put that $400 in the Degritter fund.

You're very good at making videos, I bought the Kirmuss ultrasonic cleaner.

Great review. Might wait for v 2.0 👍

I knew I was in a good spot when I seen the Block M. Great video Go Blue!

Has anyone found a right angle adapter for the jack that plugs into the unit? The cord sticking straight out of the side is making me crazy.

Very interesting! And thanks for adding centigrades!

Thanks for the video. And, Go Blue!

Another great video! I’m kinda glad I fought the urge to buy one. For now I’ll stick with my Record Doctor.

I'm using a HG and put two cycles through it and it really does clean records well. Very happy. I like to clean record physically with spin clean (or similar) prior to HG so no issues with debris in the tank.

Hey Chris! I decided and pulled the trigger for the DEGRITTER. I placed the order last week. Cheers bud! JC/Miami

Thanks for the video. I have had mine for about a week and I am not disappointed in my purchase. Maybe it’s about expectations. I never figured that the HG would perform anywhere near as good as the Degritter. But there was no way I was going to spend 3-4k to clean my records.

I was wondering if you tried adding anything to the water such as the HuminGuru small bottle fluid or any “G” fluid drops as others have?

I just purchased a HumminGuru, if for nothing else as a good rinse after a manual liquinox/citranox/tergikleen scrub. The documentation doesn't specify but it's standard practice to degas the water beforehand. I wonder if that would have helped the dust test results?

Got HumminGuru in Australia this week. I had a new reissued 2022 Ozzy Osbourne No More Tears LP and side 3 was unplayable. First record I cleaned was the Side 3 & 4. Distilled water and 2 drops of Kodak Photo-Flo 200 solution and 10 min clean/dry cycle. Then another 5 min clean/dry cycle with only Distilled water. Wow it has brought side 3 back to life. Great machine for the price. Would recommend.

Good review, definitely making me think twice about this device. Looks to me, like they need a ver2, to fix these issues.

GREAT! 👌

It’s exactly what we paid for. I’ll still use my Loricraft, but all in all, it’s not bad! Great review! Also, add more water than the measuring marks on the reservoir suggest, I think a lot of the dust you see is coming from the uncleaned runout grooves during the interminable drying cycle. I air dried a bunch and it was definitely better. The air filter is pretty weak.

Great review - lots of stuff to think about. I'm expecting to do a little hand drying but I live in arid Boise so it shouldn't be too bad. What are your thoughts on the Granbo Ultra Sonic Cleaner ($600) and how it compares to the Humminguru. Which one would you choose out of the two?

Thanks for the video, Chris! This video is very timely, as I received my HumminGuru today. I’ve only cleaned 3 or four records, but I came away with many of the same conclusions. On a newer record, I did notice an improvement in sonics. But on an OG copy of Pink Floyd Relics, which was well loved in its day according to my neighbor who gave it to me. It was pretty crunchy. The HG made some modest improvements in crunchiness, but never as clean as I have seen with the Degritter that I’ve been fortunate to use at a local audio shop. I guess, for the money, it was worth it, but I am slightly disappointed, as I hoped it would be a giant killer.

Thank you for taking the time to test and review this unit. It seems that if there will be a v. 2, they will need to address some of the issues. The fact that it leaves so much particulates on the record after the wash/dry cycle is not very encouraging to me. It would be interesting to compare it with a general purpose US cleaner like the VEVOR Commercial Ultrasonic Cleaner 6L with record bracket which together costs almost the same.

Great review, as usual! By chance I bought and tested my first cleaning machine last sunday, the Pro-Ject VC-S (used, but in apparently good working order). I had thought to complement liquid cleaning with ultrasonic cleaning, and it seems I wasn't the only one! Perhaps in the near future. A side issue: were the noise measurements you made in dBC rather than dBA for some special reason? Normally "A" filter measurements have a better relationship with the typical auditory sensation, and "C" filter gives additional weight to the low frequencies (which in this case shouldn't have much influence, quite the contrary).

2 questions please. What about using their clearner they sell? Also, would warming up the water a bit help at all?

$3000 ITEM VS $300 ITEM .... GREAT REVIEW, THANK YOU! I JUST GOT ONE TODAY, I HAVEN'T OPENED THE BOX YET.....

Really informative. I have been using a DIY ultrasonic setup for about 4 years so I will compare results when I get my Humminguru (Christmas is coming…). If it does a half decent job then it looks like good value.

