In addition to finding more suitable earphones, there might be two other options.   The first is just to check that there is not different ways to control the music volume on your PC and/or phone. On my computer, for an example, some players might control the main volume setting of the...

Headphones are not suspect to similar hissing, even at similar sensitivity levels as earphones. I don't know why that is, but that have been my (very limited) experience.

That means that it was your phone's amp doing it. It probably keeps the actual electrical gain in the amp at an constant high level but feeds it with a different level of signal depending on your volume setting. I hate that because that means that on low volume listening the hiss will come...

Earphones can't produce hiss. It is the player (phone) that is doing it. More sensitive earphones will, of course, produce the hiss at an higher volume than less sensitive earphones. From my limited experience it seems that there is more than that to it, though. I don't know if it is related to...

You are using a phone and a laptop directly, without an additional amp. I would not expect those to be able to do any harm to your headphones. I also suspect that the clipping you speak of, was not happening in your headphones, but before them somewhere in the audio chain. That is, unless you...

  Have the developers of Foobar2000 said something about creating a Windows 10 IoT app? Unless they have, you can forget about it.   Windows 10 IoT is not Windows 10, it does not even have a shell or the ability to run several programs at the same time. It is basically for hobbyist to make...

Maybe. It also could be that the frequency range is defined by different criteria in each case. In the case of the amp it could mean that the amplitude stays within +-0.1dB , or even tighter, in the whole reported frequency range.   In headphones it can mean whatever the manufacturer wants it...

I was not sure that if the Pulse audio volume control controlled also the ALSA volume level. It seems that it does not. Makes the system a bit more complex than necessary... Now, when you have the ALSA volume settings at 0dB, you can forget it - unless you experience this problem again.   You...

Pulse audio, in its default configuration, lets through 44.1kHz and 48kHz streams without resampling. Resampling can happen in some situations though. For example, you start watching a video with 48kHz soundtrack, and then you start playing a 44.1kHz audio file. In this situation Pulse has to...

Yes it is happening to your DAC now. The fact that you are asking about it indicates that you can't hear the difference though. Reduced bit depth means higher noise floor. If you do not hear any extra noise in the background of your music, there really is not a problem. But do, as RRod...

  Just to make it clear: I think that placebo (and nocebo) might have a small role in this, but the main mechanism is the brain adapting to the signal. You did not say what you expected from the phones when first listening to them. You might had high expectations, but you still were...

  I think "burn-in" is a real experience but it is mostly (if not entirely) due to the ears/brain adapting to the new headphone.   Suppose that you would just have put your headphones for a few days in a special drawer that, according to many, makes headphones sound better. So, many people...

  I have not made any comparisons. Saratoga seems to think that VBR files should take less juice because of the reduced bitrate: http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=91555. I would trust him.   I would have trouble distinguishing between LAME encoded ~128kbps VBR files and...

  Yes, the difference in size between 320kbps files and the highest variable bitrate files is wasted in the very objective sense that extra bits do not influence the sound output in any way. They are there just as padding so that decoders that don't accept variable bit rates - if there still...

The DJ100 does not have a removable cable (unlike the Tony Bennett and DJ200 models).

I see three possibilities here:   1. You are exaggerating. I have the DJ100 and when I got them I thought that they were very fatiguing. But never would I have said that they were worse than laptop speakers or $5 headphone. They clearly were more "hi-fi" than my Sennheiser PX100, and those...

It is a common problem. There are small differences between different IEMs but basically all suffer from cable noise to some extent. The only real fix is wearing the cables over the ears - as you already found out. Some IEMs are designed to be used in his way. Many other IEMSs are possible to...

  Both APE and FLAC are lossless codecs but they are not the same. APE can compress files slightly more than FLAC but FLAC is much more widely supported. If you were you, I would transcode your APE files to FLAC files.   320kbps mp3 files waste space (~25%). They are never better in quality...

  The VIA chipset is currently irrelevant because the OP uses a digital connection from the motherboard to the Edifier. The chipset in the motherboard don't do anything to the sound - it only transfers the bits from the computer (software player) to the Edifier, which then converts the bits to...

I have the same problem and I don't think that there really is a guaranteed solution. You might get used to IEMs - or you might not. Best results I have had so far is with foam tips  - especially the rounded Comply models (Comfort). IEMs with poor isolation and/or ported design probably can be...

I don't know for sure if you could not get them to fit, but Comply does not suggest the the same size for those Shure earphones and the Philips. For the Philips they suggest the "200" models and for the Shures in question the "100" models. So, probably, those foams are meant for earphones with...

Logitech reports 50ohm, ANC enabled. Tyll at Inner Fidelity reports (ANC off):

The tips are good but their suction is not enough to keep the earphones in place. If it would be enough, it would not be pleasant to have so much weight pulling on the earphones (and the ear canals). It would be better to have a lighter cable and have the earphones designed to take support from...

  I paid 40 euros for the HD-660 and over 70 euros for the ProDJ100. It seems that Koss headphones are cheaper in the US than in Europe - and maybe it is the other way with Superluxes.

  One explanation: The ProDJ100 *amplifies* some frequencies of outside noise more than the PortaPro. Measurements from InnerFidelity show that somewhere between 70 and 400 Hz The Koss Tony Bennett have more noise than the PortaPro. Only in frequencies higher than 400 does the Tony Bennett...