Just a bit of trivia - I don't know if there are any Singers this way (if there are, I haven't serviced one yet), but some of the other machines - longarms most notably - and some industrials - where the needle does touch the hook by design. It's less a "snick" than a rub, and it's the tip of the hook rubbing the scarf on the way by.
It's weird because it seems wrong AND you can hear it when using the machines. At first, it caused a bit of a nervous tick for the repair person in me, but when you get beautiful stitches out of a machine and are told that the hook and the needle kiss by design.... you learn to tune it out or turn the tunes up.