Can anyone recommend a table in the $200 range? I listen to extreme metal and punk on the thing so I don’t need perfect sound. It will go into a nos onkyo with dedicated phone input. Thanks

Great review! Does anyone use Matto brush for vinyl cleaning? I think I will give it a shot. More bristles the better result? I think I will try on some cheap vinyl.

Thanks for the video! Ironically it did verify my decision on the HumminGuru, as the differences in regards to other machines seem to be more quantitative than qualitative. I've been looking for something to speed up my cleaning process (manual cleaning and rinsing on an old turntable + Record Doctor V), which just took too long to accomodate other aspects of life. I'm still using the RD V to vacuum off any dust and dirt that might've been loosened but not removed by the HG. After that the records get an additional short drying cycle to completely dry them off (this solved another problem I had, because the vacuum always left some humidity behind). I'm very happy, but I also don't subject extremely dirty records to the HG. If they may arise, I'll get out the old gear first. That being said, I often do come across very dusty albums, and the combination of HG and RD really work wonders with these, even on a single cleaning cycle.

did you add a small amount of wetting agent to the distilled water?

Which brand from harbor frieght did you get.

Degritter all day imo, best vinyl audio purchase I’ve made all year. Short term finance it if you have to, I have over 1100 cycles on my machine and still works like a dream.

Good review. Seems pretty fine for the price.

Gotta say, I haven't had any of the same issues with dust on my unit. My guess is that it's related to airborne dust + the extended drying cycle producing static charge on the record. You also didn't mention that the Degritter and the Harbor Freight have tank volumes 4x and 7x that of the Humminguru, respectively. I wouldn't expect the HG to require the same number of transducers or the same active wattage to energize a much smaller amount of water.

I have the HumminGuru and I can't say I have experienced some of the issues you have laid out, but I also live in Arizona so a different climate/atmosphere may make a difference. One thing that may make a difference for you is to first clean the record with a Spin Clean and then put it though a 5 minute cycle. By doing that combination, the end result has been comparable or better than any of the other four figure ultra sonic cleaners I have tried by themselves. I am not a chemist, but I think the addition of cleaning with the spin clean solution (flocculating agent) not only gets the bigger pieces of dirt off but it would seem that it also acts as something similar to a surfactant and allows the bubbles to be more effective. Give that a shot.

I wonder if using the cleaning fluid that comes with the Degritter would benefit the HumminGuru? I know the manual says to not use any additives, but I am curious.

If someone is pretty new to vinyl and wants a way to clean their records would you recommend this over a spin clean or other more manual process? Even though the HumminGuru doesn't seem perfect it does seem more automated/easy to operate.

I've owned my HumminGuru now for about 3 weeks and cleaned about a dozen 12" LPs. I largely agree with this review and appreciate his microscopic look at the albums. With the naked eye, this clearly cleans dirty albums with the distilled water alone. I found that adding a few drops of Spin Clean cleaning fluid, which I believe is just a very mild dishwashing soap to the ~cup of water in the HumminGuru, made a huge difference in the resulting clean. What I found was that the water alone didn't remove used album finger prints. This makes sense, as the dishwashing soap reduces the surface tension and removes the oils making the cleaning process much better (visually with the naked eye) in my experience The part that I am perhaps the least happy with is the drying process. I consistently had a few & very small drops on both sides of the LP thus requiring the use of a drying cloth. All in all, given that is is 1/6th the cost of a degritter, it seems like a wonderful value. I would buy it again but it does require more participation in the cleaning process than the degritter which in my experience is mostly a hands off process.

"brandnew Pantera record" got my instant sub :D

Thanks for the video. Ill keep my iSonic.

Interesting. I've been using a Kirmuss with surfactant for some time. I'm happy with it but I'm a big believer in a final ultra pure water rinse and the 2 gal reservoir in the kirmuss is just too large so I've been using a vacuum type cleaner to apply and remove the pure water. This quite small reservoir would allow me to do an ultra pure water rinse with the cavitation effect. It's a clean record at that point so I'm really just using it to get the rinse deep into the grooves, not cleaning it per se. Any thoughts?

Infotaining as usual. Would be interesting to see a head to head comparison of the HumminGuru and a similarly priced vacuum style.

HAIL!!!

You testing methodology is really good. And the detailed delivery of the data gathered by said mthodology is greatly appreciated. Well done, thanks, and keep up the good work.

