[JazzJackRabbit]

Third page of this thread are your impressions for reference.
Relevant quote in cons
"Noise floor isn't dead silent (Was told directly by Audeze they will be improving the noise floor for the final product"

Yeah, I remember reading that, and the quote clearly stated Audeze was looking into the problem. My understanding was that Audeze would fix it. Unfortunately, based on the early owner feedback the hiss is still present.

 

[RamSpencer]

Yeah, I remember reading that, and the quote clearly stated Audeze was looking into the problem. My understanding was that Audeze would fix it. Unfortunately, based on the early owner feedback the hiss is still present.

Improve it yes. Eliminate it entirely.... That wasn't stated or even totally expected with two built in 1 amp amplifiers. I expected well controlled, not dead black. Haven't heard it yet, so no opinion. But from descriptions, I think there may actually be some variance going on.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Yeah, I remember reading that, and the quote clearly stated Audeze was looking into the problem. My understanding was that Audeze would fix it. Unfortunately, based on the early owner feedback the hiss is still present.

Unfortunately my memory isn't good enough to compare the hiss of back then to now, so I can't say whether it was indeed improved or not. I don't see any WAY that they'll remove hiss completely, either way. That's just what's to be expected of this type of design with so many packed in features.

Improve it yes. Eliminate it entirely.... That wasn't stated or even totally expected with two 1 amp amplifiers. I expected well controlled, not dead black.

100% agreed here.

I'm honestly hoping there is some variance Audeze can account for and can fix, because I honestly don't see how people could complain about the hiss on this unit.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Not too concerned, would just prefer not to have to send it back immediately after getting it if it’s found to be a hardware issue. I’m more concerned about other backers receiving it with an audible hiss and it being blown out of proportion. But whatever we have to do (ship our units back to Audeze, update the firmware, just realize it’s a non-issue and move on) is fine by me.

 

[VSENSES]

Unfortunately my memory isn't good enough to compare the hiss of back then to now, so I can't say whether it was indeed improved or not. I don't see any WAY that they'll remove hiss completely, either way. That's just what's to be expected of this type of design with so many packed in features.



100% agreed here.

Then that should be CLEARLY stated in the purchase description. Especially since they're touting the zero distortion planar drivers. I expect there to be hiss from cheap consumer brands for low value items. I don't expect it from one of the top tier headphone brands in the business. And $400 might be cheap for Audeze, it's still more expensive than almost every headphone in the world from consumer brands.

 

[Vitandus]

Marketed to studio creatives as well. That implies a minimum standard in performance. Perhaps not a $1000, $2000, or $20,000 rig. My budget minded earstudio wireless dac matched with my t50rp's is hiss free.

https://www.audeze.com/products/mobius-series/mobius-creators-edition I'd argue they were marketed toward folks making 3D content... mostly for games. As my Emmy-winning sound producer for AAA games friend says, "If there's any part of a headphone that's active, it may not be right for certain kinds of work."

To be clear, I am again curious as to something that's heavily marketed to gamers is being met with such vitriol. Sure, if the hiss is ridiculous, I'd understand, but it just seems expectations were out of line with reality, marketing hype or no.

You need to take an Intro to Business class, you don’t have a basic understanding of how product development works. For various reasons parts are always switched out between small amounts of hand built prototype units and full scale mass production.

Not always. I run a major line of business for a F50 firm. As we get closer and closer to launch, we always ship out final units. Always. Engineering samples and "prototypes" are exactly that. As we come to completion, we send friendlies and internals final units, just as they would come off the line.If anything with RF needs to have parts swapped out, we restart the process.

 

[VSENSES]

Expectations were that they'd be hiss free, like any other high end headphone for the past what, 1-2 decades or so. Maybe longer. That's not that strange to expect, wouldn't you agree? After all this isn't a gen 1 bluetooth headphone.

 

[MICHAELSD]

Impressions sound positive otherwise so if the hiss is the only issue then it seems like expectations were otherwise met, which is a great sign.

 

[Vitandus]

Expectations were that they'd be hiss free, like any other high end headphone for the past what, 1-2 decades or so. Maybe longer. That's not that strange to expect, wouldn't you agree? After all this isn't a gen 1 bluetooth headphone.

Again, a headset full of this much stuff, I expect noise or RF craziness, but that's me. I have engineers dealing with this sort of thing every day, so my expectations may be more tempered than others.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Improve it yes. Eliminate it entirely.... That wasn't stated or even totally expected with two 1 amp amplifiers. I expected well controlled, not dead black. Haven't heard it yet, so no opinion. But from descriptions, I think there may actually be some variance going on.

