Milty Zerostat Anti-Static Device, Plastic

Does a great job with static removal. I got it on sale for a great price. It's definitely worth owning if you're a vinyl lover, but maybe wait for a sale. Hint: The instructions it comes with aren't great. The real "trick" to using the Zerostat is to: 1) Point it at about 1/3rd of the album's surface 2) Hold down the trigger for a second or two 3) DON'T RELEASE THE TRIGGER! Instead, TURN the Zerostat AWAY from the album, and THEN RELEASE the trigger 4) Repeat twice more (for the other 2/3rds of the album side) That's basically what the instructions said to do when the Zerostat first came out in the 1970's. Dunno why the instructions changed, but I've personally found that the old way works best.

I was dubious about this product. But I kept seeing people talk about this product and how fantastic it is at removing static from a record's surface. When you think about it, it makes sense too. You are dragging a diamond through a PVC groove. Think of it like a static buildup and discharge when you touch someone. You get that audible *SNAP* as the electricity arcs from one subject to another. Now think about that on the surface of a record. A record that has a lot of static charge to it is going to transfer that charge into the needle. It's also going to make a sound. Then that sound is sent through a preamp, then an amplifier and then played through speakers. You are going to hear that, no doubt about it. So using this gun on a record prior to playing is going to remove that static. Then the only thing you need to worry about when it comes to snap crackle pops is dust in the groove, and that can be brushed out. An anti-static gun is even going to help you clean your records. The static is strong enough to not only attract dust into the grooves but the static will HOLD it there. So take the record out, shoot both sides of it a few times and then place it on the platter and give it a once-over with a brush and you're golden. Is it expensive? Yes it is. But it's the most important tool you'll have in your record cleaning arsenal, for the price.

You're going to feel so stupid every time you use this thing. As you SLOWLY (does anyone read directions?) pull the trigger back and then SLOWLY let it back out a few times while moving around the record and stylus you're going to remind yourself that you A) Look like a moron B) and Spent $80 on a toy gun that is using the same basic plastic molds and technology since the 70s. But heres the thing: It works. They sell these silly plastic things for $80 because the Milty really does remove a huge amount of static charge from your record and stylus. Especially if you dry clean before playing, the last thing you should be doing is hitting everything with 3 or 4 complete pulls. The pops and clicks are suddenly diminished greatly (depending on the source of course), clarity is enhanced a bit and your record isn't charged and collecting as much dust. I consider the Milty essential to use on every album after dry brushing. Expensive and loses a star because of the cheap plastic feel of the thing, but any vinylhead should be using one of these.

Given the chequered history of some early runs of this device, (one whose predecessor I originally bought last millennium) I've deliberately waited until mine had been in regular service for three months before granting it the above headline and that five star rating. I believe you'll find that a reading of my other reviews will confirm that my top "five star" rating is reserved EXCLUSIVELY for products that I sincerely feel 1) Represent value for money, 2) Wholly fulfil their intended purpose ...and... 3) Satisfy their target market... ...with NO reservations whatsoever. While it's certainly true to say that this is NOT a cheap item, I know of no other that performs this intended role as well as it does ...and I firmly believe that the key to its relative expense lies in item (3) above, ...the small size of that highly specialised target market. Sure, there's a whole galaxy of plastic-housed mass-produced items of far greater complexity out there ...and many of them do retail for far less... ...BUT... ...any one of those others can be guaranteed to sell in the millions, if not billions, whereas how many of us indeed exist who use items that can only have their successful operation restored by "squirting" a water-pistol like device at them to remove their destructive static build-up? Worldwide? Maybe some thousands. Possibly even tens of thousands. Not millions ...and CERTAINLY not billions. Although its operation is brilliantly intuitive, it's also true to say that the supplied instructions are a bit on the "sketchy" side, but for me, that's not enough to darken my fifth star. To my mind, just about their only key omission is any mention of aligning the "viewing hole" of the supplied "testing plug" so that the glow of its neon can actually be seen to confirm that the gun's "piezo-snapping" trigger mechanism is indeed delivering the static-zapping stream of ions required. For three full months now it has been, to the point where I feel it may be many years before I'll check again, ...probably only after (and if) I may feel that the response from one of my "targets" doesn't fully correspond with the superb performance that my new Milty ZeroStat gun has delivered so far.

