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Perfect sound forever ? Not even when new...

Has anybody else noticed "ticks" and "pops" on new CD's ? Within the last month, i've purchased two different CD's that have LP-like noise bursts on them. One of them is REALLY bad and highly noticeable. These were not a result of poor handling, etc... as they both exhibited the problem the first time into the machine.

The funny thing is that i can hear these ticks and pops quite plainly in any of the players i have at home. I took the first disc back to the place of purchase ( local record shop ) and we could not hear it at all. Then again, they are using Pro sound reinforcement EV speakers with 12" woofers and a horn in each fed by something like 50 - 100 feet of zip cord. Not exactly revealing to say the least. Based on the lack of noise in their system, the sales clerk would not allow me to return the disc for an identical version. As such, i'm not doing business with them any longer. The second disc came from a Best Buy and i doubt that they will give me a hassle, but we'll soon find out.

Anyone else have problems with this / find it to be a current problem ? Sean
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sean
bishopwill
369 posts
 
I've noticed very occasional subbass thumps but no pops or ticks.

will
mattybumpkin
590 posts
 
On two CD's that I have, I get a noise, almost like a small frog croaking. Serious. It only occurs once on each CD, same spot.

Matty
jlambrick
138 posts
 
I've heard the ticks that you're talking about. They occur at consistent points in the music and Aural Illuminator doesn't fix them. They might be static in the recording process. In the early days of cd, "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" catalogued the ticks on their cd and gave likely causes.

On the bright side, even my worst cd has few ticks than my best vinyl.
aball
2,018 posts
 
There are a number of bands that are purposely recording vinyl-like noise to recapture some of that "old time" feel. There was a big article on it in Spin magazine a few months ago. I am not saying that is what you are hearing, but it reminded me of that article. I own a couple of those CDs (Waldeck's Reflowered, Air's Premiers Symptomes, etc.) and it really does sound like an old vinyl. It seems to be getting popular - so ironic it's funny. Arthur
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,353 posts
 
Sean, please state which disc have this problem. Clicks and pops can occur in digital sourced material due to poor word clock synchronization in the recording studio. It's a sign of poor engineering that such clicks make it through to the finished product.
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