I listened to this disc for the first time on my brand new He Audio 1.2B electrostatic phones. All was well until I got to track 10, in which the choir is accompanied by a large drum. The first drum strike (about 5 seconds into the track) gave rise to a "crackling" sound that immediately had me thinking the 1.2B diaphragms were hitting the stators. Each subsequent strike---there are 4 or 5 altogether---produced a similar effect.
I turned down the volume -- FAST; but the crackling remained. I then listened on Stax Lambda Signatures connected to the same Stax SRM-T1S amplifier and it was still there. I tried two other amp/headphone combinations (Corda HA-2/Sennheiser HD600, Perreaux SXH1/beyer DT770) with similar results.
That led me to suspect the MSB Link III DAC feeding all the amplifiers. So I played the CD on a computer, first with an Edirol USB DAC/amp and then with a Headamp Pico, through Sennheiser HD201s. In each case, the drum strikes were accompanied by the same type of crackling noise.
I have to conclude that the sound is actually encoded on the CD. That begs the question "Is it supposed to be there?" It doesn't sound natural to me no matter what combination of DAC & amp I'm using, yet I can't believe that someone as fussy and professional as John Atkinson would allow any unwanted artifact to sully one of his recordings.
I listened to this disc for the first time on my brand new He Audio 1.2B electrostatic phones. All was well until I got to track 10, in which the choir is accompanied by a large drum. The first drum strike (about 5 seconds into the track) gave rise to a "crackling" sound that immediately had me thinking the 1.2B diaphragms were hitting the stators. Each subsequent strike---there are 4 or 5 altogether---produced a similar effect.
I turned down the volume -- FAST; but the crackling remained. I then listened on Stax Lambda Signatures connected to the same Stax SRM-T1S amplifier and it was still there. I tried two other amp/headphone combinations (Corda HA-2/Sennheiser HD600, Perreaux SXH1/beyer DT770) with similar results.
That led me to suspect the MSB Link III DAC feeding all the amplifiers. So I played the CD on a computer, first with an Edirol USB DAC/amp and then with a Headamp Pico, through Sennheiser HD201s. In each case, the drum strikes were accompanied by the same type of crackling noise.
I have to conclude that the sound is actually encoded on the CD. That begs the question "Is it supposed to be there?" It doesn't sound natural to me no matter what combination of DAC & amp I'm using, yet I can't believe that someone as fussy and professional as John Atkinson would allow any unwanted artifact to sully one of his recordings.