[Graphicism]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoenberg3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just one more file, this time from Beethoven. Hiss is almost as bad on this one. I tried playing on my CD player directly from the CD, and still hiss... It sounds fantastic on HD650 otherwise, though. Pity... http://download.yousendit.com/DE4F41AD62B74A02

Very bad audible hiss on this one.

If you listen very carefully to it you will hear a jump/bounce in the noise at these intervals: 0.10, 1.11, 2.24 - which tells me this a recording from a reel.

Honestly if you can find a piece of classical music without any audible hiss/noise then please let me know!

 

[Suzuka]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoenberg3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just curious: please download this file and report how much hiss you hear. I hear way too much... http://download.yousendit.com/F5974C1D5A3D31DA

No hiss, this is from xFi source card connected to long basic(crappy) mini to mini cable which goes to my cMoy. I even tried making it very loud, no hiss whatsoever, at normal listening level non existant.

 

[gabedamien]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoenberg3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just one more file, this time from Beethoven. Hiss is almost as bad on this one. I tried playing on my CD player directly from the CD, and still hiss... It sounds fantastic on HD650 otherwise, though. Pity... http://download.yousendit.com/DE4F41AD62B74A02

I agree totally, this one has significant hiss. It's inescapably apparent, although I can still turn my audiphile brain off enough to enjoy the music itself.

Which makes it all the more interesting that you say "almost as bad," since on your other file I heard virtually no hiss at all.

Here's something interesting though - fooling around, I decided to try (for the first time) the high gain setting on my Total Bithead. When I next played a file, I still had to turn the volume up roughly the same, but I noticed significant hiss (on a previously hiss-less track). I was simply flabbergasted - there was no way that the Total Bithead's high gain setting introduced so much noise, was there?

Turned out it didn't. Unplugging the TBH in low gain mode, switching to high gain, and plugging the TBH back in played a nasty little trick - it set my Windows main ("speaker") volume to half-mast. I had to put the TBH very loud to get the same volume as before (even though it was on high gain) and when I had, there was very noticeable hiss (on recordings that I knew didn't have any hiss).

Please, I know this sounds idiotic and you've probably done it a million times, but can you double-check that *every* onboard volume control is set to full? That includes the system main and wav sliders, your media player volume slider, your USB audio device stream hardware controller slider (if you have one), etc. If any software volume is set low, then your computer noise will be louder relative to your music volume, which means when you pump your amp (analog) volume up, it maginifies that electronic noise.

Oh, and graphicism, I'll upload a .flac soon of a hiss-less classical track just to prove my point.

PS - OP, could you tell me what disc that Beethoven 6 was from? I looked on Amazon for Karajan Beethoven cycles (of which he recorded several), and this one was the only one with Symphony no. 6 was listed on Disc 4, track 3. Note that that disc was from the 50's and was in mono, with a comment that the later 1963 sound was much better. In other Karajan-conducted Beethoven cycles, there were comments on hiss on the recordings as well. Doesn't look as if the Berlin Philharmonic under Karajan always had the cleanest recordings. There was also this set which didn't list which tracks were on what discs, so it's a possibility as well. The .ogg file is in stereo, but I don't know how to check if the channels are any different (I don't hear much stereo imaging), and I imagine that the encoder could automatically default to encoding in 2-channel sound...

 

[Graphicism]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabedamien /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, and graphicism, I'll upload a .flac soon of a hiss-less classical track just to prove my point.

lol, thanks man, looking forward to it!

 

[hardstyler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoenberg3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just curious: please download this file and report how much hiss you hear. I hear way too much... http://download.yousendit.com/F5974C1D5A3D31DA

Yeah there is lot of hiss on this one. I am using A900 out of Audigy 2 ZS. Its definitely the recording because I usually never hear hiss. If there is hiss I know its the recording.

Also I can hear lots of hiss on Beethoven one. Its not your headphones its the recording, nothing to worry about

 

[gabedamien]

Very weird. "Everything in its right place" has virtually no hiss for me (can hear some if turned up way too loud). Doesn't compare in any possible way to the Beethoven track, which is extremely obvious with hiss.

