[onyxdr]

Today is the first time I've listened to my ER-6s in the house, i.e. a relatively quiet environment (at least most of the time -- at any rate there's none of the general drone associated with the train). I have noticed that during the quiet parts of the music I can hear a kind of hissing sound behind the notes, almost like what one used to hear when listening to cassette tapes before Dolby noise reduction; I might also describe it as a slight buzzing, kind of like how you'd expect an old amp to sound when it first comes on. The odd thing is that this hissing is not recording-related; it begins as soon as I plug the 'phones into my iBook's headphone jack, whether anything is playing or not. For most purposes it's unnoticable, but sometimes -- particularly the quiet bits of classical mp3s -- it becomes very apparent.

Is this an issue with the plug on my iBook? Will interposing an amp between my computer and the 'phones cut down on the hissing/buzzing? Again, it's really slight, but with these Etys, "slight" seems to become a major annoyance sometimes.

 

[kerelybonto]

Noise is an issue with most computers, especially laptops. A large part of the problem is probably a cheap soundcard, but you have to remember that computers are inherently noisy, with the fan and all the electronics running inside them. This problem is compounded in a laptop, where everything's even closer together.

A good soundcard (which is kind of an oxymoron for a laptop) and an external DAC can improve matters greatly, but you'll never get completely away from all the noise.

Also try fiddling with your software sound controls. I don't know how things work on a Mac, but on my Wintel laptop a lot can be done to reduce noise from the headphone jack by mutuing all sound inputs and outputs except for .wav playback. On my computer, turning off the microphone helps, as does turning off the 'PC Speakers' option. (That's probably a Windows thing though -- also, I have no idea what it does ... my speakers still work when it's muted.)

kerelybonto

 

[Peddler]

It might be worth trying the adaptor cable which converts the 4P to 4S spec. The higher impedence may help reduce some line noise.

 

[onyxdr]

Quote:

Originally posted by Peddler It might be worth trying the adaptor cable which converts the 4P to 4S spec. The higher impedence may help reduce some line noise.

Can I use that cable with ER-6s? I'm assuming it simply plugs in between the jack on the computer and the headphones, but I could be wrong…

 

[Matt]

...is a Griffin iMic. They are a delicious-sounding (for the price, approx. $35) DAC which will also give you sound input, if you don't already have it. They run off USB and are powered by the USB jack.

This will elegantly solve your problem without adapter cables (and it will be cheaper). You'll probably even end up with more powerful, cleaner, more musically satisfying sound.

Best price: http://www.devdepot.com/description.html?PCODE=HIMIC

- Matt

 

[Oliver :)]

Uh, the hp-jack is the one thing on the iBook that is not silent. You should be careful here, as Apple, for simplicity, included the videojack into the same jack as the sound, so if you have phones with a slightly too long plug, or you insert them at some angle, you will hear *most unpleasant* static, not recommended for Etys, and your iBook's screen might flicker once as the computer assumes you're hooking up an external monitor.

An amp, being an amp, will not help much regarding the hiss (which should come from the internals, the video in the same jack, your active AirPort WLAN...), but possibly make it worse, plus you might need to wrap your amp in aluminium-foil (that's for the TAH *cough*

) for isolation.
Apart from improved sound it will help with the ugly static I mentioned above though, as you can mute the amp and then move up in volume, saving your ears (and Etys) from any crackle-explosions while inserting the plug.

I wonder if someone uses one of those USB-line-in/outs with his iBook+amp here... that might be something.

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally posted by Matt This will elegantly solve your problem without adapter cables (and it will be cheaper). You'll probably even end up with more powerful, cleaner, more musically satisfying sound. - Matt

Do you use one? With an amp? I guess any line-out should sound better than a notebook's hp-jack... what about hiss/static coming from the computer? I noticed that the TAH would also pick up interference via the Straightwire, so no matter how much aluminium you wrap around it, there will still be noise from the computer...

One can, of course, go the nice road and pick up a really nice external USB-soundboard ($xxx), and a Cosmic... maybe I'll do that once Apple includes AAC into iTunes

 

[onyxdr]

Oliver, what's AAC?

The USB solution might be a good one for me. Has anyone actually tried this? I mean, $35 isn't much to drop on an experiment, but I'd like to know if anyone on the board has actually done it.

BTW, my usual insert procedure is to mute the machine (easy on an iBook) before I plug the 'phones in, and then increase the volume slowly. If there's any major pop on insert I've not heard it yet.

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally posted by onyxdr Oliver, what's AAC?

AAC is the upcoming "new and improved" standard for audio-compression

and part of MPEG4.
You can download the Quicktime 6 public preview (works fine), and, if you have QT Pro, take an AIFF file right off a CD and export it to MPEG4 (set compression to 256kbps) - you will be amazed about the "difference".

Learn more:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/preview/quicktime6/

 

[onyxdr]

Quote:

Originally posted by Oliver AAC is the upcoming "new and improved" standard for audio-compression and part of MPEG4. You can download the Quicktime 6 public preview (works fine), and, if you have QT Pro, take an AIFF file right off a CD and export it to MPEG4 (set compression to 256kbps) - you will be amazed about the "difference".

Damn, you mean I'm going to have to re-rip all of my CDs? Oh well. Anything for better sound, right:

This should be a part of Jaguar, I see. I'll wait until that comes out. Presumably iTunes will be updated at the same time to take advantage of it. Any idea whether the new standard's file sizes are appreciably larger than, say, ripping a song at 160kbps?

I just ordered an iMic; I'll post a report when I get it up and running in a couple of days.

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally posted by onyxdr Damn, you mean I'm going to have to re-rip all of my CDs? Oh well. Anything for better sound, right: Any idea whether the new standard's file sizes are appreciably larger than, say, ripping a song at 160kbps?

I actually like the idea of a complete re-rip, as I have about 13GB of music on my iBook, and with AAC there will at least be a little bit more space.
As for the the size... well, 160kbps is 160kbps, no matter what format, but considering that a 256kbps AAC file sounds at least equivalent, if not even a hinch better than a 320kbps MP3 file (I have to take more time for comparing)...

 

[lini]

off topic...

Oliver: Btw, which version of the iBook have you got? I'm thinking about getting one for myself, but I wasn't too impressed with the display of the iBook 14,1" Combo. But I've heard that the 12,1"-panel should be a lot better, and the iBook 12,1" is even lighter and smaller - so I wonder whether that display rumour is true...

Anyway, it was nice to find out that the new iBook versions with Mobility Radeon are fairly capable of 3d games - especially because of the nicely interpolated 800x600 mode...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[onyxdr]

The iMic arrived in the mail today, and it solved the hissing problem completely. If you have a Macintosh and plan on listening to high-quality phones in relatively quiet settings, I'd really recommend plunking down $35 for this little gizmo.

Now, when my AirHead amp arrives we'll see how that works with the iMic.

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally posted by onyxdr Now, when my AirHead amp arrives we'll see how that works with the iMic.

*please* Let us know. The interference via the mini-to-mini keeps me from using the amp with the iBook most os the time, it just goes on my nerves. If the iMic is able to eliminate it, I'll get one.

 

[Matt]

So, besides the lack of hiss, has the iMic improved the sound in any way? Are the A/D's better, would you say, than the internal ones? If so, how so? Has it done anywhere near an Art DI/O-quality job?

- Sir Mister Matt

p.s. if you are running OS X, have you downloaded Internet Explorer v. 5.2.1 yet? The Quartz text smoothing is delicious.