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Doesn't work that way!

Yes it can. But a digital pulse stream is immune to noise up to it's logic threshold voltage which is chosen to be far above the expected noise floor.

Now if there is enough noise to exceed the logic threshold, even intermittently, the data word or words during that noise will be corrupted. As there is no error correction beyond the CD transport, the error remains. A good DAC (IMO) will mute when it gets an error. But some DACs will decode the error which results in high DC content, clicks and pops.

Digital gates are basically amplifiers biased into saturation. They are not linear however there is always a rise time, which in this discussion is irrelevant.

In TTL for example, when a high signal arrived it turns the transistor on hard. That means it pulls to ground. If low the gate output rises high through a resistor to the Vcc. Any noise is squashed. The gate circuit or amplifier is not linear on purpose. The whole idea is to ignore reasonable noise on the signal.

OK, but what if the ground or Vcc has noise on it? Good point. But the next device in the chain will do the same, Squash it. Now if we are at the DAC and the Vcc or ground is noisy, that can and will be added to the analog voltage derived from the DAC.

The point is that noise on the digital signal is not retained through the processing chain. New noise may be added but it will be squashed at the next logic gate or device.

Of course noise recorded in during the AtoD conversion at the studio does become part of the signal. But not after that point.

Noise simply cannot be passively mixed with the digital data in a manner to become part of that data unless it's bad enough to flip the bit. And then you have much bigger problems. The result is not going to be subtle.



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