This is an interesting question to me, and it sounds like you have particular problem on your CD from what you describe.
I know this CD well, and if your system is good enough it resolves a very fine backround hiss on some tracks of this compilation. e.g. In the opening track "fields of gold" you can hear the hiss as it increases in volume just before she sings each verse. I can also hear differences in hiss between this one and the same song on the Live at Blues Alley CD, which has varying degrees of hiss throughout, but none of these hissy fits are bad enough to affect the excellent recording quality and performance.
In testing systems I found some could not resolve the hiss on Fields of Gold as well as others, so I always take Songbird to auditions. Many of the tracks are clean, with zero hiss.
