is it possible for my engine to be misfiring badly without a CEL coming on?

at idle it is fine. but when it is rev'd to 3k an held steady, I can hear popping like noises in the exhaust......

my car drives perfect and no loss of power, I was just worried about this noise I'm hearing.

 

more info about your car. Did you change anything recently like the plugs? Do you have a testpipe?

 

mods are Intake and Test-pipe, I recently installed new OEM plugs..

it might be some fuel bruning off in the exhaust? i believe that is the sound I am hearing.....

while the revs are held steady at 3k i get minor popping from what feels/sounds like thro the exhaust.

 

How many miles on your car?

It's possible to have misfires without a cel. It's possible that you have a pending code for a misfire too. Get the codes read and see it there is anything there.

What you describe sounds like lean misfires caused by dirty inectors (very big guess here), and I'm surprised you don't hear it at idle. When your car is idling listen to the exhaust for a while and see if you can hear and random "puff" sounds. It's possible that it is subtle and you just don't hear it.