Massive Attack, iTMS, crackles

[rinseout]

Hi,

Just purchased a couple of tracks off of Massive Attack's "Danny the Dog", specifically "Danny the Dog" and "I Am Home". In Danny the Dog, I can hear distinct crackles near the bassy piano parts... is this a sign of bad headphones, compression artifacts, or neither (i.e. it's intentionally there in the CD too) ?

I'm not usually an audiophile type, but if this is a symptom of AAC encoding, I'm really surprised how bad it does on this track.

[Blue Velvet]

Hi,

Just purchased a couple of tracks off of Massive Attack's "Danny the Dog", specifically "Danny the Dog" and "I Am Home". In Danny the Dog, I can hear distinct crackles near the bassy piano parts... is this a sign of bad headphones, compression artifacts, or neither (i.e. it's intentionally there in the CD too) ?

I'm not usually an audiophile type, but if this is a symptom of AAC encoding, I'm really surprised how bad it does on this track.

It wouldn't surprise me if they were intentionally there. I have 4 Massive Attack albums and on some tracks there is intentional surface noise.

Why? I don't know -- it's one of my pet hates if overdone. Let's record an album in a sophisticated digital studio and release the album on CD, but we'll put some snap, crackle and pop through it. :confused:

Very often, it adds little to the song...