If you’re a Led Zeppelin fan, you probably already know this. Still, I should give you fair warning: I’m about to describe something you will never unhear. Play Since I’ve Been Loving You from Led Zeppelin III, and listen for the squeak on the right channel.

It’s from John Bonham’s bass drum pedal. He used a model called the Ludwig Speed King which was the only pedal that supported his high-speed bass drumming. But its spring was notoriously squeaky, but for some reason, oiling it wasn’t an option. I don’t remember ever hearing the squeak when I used to listen to Led Zeppelin a lot.

Recently, after reading about it, I listened for it using a high-resolution file and a full-range audio system. It’s surprising that I ever missed it. If anything, it’s more audible on the compressed YouTube version through regular headphones. Technically, that squeak is noise. It’s an annoying sound in itself, plus it’s something that wasn’t chosen to be in the signal. And yet it was part of the original performance, its timing as integral a part of Bonham’s playing as the sound of the beater hitting the skin of the drum.

There’s a thread on a Led Zeppelin forum where someone asks about that “annoying” squeak, and a poster called eskimoblueday replies, “ I LOVE THAT SQUEAK! That squeak is one of my favourite things about Led Zeppelin, period... I never got to see John Bonham live, but if I close my eyes while I’m listening to that song, and I hear that squeak, it’s like I’m in studio with them while he’s playing that song. It makes me feel like I am standing right next to him, even though I’m not.”

Getting more noticeable

The squeak is a “feature” of Led Zeppelin that gets more noticeable as playback technology and resolution improves. Today I saw the visual version of it. I was at a demonstration of Kaleidescape, a home movie player that offers true 4K Ultra HD. Though it wasn’t connected to a 4K television, you could still see how good the picture was.

The rep played a scene from Lawrence of Arabia, and in it, Anthony Quinn’s fake nose and the bad make-up all round were clearly visible. But also visible was wet look of film with vivid colours, huge dynamic range, and a sense of depth to the images. It was beautiful to watch, and being aware of the characters as painted actors seemed to take me there. I was standing by them in desert, just as eskimoblueday felt like she could stand by John Bonham in the studio.

I was in a meeting recently with someone who works for a high-end audio company. He told me about his boss, who stands by the belief that when you’re listening to music you love, the quality of the sound is irrelevant. You bop along with the song whether you’re listening to an MP3 on cheap earbuds, or whether it’s playing from around the corner on an ancient radio on a street cart. The only thing high-quality sound gives you is your desire to seek it out more often, or perhaps, spend more time with it.

I have to agree. I can’t pretend that when a compressed Since I’ve Been Loving You comes on the car radio, half drowned out by freeway noise, that I enjoy it any less than when I’m listening to the airy 96kHz, 24-bit FLAC file at home. And yes, now that I can never unhear that squeak, I too feel like I’m standing by Bonham’s drums and it’s 1970 outside.

Gautam Raja is a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles, US.