Worked ok for about a year, and was only used occasionally on records because most of my music is from digital sources. Then suddenly the lever lost the normal firmness and could be pulled all the way back to the handgrip. It no longer made that slight sizzling sound when you squeeze the lever and the device stopped working completely. Pried it apart to see if it could be fixed. It is not user serviceable at all. You can see pictures of the inside on other reviews. It truly is a primitive toy-like device. While it was effective while it worked, it cannot be recommended because of poor durability and insane price charged for what you get.

It eliminates the static off my LPs.

I had one of these back in the '70s but I believe it was red at that time, and I don't remember what ever happened to it. Anyway I got this new version and it is just as annoying to use as the first one I had. You need to very slowly squeeze the lever and then very slowly release it. If it makes a clicking sound either way it didn't work. You are supposed to do this in three areas of the vinyl LP and then once at the label area, for both sides of the record. It does work when done correctly, but when you just want to get the music going it's too easy to rush and goof it up. It's also over priced for what it is. So I ended up buying the Furutech Destat III which I should have done in the first place. This thing is a breeze to use. You push the button, the green LED lights up, you rotate it over the surface of the LP, and when the LED turns red in a matter of seconds it's done. Unfortunately it's even more over priced than the Zerostat at more than three times the cost. But in the end it's worth it just to save the time and hassle and be able to get your music going.

Although I have a recently upgraded home audio system that costs more than a late model used Lexus (yikes I hope my wife doesn't read this!) I don't consider myself an audio snob-I don't subscribe to the $100 (or 10x that) per meter cable klans who argue on the blogs out there. But I have re-discovered vinyl and absolutely have a BLAST listening to and in many cases ripping it in hi res WAV files into ProTools to use with my Oppo player, JRiver Media Center, and such. After doing a couple of hundred LP's into PT without it I could kick myself for not getting one sooner. When used right it takes a VERY noticeable amount of static pops and clicks out of the equation, and almost more importantly it drastically cuts down on dirt and gunk build up on my cartridge. I Spin Clean all my vinyl and keep them in Mobile Fidelity inner sleeves, yet junk can still find it's way to the stylus even if I only play them one time to rip them. Key phrase above is "when used right", as there is next to no instructions for this thing. Hell I might not even be doing it the best way, but what I do is hold the LP about a foot away from the gun, and while slowly squeezing the trigger all the way in (@ 30 seconds) I rotate the gun around the record working into the center label. I repeat the process from in to out on the release. If you do it too quick (and that seems to depend on how much static is on the LP) you'll hear a noticeable static click. For GP if that happens I start the process all over again, but at the rate I do it rarely does. I also zap my cartridge before each long listening/ripping session and as mentioned I very rarely get any dirt or gunk cling. (though of course I dap the stylus with a dry Magic Eraser after each vinyl side-a great tip I read on the cable klan blogs mentioned above... It's @ $100. For a casual vinyl fan that may seem like a lot, but if you are archiving as I am or just want the best possible experience with what you have, think of this as a hi tech Rain X for your sonic windshield. It's crazy, but I can't recommend it enough. 5-stars.

High static setup, following this, static pops were gone. The thing absolutely works

Funkar bra

Maakt hardnekkig statische vinyl platen (lp's) antistatisch en echt vrijwel altijd tikvrij

Als Schallplattensammler hat mich die statische Aufladung meiner Platten schon lange genervt. Mit der Milty Zerostat 3 ist das Problem komplett gelöst. Nach einer kurzen Anwendung ist das lästige Knistern Geschichte und der Staub lässt sich federleicht von der Oberfläche abbürsten. Es funktioniert einfach super! Ein ganz wichtiger Hinweis für andere Käufer: Die mitgelieferte schwarze Aufsatzkappe ist nur zum Testen der Funktion der Pistole da (um zu sehen, ob das System Ionen erzeugt). Für die eigentliche Nutzung auf der Schallplatte muss die Kappe unbedingt abgenommen werden! Wer den Klang seiner Vinyl-Sammlung verbessern und die Platten schonen möchte, macht hier absolut nichts falsch. Der Preis ist für die Leistung völlig gerechtfertigt. Klare Kaufempfehlung!

¡Muy bueno! Mantened alejada de los niños, pues produce descargas eléctricas. Anula la estática de los vinilos. ¡Fenomenal!