Digital "Crispies" and the ART di/o


I was listening to Glenn Gould playing Bach Goldberg Variations (1981 recording - Sony Digital) the other night, through an Arcam Alpha 7 and ART di/o DAC and on track 17 I noticed this static, "crispy" noise along with the piano notes. Maybe it's the dac, I thought, so I hooked up the preamp to the analog out of the Arcam, and the crispies weren't there. Neither was the soundstage, and alot of timbral detail. My question: are the crispies digital dust in this recording that the ARCAM DAC did not reveal (I've only heard them on 2 tracks), or could they be lack of power in the ART di/o (I'm using the wall wart power supply that came with it), or maybe my new speakers (thiel 1.6) breaking in.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
robertd

Showing 1 response by albertporter

I have not gotten to hear my ART yet. It returned from extensive mods a few days ago, and a good friend is playing it to break it in. For those who have not already heard the boring story, I am still under construction.

Is your ART stock or modified? How do you rate the performance overall, and what have you compared it to?

Sorry to ask questions when you are looking for answers, but I have not read many posts here about ART performance.