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Violin, Viola,Cello background noise

Can anyone identify the quiet, but obvious "shushing" sound found to some degree in all CD recordings of string section performances? It seems to be most apparent in sonatas and other chamber music. I can notice this sound with all my speaker sets, CD players, and amps, both tube and solid state. The sound is present to some degree from every CD manufacturer regardless of whether the recording is DDD or ADD.
tilghman
rcprince
3,070 posts
 
Could it also possibly be the sounds of the bows on the strings (close-miking can reveal this, particularly with smaller ensembles)? I'm not really sure what the sound you're describing really is until I hear it.
aolmrd1241
1,039 posts
 
I do believe if your system is "resolving" enough, this kind of noise could possibly just be the microphone picking up the acoustics (surrounding air mass) of the room in which the recording took place... ie: shushing noise...
tilghman OP
3 posts
 
Rcprince,
I can list many examples but I am unsure which recordings I would have in common with you. The ECM recording of Schumann's 1st and 3rd string quartets
(2003) is a good example. The sound is apparent throughout the CD but is very noticable during the 1st 30 seconds.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
Nose hair.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I don't think it is dither. Dither is only toggling of the least significant bit, which, with normal gain, is not audible, and would be a pure tone, not a "shushing" sound.

Even with a digital master recording some analog amplification of the microphone is involved, and might contribute some noise. More likely, the analog stages of your digital source may be noisy.
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