Digital Clock Noise?

I have an older CD player that has developed strange noise in the left channel only. I have tried the player in two different systems and with different interconnect. The noise is subtle and can only be heard in the quieter passages of the music - but it IS there.

If you pucker your lips and make a shooshing noise while pulling your cheeks in and out from having your mouth pointed to having it pulled back in a grin - that pretty much approximates the noise.

Comments, please?

Is this digital clock noise? What might be causing it? Perhaps a defective DAC chip in the left channel? Can it be fixed by a professional technician for a few hundred dollars?

LOL, how long did it take you to figure out how to immulate the noise with your mouth? I'm not sure what would be making the noise but unless you have a really nice player I'd just buy a new one for a few hundred bucks. To answer your question, if the parts are still available I'm sure it could be fixed.

You could try to use a digital out if you had something else to convert the signal like a DAC or A/V receiver, if you don't hear the noise then you know the issue is beyond the digital realm.

I did spend $35 for a diagnosis. When I dropped the player off, I mouthed my strange noises and the man at the counter immediately said that it was indeed some kind of digital noise - but probably not clocking noise. Within 24 hours the technician telephoned me and said that it was a problem with the main processing board. We were amazed that the board was still available - for almost $500. The labor would have been another $100. He said that it was not possible to try to repair the main board piecemeal - or at least not realistic. We mutually agreed that a repair was not cost effective. He further advised me to save the old unit for parts, especially since I own two of these units and the transport in the defective player still works fine. Oh well . . .
One must understand that there are certain risks to buying vintage equipment.

For the most part I would not buy vintage in the digital realm, I could be swayed by particular models at a good price though. There are too many decent players at affordable prices and good DAC's seem to be every where. Entry Marantz and Cambridge Audio are good places to start.