[itsborken]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Head_case /img/forum/go_quote.gif Me too. I love the 1933 recordings of Beethoven's string quartets done by the Busch Quartet. The hiss is really there and the thin two dimensional squeaking of the violins palpable like Mickey mouse agonising in a trap. Even that can't dissuade from the phenomenal playing! Didn't any of you ever listen to cassette tapes? Dolby B and C weren't all they were cracked up to be...hiss all around

Yes and I owned a reel-to-reel in the late 70s too. That doesn't make old recordings less fatiguing compared to more recent works. I'm not saying they aren't enjoyable, just that I can't sit and listen to too many recordings in sequence before I have to take a break.

 

[dallan]

No hiss. See signature for current setup.

 

[A_Dying_Wren]

The simplest rigs have no hiss too. Mine's just a Sansa Clip+ -> UM3X. I would feel robbed and ripped off if I bought an amp that hissed. Absolutely cannot stand it. I shouldn't have to listen to certain types of music to avoid it.

 

[kunalraiker]

I use Sennheiser HD 25-1 II with iBasso D4 and a portable mp3 player , have never heard a hiss.

 

[Prog Rock Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hockeyb213 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If hiss is enough to be heard at all while music is playing it affects my enjoyment for sure.

I have been listening out for hiss more now. It is clearest at the end of tracks where the recording ends just after the last note is played. Then it stops during the pause between tracks.

That is fine, but like you hearing hiss during a track is annoying.

 

[unclejr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Punnisher /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most portable players have too much hiss for sensitive iems like the westone um2 and other low impedance/high sensitivity earphones. Many amps have a very low noise floor which is a great thing for iem use. It's unfortunate that amps are needed for some earphones. In my opinion, all iems should be over 100 ohms or be designed with low sensitivity to make amplifiers optional.

I wonder if the Westones need such a high sensitivity for some technical reason or if they could have been designed either with a higher impedance or lower sensitivity. Still not sure exactly how those two measurements relate to the output SPL, I mean quantitatively.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrGreen /img/forum/go_quote.gif There aren't enough options on the poll. Although not completely black, I find that hiss becomes inaudible (i.e. < 0 dB) with ER4P (and even moreso with ER4S eidit: woops bad english. I mean I can turn it to higher levels with the S without hiss on blank tracks) when listening at 1 tick up from mute (which is loud enough for me).

MrGreen, I'm not sure I follow. I'm failing in reading comprehension!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Punnisher /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Tomahawk has a very clean output and does not hiss with the UM2 (which I believe is one of the most sensitive earphones around). The player that has the least amount of hiss is the ipod classic, though that hardly matters because the volume doesn't go low enough. The lowest tick is too loud with the UM2.

I vaguely remember this when I had my Tomahawk and the ER-4p, but the ER-4p also did not hiss terribly from the iPod out, if I recall correctly. And anyway, the impedance adapter always was an option that helped and did not hurt the ER-4 sound. But if the UM2 does not hiss with the Tomahawk, I might have to revisit the Tomahawk soon. Here's to hoping my forthcoming Shadow doesn't hiss.

 

[rasmushorn]

I can't live with HISS. I get really angry and will not listen to it. My LISA III has a complete black background with fullsize cans.

 

[ChuckWang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclejr /img/forum/go_quote.gif So the hiss in older recordings is one thing. I'll deal with that, since it's better to listen to a bad recording of excellent music than not hear the music at all.

Amen! : )

 

[MacedonianHero]

Absolutely zero hiss with my Hornet...it's one incredible portable amp. I do hear it somewhat with my Total Bithead.

 

[unclejr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacedonianHero /img/forum/go_quote.gif Absolutely zero hiss with my Hornet...it's one incredible portable amp. I do hear it somewhat with my Total Bithead.

What earphones?

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclejr /img/forum/go_quote.gif What earphones?

Check my signature...all of them.

 

[paulybatz]

Well your poll question is loaded a bit...I agree with Jam here;

"I don't like hiss and won't put up with it."

I have had several lower end amps that had slight hiss or background noise, for whatever reason...as you move up in quality of amplifier you will find it is more about what you do not hear that makes a difference. I had a conversation about this last year about darkness or how black is the sound, when there is silence in the music (controlling for bad recording, as your sound and listening pleasure is limited by the quality of the source), it should be totally black or silent. Which is why the LISAIII wins for me, when it is black, there is nothing, zero

 

[fatman]

nobody like hiss. But it seems the high resolution DAPs are reported has some levels hiss, such as Sony X, Cowon D2, AMP3. So to pair suitable earphone is the most important matter to avoid hiss. As for AMP3, I can't hear any hiss with the stock earphones, ER4 and other many earphons.

By the way, different person has different hiss sensitivity. This is very important to select the correct one for oneself.

 

[iamthecheese]

My home rig doesn't hiss any, and for portable my archos or fuze straight to my tf10s is hissless, but if I put a Fiio e5 in there the hiss bugs the crap out of me.

 

[swanlee]

I have NO hiss in my setup

Zune-->XM5 portable amp--->Atrio M5 IEM

If your going to spend some decent money on a portable setup there is no reason you need to deal with hiss in the background.