Maintaining your vinyl is essential in keeping the good quality of your favorite records. While hand-cleaning can sometimes be enough, a record-cleaning machine can give you the sonic improvement your uncleaned vinyl needs.
To help you pick the better cleaning buddy, we’ll place two good record-cleaning machines against each other: the Record Doctor V vs Okki Nokki.
In this article, we’ll share with you their similarities and differences to shed light on which one will best suit your needs.
Record Doctor V vs Okki Nokki: Overview
Record Doctor V and Okki Nokki are two of the most competitive RCMs in the market.
Record Doctor V is cost-effective and fully manual, with a small platter about the size of an LP. However, it’s pretty noisy at 95 decibels.
Conversely, Okki Nokki is primarily automatic, with a vacuum arm ideal for all sizes of vinyl and a noise level of around 82 decibels.
| Image | Product | Detail | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Record Doctor V |
| Price |
 | Okki Nokki |
| Price |
What Is a Record Doctor V?
Record Doctor V is a manual record-cleaning machine that does wonders in removing impurities in the grooves. It makes use of safe fluid, vacuum suction, and soft cleaning strips to clean your records and extend their life.
Turning the hand-turner found on top of this vacuum-powered machine will effectively remove all sorts of impurities on your record.
This machine has the same powerful and high-performance vacuum motor present in expensive record-cleaning machines. However, it doesn’t have a costly motor that automatically spins the records for you.
Related: Best Ultrasonic Record Cleaners
Advantages
Although Record Doctor V looks simple and ordinary on the outside, it has some key features that serve as its advantages:
- The setup is straightforward to use
- It’s compact and has a smaller footprint
- It can take you about three minutes to clean both sides of your vinyl LP
- It has a handy storage tank that makes the removal of used cleaning fluids easy
- It’s affordable enough compared to Okki Nokki and most other cleaning machines
Disadvantages
Here are some disadvantages that may cause you to step back:
- The spindle can sometimes be a bit wobbly
- The case isn’t water-resistant
- The vacuum noise can be too loud
What Is Okki Nokki?
Okki Nokki is a fully automatic record-cleaning machine that gives you ease in cleaning your vinyl LPs.
This cleaning machine comes with a heavy-duty turntable that provides extra-quiet motor control. Plus, it has a powerful vacuum system that enables deep cleaning into the groove of your records.
Advantages
Here are the features that make this machine better:
- It has a single control button which makes it extremely easy to use
- It comes with a clamp to tighten your record
- Unlike other vacuum systems, Okki Nokki is fairly silent
- It has a waste fluid reservoir and a level indicator that tells if the tank is already full and needs to be emptied
- The vacuum arm of Okki Nokki is at an ideal size that fits 7 inches, 10 inches to 12 inches of vinyl.
- It has a dust cover that secures the record-cleaning machine when not in use.
Disadvantages
Below are the disadvantages of this machine:
- It can be out of budget
- It needs to be lifted when draining; the weight may cause it to fall from your grip and break
- It’s fairly big and occupies considerable space
Record Doctor V vs Okki Nokki: How Are They Different?
Here are the main differences between Record Doctor V and Okki Nokki to help you get to the bottom of their features and functions:
Size
Record Doctor V has a smaller footprint which makes it easy to transport; hence you can place this on the table or the audio rack with ease. It’s also on a nice level, not too low when placed on the floor and not too high when placed on the table.
On the other hand, Okki Nokki is fairly large and a little heavy. Hence, it’ll take up more space in your humble abode than that of the Record Doctor V.
Design
The Record Doctor V is a simple machine with just a hand motor that gives you full control in cleaning your vinyl. It also has a smaller platter about the size of the label.
Okki Nokki has a metal case that runs around the tub. It also comes with detachable big and small platters and an adjustable cleaning arm to fit the different sizes of vinyl. More than that, it has an acrylic lid that protects the platter from dirt.
Operation
Record Doctor V is fully manual, which means you’ll have to get involved in every process.
Meanwhile, Okki Nokki comes in semi-automatic to fully automatic models, which do the work of dispensing fluid, removing dirt, and vacuuming.
Users also read: Record Doctor Vs. Nitty Gritty
Noise Level
One downside of Record Doctor V is it can be unbearably noisy at the rate of 95 decibels. This gives Okki Nokki an advantage since it’s quieter at approximately 82 decibels at a 1–4 feet distance.
Record Doctor V vs Okki Nokki: How Are They Similar?
Record Doctor V and Okki Nokki are both effective and easy-to-use record-cleaning machines. They have a powerful vacuum that safely removes the grease and dirt on the surface of your vinyl.
Moreover, they don’t heat up quickly, allowing you to clean many records at a time.
Who Should Get a Record Doctor V and Why?
The Record Doctor V is a great choice for those who are okay with doing easy manual work and prefer a smaller RCM to fit in a confined space. It’s also a good choice for those who have just a few pieces of vinyl to clean.
Likewise, it’s perfect for those who wish to maintain their records without spending too much on buying a record-cleaning machine. People would definitely prefer a more affordable but good-quality vacuum that’ll keep their vinyl’s life longer.
Who Should Get Okki Nokki and Why?
Okkie Nokkie is perfect for every audiophile who wants to get a bunch of their vinyl records cleaned much easier. Also, it’s perfect for those who have different diameters in their vinyl collection. That’s because Okki Nokki is designed to fit all three standard vinyl sizes.
Moreover, it’s the best choice for those who’re looking for a relatively silent record-cleaning machine.