# Perahia Goldberg Variations - clicks in the left channel



## msvadi

I have been listening to Perahia's recording of Goldberg Variations and noticed very distracting clicks in the left channel. For example, on Track #4 (Variation 3. Canon on the unison) they start around 0:08-0:09 and get louder later in the track. First, I thought it's a problem with my files, but even the previews on iTunes and Amazon.com have exactly the same issue (check out same track #4). Does any body know what's going on? (Btw, the problem is not limited to track #4, the clicks are audible on multiple tracks throughout the album.)


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## Bulldog

I checked out track 4 on Naxos Music Library and my own cd copy - no clicks. Even heard the sample on Amazon - no clicks.


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## quack

Yes I can certainly hear it, as can others.https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!msg/rec.music.classical.recordings/UEcW2oCT3dM/Ez2dXCHV6dEJ

It doesn't sound like the click of fingernails, sounds more like a mechnical "tick" unconnectedvwith the playing. A recording fault seems unlikely, maybe an air conditioner? I wonder if it is present on the SACD.


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## Svelte Silhouette

My CD is fine. I wonder is it an issue affecting some older players?


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## quack

Yes it is quite likely older players aren't revealing the fault.


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## Svelte Silhouette

quack said:


> Yes it is quite likely older players aren't revealing the fault.


That's technology for you. Improve the sonics but worsen the listenability. The world's gone mad with fixing stuff we can't hear and in the process busting stuff we can.

One LP I have on CD may crackle sometimes in quiet bits but the CD copy is way too bright. Loads of other CDs are fine though so it's not the player.

Nothing's perfect


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## realdealblues

I hear it as well, but I really only notice it when I listen with headphones. If I listen in the car I don't really notice it, it's there, but there is enough "other" noise around that I don't hear it.

I originally read it was fingernails as well. I hear the same thing on his Beethoven Piano Sonatas No. 1-3 CD as well.


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## msvadi

realdealblues said:


> I hear it as well, but I really only notice it when I listen with headphones. If I listen in the car I don't really notice it, it's there, but there is enough "other" noise around that I don't hear it.
> 
> I originally read it was fingernails as well. I hear the same thing on his Beethoven Piano Sonatas No. 1-3 CD as well.


Yes, exactly: I can only hear it with good headphones. Unfortunately, for me it makes the recording unlistenable with headphones. It's even worse than the humming on Gould's recordings.


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## msvadi

quack said:


> Yes I can certainly hear it, as can others.https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!msg/rec.music.classical.recordings/UEcW2oCT3dM/Ez2dXCHV6dEJ


Thanks, that's a relief  (I mean that other can hear it too.) I thought I was going nuts when I found the same clicks on iTunes and Amazon samples and somebody replied that he could not hear any clicks.


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## msvadi

I just listened Nikolayeva's Goldberg Variations for the first time, and it's absolutely amazing. Very personal (some people may not like that because there is a lot of Nikolayeva in it), melodic, astonishingly beautiful. I think it's a live recording (BBC 1986) and it seems that she played a few wrong notes here and there, but despite all that, it's now my favourite GV. I still have to check her other recording of GV from 1992.


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## Ravndal

most likely fingernails. they are everywhere.


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## prymel

I hear the clicks on my copy, even in the car.


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## mitchflorida

I am listening to it on 320 kbps on Spotify and there are no audible clicks. I also checked the 85 reviews of this CD on Amazon and not one of them mentions clicks or noises. The reviewers are for the most part serious listeners and audiophiles of Classical Music, so I suspect the problem is with your disk or player.


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## Guest

quack said:


> Yes I can certainly hear it, as can others.https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!msg/rec.music.classical.recordings/UEcW2oCT3dM/Ez2dXCHV6dEJ
> 
> It doesn't sound like the click of fingernails, sounds more like a mechnical "tick" unconnectedvwith the playing. A recording fault seems unlikely, maybe an air conditioner? I wonder if it is present on the SACD.


I don't hear any on my SACD copy, either through headphones or speakers. By the way, that link to the recordings group provided some amusement: it's amazing how quickly the topic deteriorated!


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## ptr

He must have been listening to that ol' Joe Ely song "Fingernails..."






/ptr


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## Albert7

Does anyone have a link to this Perahia recording?


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## Triplets

What do you mean? I own The recording on CD


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## DavidA

Newver noticed it on my CD. But some CDs are faulty so it might be just the odd one


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## Albert7

Triplets said:


> What do you mean? I own The recording on CD


I meant a link to the album on iTunes. So that way I know that the artifacts are there.


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