Ingrid Fliter - Chopin Preludes (Linn Records)

[brit]

Thanks for replying, David.  I should "'fess up" as to why I asked about this: much as I love the performance, I have noticed something strange about the sound quality and was hoping to see whether anyone else hears the same thing.  From your reply it sounds like you have no qualms about it.

I have the CD, ripped to ALAC, which I normally play from Roon via AIR over Ethernet.  I can also play Roon via USB through an MC-3+ to AES/EBU, iTunes via AIR over Ethernet, or Sonos into an S/PDIF input.  In all those cases I can hear a very faint "buzzing" or "fizzing" sound on top of some of the piano notes - it's hard to describe, but maybe imagine a piece of paper is sitting on the piano strings.  (Actually it also sounds a bit like quantisation distortion but I'm sure it can't be that.  Or the sound you get when a speaker cone has been damaged, ditto.)  Also at the start of the Raindrop prelude in particular I can hear several faint bursts of "pitter-patter" noise in some places.

This has bothered me for a while and I've recently been trying to get to the bottom of it.    I have played samples of the CD-quality version of the album directly from Linn Records web site (via iTunes/AIR) and have half-convinced myself I hear the same thing, but they are so short it's hard to be sure.

I was beginning to wonder whether it's a problem in my system, but I don't hear this with other piano music, including other Fliter/Chopin recordings (from Qobuz).  The real nail in the coffin of that theory was that I still hear the problems when I play the same tracks on my Sonos Play:5, believe it or not.

So my conclusion is that this is either a problem with the recording itself (pretty unlikely) or my CD rip - but why it should affect just this album is beyond me.

Your vote of confidence in the recording is what I needed to get me to re-rip the CD, and/or download the 24/96 version of the album.  Thanks again!

Hi thumb5, having read about your issues with this recording, I went away and had another listen to selected tracks, including the "raindrop" just in case I had missed anything . I must admit that, thankfully, my version is clear and crisp without any obvious sign of the problems you are encountering.

My version was a direct download from the Linn music site. Download was direct to the HDD on my PC (I have separate folders for various downloads I make) and I can then "drag and drop" to various locations.

I now primarily use ROCK, installed on an Intel NUC6i5SYH, as my main music source streamed over Ethernet, direct to my Devialet (music is stored on an internal 2Tb HDD fitted in the NUC). As an alternative (back-up) I can use my Wyred4Sound music server which is connected by USB to my Devialet, and Ethernet connected to my Network. The Wyred4Sound has an on board 1Tb SSD for music storage. The download in question has been "dragged & dropped" to both the NUC storage drive, and the Wyred4Sound SSD. I have again tried both sources - ROCK, over Ethernet, and Wyred4Sound, over USB, and both sound fine to me.

Maybe your CD needs a clean before ripping - only a thought, or is it somehow damaged? Hope that you can resolve the problem as it is too good a recording to have spoilt in any way . Let us know how you get on.


David