Hi guys, I have had mine for about 4 months now. At first I thought it was doing a great job but now I don’t think it is cleaning or drying very well. I use 2 minute and 10 minute cycle with a dash of cleaning fluid humming guru recommends. I have lots of gunk on My needle after playing a cleaned record. Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you

I’ve been waiting for this. Thank you! (Also I’m going to slurp my channel it’s new - music only)

I ordered a vevor system about 2 months ago for a little over 200 dollars and it works great

Thanks for this! It was really helpful even if sadly discouraging. I was really hoping to find an affordable all-in-one cleaning unit that I could set and forget. We're not there yet apparently.

Thanks for the review. I think ill put my 400 toward the Degritter.

I purchased a ultrasonic cleaner with LP kit for $300 (Amazon). It cleans 7 LPs at one time. Its awesome and works great. I have purchased used LPs covered it dirt and grime and once cleaned it looked almost new. Best thing I have ever purchased for my LP collection.

Thanks Chris....you just saved me some $$$, time and possibly aggravation. Keep it 100!

Hi, quick question, I Am interested to buy A humminguru or a Pro-Ject VC-S2. I can buy the Pro-Ject for 350 euro and the HG will be around 450-500 euro including all extra cost. Is the HG worth the extra investment?

I know it's 2 years later, but I'm curious if you used just distilled water or have you tried it again with a surfactant like HumminGuru's or GrooveWasher? BTW -- the HG does have a thermal shut-off if the water exceeds a pre-determined temp.

Now theu are 500 now. Would you say the Vevor is on par?

Go Blue!!

Hi Michigander from Grand Rapids. I tried to use the record adapter with my HG for 33’s and I can’t get that to fit. The adapter for the 45’s works though. So I am running it without the adaptor on the 33’s at the moment. Weird

Very informative. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and impressions of various equipment, it really helps people make a more informed decision to purchase or not. Still not a fan of the cuts, but your content is worth it. Also GO BLUE! What a game. I am originally from Michigan but now find myself living behind enemy lines in Ohio.

I have one of these on the way...no clue when it will ever get here, so, I'm curious... Since you also own the sweet Degritter, do you have an opinion of additives to the water? I've read people actually putting isopropyl in the water, which seems like an insane thing to do. Back to the question, are you strictly water or do you add, maybe a surfactant of some kind, detergent...? Nice video, man 👍

Hey Chris! How are ya! This may be a bit wordy, my apologies in advance. First of all…great video and go Wolverines! I’ve had it up to HERE with Ohio State winning year after year. This is supposed to be a rivalry for crissakes, but I digress. I think if one already owns a Degritter at this time, not much else in Ultrasonicville is going to compare very favorably…especially with something that’s $2,500.00 cheaper. That’s a big drop which means that the letdown is generally inevitable in most cases. Let’s be honest. It’s like owning a 2009 Ferrari 599 GTO and then driving a Saturn….they are both cars, they both have 4 wheels, they both have engines, they both have brakes, radios and speakers, seats, AC, Heat and windows but… Exactly. Having said all of that I cannot see myself buying the Humminguru as the issues that were pointed out in this video would be big issues for me at $430.00. Some, I’m sure will be very happy with it which is fine. But I’ll pass. You get what you pay for. On the flip side I cannot spend $3,000.00 on a Degritter. In my opinion the price is ridiculous and frankly speaking, I don’t have nearly enough records to justify such an investment anyway. Most of my stuff is CD and digital downloads, records is more of a side hobby of mine. I enjoy all of the formats for different reasons, but I don’t plan on duplicating all of my CD’s with vinyl. At over 1,200 that would cost me a king’s ransom. So what have I been using to clean my records? I’m the proud owner & operator of a Record Doctor VI in a Carbon Fiber wrap which makes it look like a 2021 Chevy Corvette if it were a rectangular box with four small feet instead of wheels. Which also means that my Record Doctor looks like it’s moving even though it’s stand still….😜 My results from the Record Doctor VI cleaning machine have been quite excellent in my opinion. It’s cleaned new and used vinyl (even vinyl from the 1950’s) quite masterfully. At $299 I can’t recommend it enough to those on a budget or simply against spending a LOT of money. The trick with the Record Doctor, for me, is using a very good quality record cleaning fluid. (The “Record Doctor” brand fluid is good but “TM-8 Super Record Cleaning Fluid” is much better based on my observations) Having said all of that, as is the usual with your channel, you delivered another great video with down-to-earth entertainment, transparency, fairness, and as always great critical thinking. And THAT is called Integrity which is why I keep coming back here. Well done Sir!