Then that should be CLEARLY stated in the purchase description. Especially since they're touting the zero distortion planar drivers. I expect there to be hiss from cheap consumer brands for low value items. I don't expect it from one of the top tier headphone brands in the business. And $400 might be cheap for Audeze, it's still more expensive than almost every headphone in the world from consumer brands.

The hiss does't have ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE PLANAR DRIVERS. It's the internal amplifiers relative to the sensitivity of the headphone that adds or takes away hiss. They CAN take away more hiss, IF they make the headphone less sensitive, but then people are gonna complain that the headphone doesn't get loud enough. There is always a trade off. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Have you seen literally ANY wireless headphone say NO HISS? No.

Audeze is not a MAJOR company. They are a handful of people actually.

I think once more people get their hands on it, the more this hiss-gate will subside.

After all, vocal minority expecting perfection. Not gonna happen.

You can quote me on saying if the hiss is like my unit, I have a feeling the MAJORITY won't be bothered by the hiss 99% of the time.

Audeze rep contacted me directly ( they literally picked out random Mobius from their product line for themselves AND those who got them early and shipped them as is. They were not cherry-picked.) They are representative of the real thing.

If people can't get over the hiss, then the Mobius isn't for you. To me, I think those with more realistic expectations will find the Mobius to be a very strong swiss army knife headphone. I can't WAIT for MORE people to get their hands on it within this week.

I can with confidence say that to my group of head-fiers that have come to know me for years, I can 100% recommend the Mobius as it is TODAY. Those select few who wanna focus on hiss instead of using it for their sources, then, pick something else. Not everyone is gonna be happy with it, but I expect much more people will be thrilled by what it can do compared to whatever detriments it has.

 

[archagon]

Have you seen literally ANY wireless headphone say NO HISS? No.

I don't actually care that much whether the Mobius has hiss or not, but the B&W PX does come amazingly close. It's basically imperceptible unless you're actively listening for it in a quiet room. So it's possible!

 

[kenyee]

Does make me wonder why there was never a bypass mode that took a 3.5mm analog input, but you still have other noise issues to contend with

 

[Mkoll]

I'm wondering where those who keep repeating along the lines of "there is so much technology in the headphones that hiss is to be expected" get this idea. Can someone actually give a technical explanation for why this is the case? Or is this just an assumption? It seems like the latter to me because there have been no prior headphones with all of these technologies together. So how can someone claim hiss should be expected when there has never been a product like this before? There's nothing to compare it to. Without a technical explanation from the manufacturer, as far as any of us know the hiss could in fact be inherent with this combination of technology...or it could be completely avoidable and its presence actually a result of poor design, faulty or mismatched components, etc.

Have you seen literally ANY wireless headphone say NO HISS? No.

I have my bluetooth, wireless, ANC Sennheiser PXC 550 headphones right here with me. There is the expected hiss with ANC on (all headphones with enabled ANC have hiss: it's inherent in the technology at its current level of development), but there is no hiss when I turn ANC off, bluetooth connected or disconnected. Dead silent. Maybe in an anechoic chamber I'd hear something, but in a quiet room I hear nothing but my own body's sounds (because the room is quiet and the PXC 550 is closed). So clearly audible hiss isn't inherent in wireless headphones or bluetooth.

 

[VSENSES]

Just to clarify, I don't think the hiss have anything to do with the drivers. It's just weird to talk about a driver that has 0 (or close to it) distortion when the amps or whatever hiss far more than whatever distortion a regular dynamic driver puts out. That's all.

 

[RMA192AK]

Not always. I run a major line of business for a F50 firm. As we get closer and closer to launch, we always ship out final units. Always. Engineering samples and "prototypes" are exactly that. As we come to completion, we send friendlies and internals final units, just as they would come off the line.If anything with RF needs to have parts swapped out, we restart the process.

I fully get where you are coming from, I hesitated to use the word "always" but prototype units are usually rough form experimental things, I didn't mean companies always switch out parts at the last minute before launch. The units that most of the first impressions that were experienced by people earlier in the year around March when the announcement was made, Audeze themselves where referring to them as "early prototypes".

Someone called me a conspiracy theorist basically for saying that some parts might have been switched out since those "early prototypes" that people had listened too and it's a fact that they did. Unfortunately, people throw the "conspiracy" word around to much these days, by that persons definition it would apply to 3/4 of the posts on this thread.