Digital Clock Noise?

[menschenstimme]

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?

[Mr Peabody]

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.

[menschenstimme]

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.

[Mr Peabody]

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.