Anyway, just determined that TBH on high gain with volume up to max definitely has significant electronic noise (along with a sort of buzz). Worth noting I suppose. I never use high gain anyway, I can get volume up to more than I'd ever need on almost every song I own when in low gain.

Graphicism, for your enjoyment:
Krystian Zimerman, The Polish Festival Orchestra, Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor Op. 11 - Vivace. Download link (in flac, ~44MB; please note I'm only going to keep that link active for a day, maybe less).

On this track I hear absolutely zero hiss at sane listening volumes. Turning volume up far beyond anything healthy I hear some random brief things like people shifting position, maybe a breath or two from the pianist, and some recording artifacts, but pretty much no hiss.

Oh, and it's a nice bit of music too

. A superb interpretation (emphasis on "interpretation") by a passionate and unique ensemble. I actually like the larghetto a bit more, but this has a more active orchestral element for a better review of "hiss-less classical."

 

[Gaso]

Both songs have very audible hiss, and I'm afraid the noise comes from the songs/files. On the first tune (great one btw) it's not a big problem. I think your 650's are fine.

 

[shoenberg3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabedamien /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree totally, this one has significant hiss. It's inescapably apparent, although I can still turn my audiphile brain off enough to enjoy the music itself. Which makes it all the more interesting that you say "almost as bad," since on your other file I heard virtually no hiss at all. Here's something interesting though - fooling around, I decided to try (for the first time) the high gain setting on my Total Bithead. When I next played a file, I still had to turn the volume up roughly the same, but I noticed significant hiss (on a previously hiss-less track). I was simply flabbergasted - there was no way that the Total Bithead's high gain setting introduced so much noise, was there? Turned out it didn't. Unplugging the TBH in low gain mode, switching to high gain, and plugging the TBH back in played a nasty little trick - it set my Windows main ("speaker") volume to half-mast. I had to put the TBH very loud to get the same volume as before (even though it was on high gain) and when I had, there was very noticeable hiss (on recordings that I knew didn't have any hiss). Please, I know this sounds idiotic and you've probably done it a million times, but can you double-check that *every* onboard volume control is set to full? That includes the system main and wav sliders, your media player volume slider, your USB audio device stream hardware controller slider (if you have one), etc. If any software volume is set low, then your computer noise will be louder relative to your music volume, which means when you pump your amp (analog) volume up, it maginifies that electronic noise. Oh, and graphicism, I'll upload a .flac soon of a hiss-less classical track just to prove my point. PS - OP, could you tell me what disc that Beethoven 6 was from? I looked on Amazon for Karajan Beethoven cycles (of which he recorded several), and this one was the only one with Symphony no. 6 was listed on Disc 4, track 3. Note that that disc was from the 50's and was in mono, with a comment that the later 1963 sound was much better. In other Karajan-conducted Beethoven cycles, there were comments on hiss on the recordings as well. Doesn't look as if the Berlin Philharmonic under Karajan always had the cleanest recordings. There was also this set which didn't list which tracks were on what discs, so it's a possibility as well. The .ogg file is in stereo, but I don't know how to check if the channels are any different (I don't hear much stereo imaging), and I imagine that the encoder could automatically default to encoding in 2-channel sound...

Thanks for your care. Yes everything is on full. The CD of Karajan with Berlin phil was bought in China (cheaply) and I don't see much information regarding its exact version. But it cannot be the first one you listed because mine is with Berlin Phil.

 

[shoenberg3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabedamien /img/forum/go_quote.gif Very weird. "Everything in its right place" has virtually no hiss for me (can hear some if turned up way too loud). Doesn't compare in any possible way to the Beethoven track, which is extremely obvious with hiss. Anyway, just determined that TBH on high gain with volume up to max definitely has significant electronic noise (along with a sort of buzz). Worth noting I suppose. I never use high gain anyway, I can get volume up to more than I'd ever need on almost every song I own when in low gain. Graphicism, for your enjoyment: Krystian Zimerman, The Polish Festival Orchestra, Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor Op. 11 - Vivace. Download link (in flac, ~44MB; please note I'm only going to keep that link active for a day, maybe less). On this track I hear absolutely zero hiss at sane listening volumes. Turning volume up far beyond anything healthy I hear some random brief things like people shifting position, maybe a breath or two from the pianist, and some recording artifacts, but pretty much no hiss. Oh, and it's a nice bit of music too . A superb interpretation (emphasis on "interpretation") by a passionate and unique ensemble. I actually like the larghetto a bit more, but this has a more active orchestral element for a better review of "hiss-less classical."

