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Topic: Hearing clicks on CDs (Read 6735 times) previous topic - next topic
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Hearing clicks on CDs

I've just noticed something recently, a lot of my CDs (even brand new ones) have tiny clicks in some tracks when I play them. I've tried a few different players and the clicks are always in the same place, the CDs are not copy-protected.

Is this probably just an error in the manufacturing process? I have CDs from the 80s that play perfectly, it's mainly the new stuff that I've noticed problems with.

Are these clicks normal with some CDs, is it just "one of those things"?

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #1 –
Are the clicks consistent? That is, do they appear in EXACTLY the same place each time? Tell us something about how you're playing these CDs .. PC, Hifi ..
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Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #2 –
Yes the clicks are consistent.

I've tried playing the CDs in the car, on three different Hi-Fi systems around the house and in two computers. They are all in the same place the clicks.

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #3 –
Probably just clipping?

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #4 –
Hopefully it is, I'm finding it hard to tell.

Is there any sure way of telling?

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #5 –
Quote from: skamp on
Probably just clipping?


Yes, most likely. Especially since you say you don't have problems with 80's CDs. CDs from the 80 do not clip, while almost all currect CDs clip all over the place.

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #6 –
I've heard some songs that sound like they skip, similar to if you were to bump into a CD player.  The most obvious example I can think of is in What A Girl Wants by Christina Aguilera, a small clip of this is here.  I am sure it's ripped correctly, I get the same CRC on different drives, and AccurateRip says it's correct.  And I've heard the same thing with other copies of this CD so it's not just mine.  I can't recall any other examples but I know I've noticed skips (though not as bad) on other properly ripped songs as well.

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #7 –
Quote from: Moitah on
I've heard some songs that sound like they skip, similar to if you were to bump into a CD player.  The most obvious example I can think of is in What A Girl Wants by Christina Aguilera, a small clip of this is here.  I am sure it's ripped correctly, I get the same CRC on different drives, and AccurateRip says it's correct.  And I've heard the same thing with other copies of this CD so it's not just mine.  I can't recall any other examples but I know I've noticed skips (though not as bad) on other properly ripped songs as well.


That sounds exactly the same as it does on mine. Either we both have a dodgy copy, or it is in-fact clipping - the latter is more likely.

It is a real shame that today's CDs sound the way they do isn't it.

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #8 –
Being so often concerned with clicks in my LP transfers, I notice clicks on CD too. They hardly approach the quantity from any randomly chosen LP, and their characteristics are not quite the same, but they are not exceedingly uncommon. Clipping may be common on rock and pop CDs, but not on the types of music I have, i.e. the clicks are not from clipping, they are mainly just an extraneous noise, probably from the original recording. The audio characteristics of headphones frequently make these 'clicks' much more apparent than when listening to tthe same music through hifi speakers (at least to me).

It is easy to look at the clicks on the computer, especially if your editor has a good spectral view. Since CoolEdit/Audition does so well with that, I haven’t paid very much attention to what other programs do with spectral displays, but a few brief glances at a few have left dismal impressions.

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #9 –
I have noticed that too.

I reckon CDs need to be ditched.
 

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #10 –
CDs don't need to be ditched, they need to be mastered properly.

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #11 –
i have discover the same thing

All my old cds from 80 - 1994 sound ok when i rip from them - but a new cd
you have too re master all off them. the reason in the 80 most of the cds was around 94 db. the new ones are at a higher level 105db - 110.

I think the record company's is doing this too mess up you collection for the future....

What i would like to have is a gaincontrol on the output on the cd-wv player or a built in gaincontrol for the output in a cd ripper program, VST would be the ultimate high to get.

If you setting the normalizer to 35 % then the clicks sound go away.
but normalizer is not the same as gain control.

djaage

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #12 –
I've noticed this using an old Pioneer CD player connected to my amplifier. With old CDs, for example REM's Murmur, it sounds great. However if I should try to play a modern CD, its deafeningly loud if I forget to turn down the volume first, and even with the volume turned down there's still distortion, I'm guessing that the line-level amplifier inside the CD player itself is being overloaded by the excessive volume, but I'm no expert. The solution is to rip the CDs, then burn them with foobar applying replaygain albumgain.

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #13 –
How does turning down the volume of the file reduce the clicks?

Surely the clipping is recorded into the actual track?

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #14 –
Sometimes the clipping and clicking is recorded into the actual track, so reducing volume won't help.

However, some DACs (from before the loudness war got so bad) aren't capable of playing back full-scale samples properly. Perhaps it's because of oversampling causing a number of actual clipped samples at the oversampled sampling rate, or perhaps it's signal amplifier designs not expecting voltages near the rails on so many samples in succession - just for extremely brief transients. In these cases, the volume control after the DAC is only attenuating a damaged signal, whereas pre-applying Replay Gain to the digital signal would prevent the types of signal that the DAC was never designed to handle.
Dynamic – the artist formerly known as DickD

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #15 –
Some commercial CDs have a quite appreciable number of clicks that have nothing to do with clipping, they are in the recording. They are not the same as LP clicks. They are easily observable on screen with the proper software. Turning down the volume does the same thing here as it does for people who like to listen to their LPs at a low volume level, which leads them to believe their disks are click free.

The majority of clicks are not as loud as the music. Whenever music is played as a fairly low level, quite a bit of the fine detail is not heard. The dynamic range is effectively reduced and the listener only gets the highlights. A good many of these clicks, and a good bit of the musical detail, is lost in the listening space's ambient noise.

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #16 –
I have looked at some of the tracks that click in Adobe Audition 2.0. I can't see any abnormal huge spikes in the waveform - so I am guessing the clicks are from the actual recording.

If the CD was ripped with errors, I would be able to see abnormal huge spikes in the waveform right? I am using dMC in ultra secure mode, but I am still paranoid LOL.

If I zoom in to the area that clicks, I can't really see any spikes so it can't be a click caused by ripping error.

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #17 –
Switch to the Spectral view. You can see a click as a narrow vertical bright line that goes up to the highest frequency.
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Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #18 –
Quote from: eevan on
Switch to the Spectral view. You can see a click as a narrow vertical bright line that goes up to the highest frequency.

And the next step: select only the click and use click/pop eliminator "fill single click now" to get rid of it.
But where do these clicks come from? Bit errors in digital interconnect in recording process?

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #19 –
Bit errors over digital interconnects are about as near to zero as it is possible to get with any real process; it essentially does not happen, so it is not the source. Besides, dropouts have different characteristics than those small transient noises fairly common on quieter CD passages. I suspect most are extraneous noises from the recording process that are simply ignored during mixing and mastering.

Hearing clicks on CDs

Reply #20 –
I've noticed something comparable too, especially on goldfrapp's "black cherry". my guess is that the clicks are caused by intentionally made errors of the cd. it is a copy-protection called cactus data shield 200.

can you see some small dots on the silver-layer which are a bit of another color than the rest of the layer?

the german magazin c't has a register where cds with copy protection are listed. maybe those cds appear on that list?




edit: forgot the link: http://www.heise.de/ct/cd-register/default...rpret=goldfrapp