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CD Player noise

Started by magval, November 22, 2020, 11:32:48 AM

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magval

I bought a Denon M41DAB on the advice of kind folks on here and it's absolutely brilliant. Saved me a fortune by luring me away from vinyl-only and back to the welcoming arms of cheap jazz reissues.

Anyway the unit itself, when playing a CD, even on mute, emits this very audible sound that's quite hard to describe. It's probably either the rotation of the disc itself, or the laser or something, I don't know because I don't know how the unit works, but at low volumes it's very distracting. Headphones on it's not an issue whatsoever, because it's in the room, not in the output.

Is this common for all CD players, is there a name for it, is it common for this unit (no Google results seem to suggest so), and is there anything I can do to dampen it somewhat?

Thanks all. CAB hasn't failed to solve a problem for me yet :-)

Zetetic

Are you able to record it or otherwise estimate the frequency?

magval

Anything you can recommend to do that with? My brother has a sound recorder, one of those wee yokes with the prongs on the end, or is that overkill?

Zetetic

I'd just try it with Audacity on a laptop (which will plot a spectrum for you) or using a phone. If it's anywhere near human voice frequencies, that'd be fine to pick it up.

the

CD player mechanisms do emit some degree of noise, I've never known one that didn't.

If you're listening to the mechanism, the rotation of the disc is usually a gentle hiss (moreso if it spins faster than 1x speed), the laser is a swishy squeaky noise (usually only when seeking, but in drives that buffer the audio it may make this noise and/or a slight clicking during playback), and if there's a hum or rattling I'd say that was unintended vibration.

buzby

Quote from: the on November 22, 2020, 06:58:38 PM
CD player mechanisms do emit some degree of noise, I've never known one that didn't.

If you're listening to the mechanism, the rotation of the disc is usually a gentle hiss (moreso if it spins faster than 1x speed), the laser is a swishy squeaky noise (usually only when seeking, but in drives that buffer the audio it may make this noise and/or a slight clicking during playback), and if there's a hum or rattling I'd say that was unintended vibration.
It's say it's exactly that, the - if it's a periodic ticking/clicking noise it's usually either a duff disc that's got a lot of errors on it and the error correction algorithm is re-reading it to make sense of it, or if it's doing it on every disc it's possibly the head focus or tracking is misaligned and it's having trouble staying in sync with the disc.
https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?53475-CD-ticking-or-clicking-sound-as-it-spins

magval

No, it's not a ticking or clicking, it's a permanent sort of hiss. I think I might just be sensitive to this sort of thing as I can always hear the noise from cheap phone chargers or the Fire Stick in the back of the TV if there's no other sound in the room.

This one's much worse though as it can be heard while music is playing and the music has to compete for my attention.

I'll see if I can manage to record the frequency and get back to you. I've actually a second one in the post for another room so it'll be interesting to confirm if it does the same, as a sort of test, because if it does then the problems with me and not the hardware.

buzby

Quote from: magval on November 23, 2020, 07:34:02 AM
No, it's not a ticking or clicking, it's a permanent sort of hiss. I think I might just be sensitive to this sort of thing as I can always hear the noise from cheap phone chargers or the Fire Stick in the back of the TV if there's no other sound in the room.

This one's much worse though as it can be heard while music is playing and the music has to compete for my attention.

I'll see if I can manage to record the frequency and get back to you. I've actually a second one in the post for another room so it'll be interesting to confirm if it does the same, as a sort of test, because if it does then the problems with me and not the hardware.
If it's noise from  just the disc spinning, it seems you aren't the only one who has that problem with the M41DAB:
https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/bnt2bl/denon_m41dab_noisy_cd_spinning/
It looks like it's just a standard slimline CD mechanism, but it's open-topped, and together with being right at the top of the case beneath the ventilation slots for the PSU any motor noise is going to escape unimpeded:

On it's predecessors the M39DAB and M40DAB the CD mechanism was below the display on the front panel, and there was a PCB above it that would have attenuated the motor noise.

magval

Looks very much to me like that's the problem identified, at least.

Is there anything I can do myself to reduce the noise? Some sort of safe muffling effect that won't cause the unit to overheat?

the

The most low-tech solution would be, if you can, to reposition the player away from the speakers/your listening position. Perhaps on a lower level, or preferably round a corner, or with something (perhaps furnture, or a flat or soft object) acting as a baffle between you and it, to deflect the noise. Luckily, high frequency noises like hissing are much more easily deflected than lower frequency noises.

buzby

Yes, short of cracking the case open to see if there's room above the CD mechanism to put a layer of closed cell foam in, external attenuation is going to be the only option. If you have it on the top of a media centre, for instance, try putting it on a lower shelf so there's something above it. Or locking it in a cupboard....

I have a Philips mini hifi that has a bloody cooling fan in it, and if you don't put it into 'Eco' mode it runs all the time, even when it's in Standby (it only properly turns off when it's put into Eco mode). Maddening.

Magnum Valentino

Ended up getting another one for the living room and sure enough it's a LOT quieter. Must have either been faulty, or they've bettered the build in the two years since.

Belated thanks to all for your comments and advice.