I have a Pioneer DVD player (will have to post the model number later as I'm at work and don't know it off the top of my head - a 656 I think, cost about £350 pounds multi region 4 years ago) that, following a change of set up, has moved out from the TV cabinet onto my Hi-fi rack.

Since this move I have noticed that the mechanical noise of the disk 'being read' during playback is rather noisy and a 'ticking' noise can be heard during very quiet parts of movies.

Any idea if this is simply how some players work, or if there could be a fault? Since it has always been in the TV cabinet I don't know if it was like this from new. It is not affecting the sound or picture at all.

Some disks are noisier than others, some are silent (could be the player warming up?). Skipping chapters on the same disk can be silent or very noisy.

Some players are noisier than others, and some discs seem noisier than
others in such machines as it depends on how and where the data has
been put on the disc.
There were certainly some very noisy Pioneer players that came out
circa 1999-2000. As long as the video, audio and menus all play okay
then there isn't likely to be an actual fault but obviously it can be
an inconvenience in an open hi-fi rack. Do make sure the player is sitting
dead level, as that might be affecting it too.
Some new players can still be noisy, especially low-cost slimline or
midi-sized ones, so if you consider upgrading, it's probably worth spending around £125-£250 for a good solid, quiet machine.

Thanks for the reply. I think what your suggesting is most likely - It's simply a noisy machine. Any suggestions for the DVD player (I'm using a Denon 1905 7.1 amp and Kef coda 70/80/90 speakers) - the budget would be about right.

Just about as good as we've come across recently in that price range is probably the Pioneer DV-575A. Check out Alan Sircom's view on it in our Reviews section. But just in case that's the one you're talking about, Denon's budget player would be a good one to try, the DVD-1910 - a good £300 cheaper than the next one up the range but offering good quality - hopefully - quietly.