Wow, the Chopin Concerto recording is spectacular. So clear and dynamic! And the interpretation is not bad either. A little too much rubato, but it definitely has its merits. Any chance you can upload the the other two movements. Please?

 

[gabedamien]

Ah yes, I didn't note that that first recording wasn't the Berlin.

Glad you enjoyed the Chopin.

Sorry, but the only reason I felt comfortable publicly uploading the third movement was that it would entice you to buy the CD for the other two mov't's (and the second concerto)!

You know, after Gaso stated he heard hiss on that Radiohead song as well, I began to wonder if I was just plain crazy, so I searched for "hearing test" online. Well, the second link under Google was interesting (though I fully recognize that no online test can be properly calibrated); it was an equal-loudness curve test. My results were interesting:

Note the huge spike at 30 Hz, some of the differences between my curve (at a relatively moderate/low volume) and the findings listed at the bottom of the page, and compare to HeadRoom's FR graph for the 650. Interesting.

Anyway, it at least confirmed to me one thing: I'm more than sensitive to higher frequencies up to 16 kHz (test didn't offer higher tones). So my lack of perception of hiss in the Radiohead file is not a deafness to some frequency band, at least. If there's anything that I'm slightly unsensitive to, it's bass. Would certainly seem to validate my choice in the HD650, I guess.

I think it would be fun for people to do this test and post their results (noting their headphones, of course) just to see if people wildly differ in this respect. Again, the test is far from scientific / calibrated, but we're not using it for any serious purpose here.

 

[Graphicism]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabedamien /img/forum/go_quote.gif Graphicism, for your enjoyment: Krystian Zimerman, The Polish Festival Orchestra, Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor Op. 11 - Vivace. Download link (in flac, ~44MB; please note I'm only going to keep that link active for a day, maybe less).

Yep no hiss what-so-ever, it was a very nicely recorded piece of music, in fact possibly the best I have heard classical wise (WOW). The only noise if anything is the creaky flaw, the turning of the sheet music and someone has a sniffle? very enjoyable though. Point out some more music like this, I wouldn't mind buying some.

BTW the hearing test has been done in the members lounge, the overall conclusion was that it's more down to your sound card than your ears, the worse the sound card the more sound you could hear... go figure.

shoenberg3 - Do you hear the same audible hiss on the chopin flac file?

 

[shoenberg3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graphicism /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yep no hiss what-so-ever, it was a very nicely recorded piece of music, in fact possibly the best I have heard classical wise (WOW). The only noise if anything is the creaky flaw, the turning of the sheet music and someone has a sniffle? very enjoyable though. Point out some more music like this, I wouldn't mind buying some. BTW the hearing test has been done in the members lounge, the overall conclusion was that it's more down to your sound card than your ears, the worse the sound card the more sound you could hear... go figure. shoenberg3 - Do you hear the same audible hiss on the chopin flac file?

No, absolutely none. Why can't more recordings be like this?

 

[gabedamien]

Well, if you hear zero hiss on that track, I guess I just have to resign myself to the idea that there's something in the Radiohead that others percieve as strong hiss - and which I don't hear at all. Makes me wish I could listen directly to your setup to confirm the same output. But glad you all liked the Chopin.

I can suggest some other technically good classical recordings tomorrow sometime.

Night,
-G

 

[Suzuka]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabedamien /img/forum/go_quote.gif Graphicism, for your enjoyment: Krystian Zimerman, The Polish Festival Orchestra, Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor Op. 11 - Vivace. Download link (in flac, ~44MB; please note I'm only going to keep that link active for a day, maybe less).

Wow, amazing. Thanks for this.

 

[Suzuka]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoenberg3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just one more file, this time from Beethoven. Hiss is almost as bad on this one. I tried playing on my CD player directly from the CD, and still hiss... It sounds fantastic on HD650 otherwise, though. Pity... http://download.yousendit.com/DE4F41AD62B74A02

Yes, hiss. A little bit though. As opposed to that other flac one which has none what so ever, so it's definitely a recording.