Thanks for the video, I will stick with my vacuum RCM

I had several records from "The World's Great Music", among them Bizet's "Carmen Suite."

Next step is running the machine with various concoctions to see if one could achieve better results than distilled water. Surfactants and detergents might help.

Gave a thumbs up just for the Michigan shirt. Go Blue. I'd give another one if I could for the content.

Great video… I questioned a lot, but never thought to question the very “ultrasonic-ness” of the HumminGuru, glad we can put that to rest. Otherwise, very close to my conclusion too. There’s a lot to like about the overall package and product approach, but just ain’t got the goods to effectively and reliably clean an average collection. Especially when used as directed.

Seems like this would pair well with a Spin Clean or similar product, where you do the initial cleaning that way to get the obvious surface dust and particulates off, and then run it through the HummingGuru as a second pass, to make sure that it gets cleaner than the first method will allow. I could see investing in this in that scenario, as it's WAY cheaper than spending thousands on the DeGritter, and far more automated and convenient than buying my own off the shelf cavitation machine, and trying to rig up my own configuration.

Great review! I’m surprised more hi fi producers don’t have you give reviews on their products....your so honest and in-depth on your testing,I really appreciate that! Your reviews either help me save or spend my money on this hobby! Gotta love it man.....Go Blue!

I notice you mentioned the Harbor Freight ultrasonic. Have you used one of those to clean records? At 84 bucks I’m really curious.

Gee thanks...now I am lusting after a Degritter. 😮I am ruined, just cannot settle for an ok product when I know there is something A LOT better and more effective to be had. However, a divorce would cost me quite a bit more, so I will wait, and lust. A BIG "Thank you" for taking the time to make and edit these video's. I find them very helpful as I get back into it. Resurrecting my old electronics/records from the mid 70's has been fun. My missing Zerostat led me here. I always wondered if that thing actually worked, all my friends laughed and doubted it. Now I know

I understand that using water only gave only ok results, but is there going to be any follow up using surfactant, or using a technique similar to what Kirmuss recommends?

Mine is due to ship to Oz any day now, and my expectation is that it performs a bit better then my SpinClean, without all the effort that that involves. I'm happy to pay the cost just so I don't have to go through the whole process of setting up the SpinClean and manually turning all the 4 for $10 records that my wife buys at the local record fairs, or to clean the few brand new albums I occasionally get.

Some people stick to vacuums but I feel the there has to be material embedded that benefits from being loosened by a liquid, let alone ultrasonic. Any thoughts?

what about using our own home made cleaning concoction (that i use for my manual cleaning)

Wetter and surfactant is key!! Promotes cleaning and drying... 🙂

Ultrasound cleans in layers so it's important that the record looks clean before using ultrasonics in order that the grooves be cleaned. Otherwise you need to do prolonged, or multiple shorter, cycles for the bubbles to clean inside the grooves, as you discovered.

I was excited for this cleaner but haven't seen one review that said it did a phenomenal job. All have said that it works good but not great.

Go blue!

So what was the issue the first time y'all tried to Mich, that y'all had to Michigan?

You should know that any physical dirt or scuffs visible on top of the record needs to wipe it off with a micro cloth first. After that, that’s when you put in the ultrasonic cleaner.

Nice review. I've been think of adding an ultrasonic to my cleaning regimen. Right now I use an Okki Nokki with L'Art du Son for the first pass and distilled water for the second pass. Then final air dry in a wire rack. I'm thinking it might make sense to do a vacuum clean first with surfactant, and then put it in the Humminguru. That would only add about 2 mins to the process, get most of the big gunk and save doing the 2nd ultrasonic wash. One thing that does not get stressed enough is that dirt/dust is not the cause of ALL noise problems on discs. Poor pressings, rough handling, and stylus wear all make a huge difference. New records can sound terrible and visually awful used records can sound surprisingly good despite their outward appearance. I think the goal should be "much better" not "perfection". Also, the brain is a really effective filter for getting rid of surface noise. After a while, I might not care about some noise if the music's really good.

I have an original Nitty Gritty Cleaning machine. It does a fabulous job quickly. When they are fairly clean I will just use Last cleaner and if I am storing I use the Last preserver solution. I guess by now my nitty gritty would be classified an antique. Oh yea......Go Blue!

Techmoan has a fairly in depth review of this unit that’s a great supplement to this video and well worth a watch

I think I'll stick with my vinyl vac setup. A little more involved perhaps but much less time involved overall.

I've seen good results with adding the Mobile Fidelity Super Record Wash to the distilled water.