[gabedamien]

Well at least Suzuka gets the same results I do (no hiss on Radiohead, hiss on Beethoven, no hiss on Chopin). Wish I knew what was going on with that Radiohead which some people hear "lots of hiss" and others hear none at all.

Anyway, took down the Chopin as I warned. Now for a couple quick classical suggestions; these are pieces which I hear little to no hiss on, but as the Radiohead track seems to demonstrate, YMMV.

1. Krystian Zimerman, Polish Festival Orchestra: Chopin Piano Concertos 1 & 2
2. Joshua Bell, London Symphony Orchestra: Gershwin Fantasy
3. Murray Perahia, Goldberg Variations
4. Andre Prévin, London Symphony Orchestra: Holst, The Planets
5. Yoel Levi, Atlantic Symphony Orchestra: Mahler Symphony 2 / adagio from 10
6. Evgeny Kissin, Mozart Piano Concertos 12 & 20 Rondo K.382
7. James Ehnes, Paganini 24 Caprices for Solo Violin
8. Stephen Hough, Andrew Litton & Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Rachmaninov Piano Concertos and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
9. Sharon Isbin: Latin Romances for Guitar
10. Giuliano Carmignola, Andrea Marcon & Venice Baroque Orchestra: Vivaldi Late Violon Concertos RV 386, 235, 296, 258, 389, 251

These are just some suggestions. Truth be told, I don't hear hiss on MOST of my classical unless I turn the volume up significantly higher than I enjoy. But good luck in finding recordings that you like.

 

[audiomagnate]

I even jacked the treble way up on Radiohead and heard virtually no hiss - just earsplittingly jacked up distorted-on-pupose highs - but heard pretty significant - say down about 55dB - hiss on the Beethoven. Sorry to say Imissed the Chopin. Very strange. I do have an idea about the poster who hears "hiss" on nearly all classical recordings: hall noise.

 

[Graphicism]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiomagnate /img/forum/go_quote.gif I do have an idea about the poster who hears "hiss" on nearly all classical recordings: hall noise.

That would be me, I don't think it's hall noise, even if it is it that a reason for some to have it and some not? Honestly in a lot of classical music I can hear the music being read off a tape reel, even the Mahler SACD's contain this and yet others cannot praise these recording highly enough.

The recording level of the radiohead 'song' will have been recording at a plus decibel level, i.e. dB+1 which picks up hiss, which is why some CD's sound louder than others, generally the quieter ones are much better quality, however most bands and artists don't care and want loud over quality.

The Chopin example was a great example of well recorded music, the microphone placement was almost bilinear and the recording level was spot on with no discoloration.

gabedamien - Thanks for the recommendations, I don't know if I will be able to find any of those but I will try.

 

[shoenberg3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabedamien /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well at least Suzuka gets the same results I do (no hiss on Radiohead, hiss on Beethoven, no hiss on Chopin). Wish I knew what was going on with that Radiohead which some people hear "lots of hiss" and others hear none at all. Anyway, took down the Chopin as I warned. Now for a couple quick classical suggestions; these are pieces which I hear little to no hiss on, but as the Radiohead track seems to demonstrate, YMMV. 1. Krystian Zimerman, Polish Festival Orchestra: Chopin Piano Concertos 1 & 2 2. Joshua Bell, London Symphony Orchestra: Gershwin Fantasy 3. Murray Perahia, Goldberg Variations 4. Andre Prévin, London Symphony Orchestra: Holst, The Planets 5. Yoel Levi, Atlantic Symphony Orchestra: Mahler Symphony 2 / adagio from 10 6. Evgeny Kissin, Mozart Piano Concertos 12 & 20 Rondo K.382 7. James Ehnes, Paganini 24 Caprices for Solo Violin 8. Stephen Hough, Andrew Litton & Dallas Symphony Orchestra: Rachmaninov Piano Concertos and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini 9. Sharon Isbin: Latin Romances for Guitar 10. Giuliano Carmignola, Andrea Marcon & Venice Baroque Orchestra: Vivaldi Late Violon Concertos RV 386, 235, 296, 258, 389, 251 These are just some suggestions. Truth be told, I don't hear hiss on MOST of my classical unless I turn the volume up significantly higher than I enjoy. But good luck in finding recordings that you like.

Thanks for suggestions. Which labels (EMI, Gramaphone etc.) do you think tend to have better recording quality?

 

[gabedamien]

Hi again,
I haven't paid close enough attention to labels to answer that question. My MO for buying classical is to get fixated on a given composer or piece, research the wazoo out of available recordings, buy 2-3, and eventually sell the ones I don't like as much. Slow going, but "rewarding - very, very rewarding" (to quote that annoying ad campaign).

I have, however, noticed that two of my greatest recordings ever for technical quality are Hyperion...

 

[UezeU]

I just fired up Kid A and I detected a slight but noticeable hiss. Album still kicks ass.

 

[Metoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JLai /img/forum/go_quote.gif Turn off all music and only have the amp on with the headphones. If you don't hear a hiss without the music playing, its not the HD650's fault. Its cause you have a bad recording.

The cause of the hiss Shoenberg 3 is noticing, especially provided the file format is lossless, is something as simple as the tape of the original recording. It is easy for this to come through if you are using very revealing cans.

There is a 'no-noising' myth going around these days that comes from the hype that started when CDs where launched that a recording without tape noise is a better recording (of course, you shouldn't expect a well-made digital recording to show any noise at all, much less hiss). The fact is that tape hiss is a part of many recodings of the analog era and I can tell you from experience that the tape hiss cannot be eliminated from the recordings that have it without also eliminating part of the high end detail of the music. So, believe me, on some recordings tape hiss is your friend, if you want to hear them as faithful to what was captured on them as possible. If not, the you can always get one of the 'digitally remastered' versions that are usually just no-noised and hyper compressed (in the musical dynamics sense) versions of the originals.

Nice listening to all

 

[Metoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graphicism /img/forum/go_quote.gif 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!

Any straight-to-DSD modern recording of classical music will have no hiss/noise at all. For mp3 examples go to the Julia Fischer Web site (www.juliafischer.com) and visit her "listening lounge." There, you will find several sample mp3s of pieces from her albums to date.

If you do, let me know your opinion.