Pathos Aurium anyone?

[Skylab]

Has anyone had a noisy background with low impedance cans and the Aurium? I tried out the TH900 with the Aurium and I get an annoying amount of white noise an ringing. Same with Sennheiser HD598.
It is very clear, kind of ethereal, maybe too lean for some tastes. It is not too warm neither too soft in the bass despite the tubes, it just conveys the tone and texture of tubes. Bass is surprisingly tight, though still somehow delicate.

Sounds like a tube issue to me. Maybe you got a noisy set. I never had that problem with the Pathos, but getting a noisy tube is certainly not uncommon. Is the noise in both channels?

 

[Puzzles]

The hissing is always there and loud. I've rolled so many pairs and even the 6N23P-EV won't silence it. I only found that some noisy tubes just make it worse. So it's likely not the tubes.
But I also get a high-pitched tinnitus-like whistling on one channel. It persists regardless of tubes and volume/gain level. That can't be tube-related.
The strange thing is that the people at Pathos couldn't hear the noise – or they think that this amount of noise is normal, since they told me they deemed the noise level to be OK. Still discussing with them, hope they find a way to fix it.

 

[Skylab]

A couple of other questions...do you hear it at any volume level? And when the source is switched off?

 

[WILLIAMD]

  The hissing is always there and loud. I've rolled so many pairs and even the 6N23P-EV won't silence it. I only found that some noisy tubes just make it worse. So it's likely not the tubes.
But I also get a high-pitched tinnitus-like whistling on one channel. It persists regardless of tubes and volume/gain level. That can't be tube-related.
The strange thing is that the people at Pathos couldn't hear the noise – or they think that this amount of noise is normal, since they told me they deemed the noise level to be OK. Still discussing with them, hope they find a way to fix it.

does it exist in right channel?

 

[Puzzles]

A couple of other questions...do you hear it at any volume level? And when the source is switched off?

 
Oops, didn't see your post until I got a notification of williamd's post. It is audible at all volume levels and when all inputs are plugged off. It definitely comes from the amp itself. 
 

  does it exist in right channel?

 
Yes it is. Do you get the same whining with your Aurium?

 

[WILLIAMD]

Just got mine 2 days ago. I do hear that but the seller told me that's normal for this amp at beginning. Since the demo in store has a greatly dark ground, I'd like to run it for days and hope this could help. Besides, the seller promised that if this issue continues he will deal with it as warranty. 

 

[WILLIAMD]

   
Oops, didn't see your post until I got a notification of williamd's post. It is audible at all volume levels and when all inputs are plugged off. It definitely comes from the amp itself. 
 
 
Yes it is. Do you get the same whining with your Aurium?

seems only when I quote that is a notification : /
my reply is above

 

[Puzzles]

Funny that the dealer says that whining is normal. The guys at Pathos said it's the first time that they hear about such noise.

 

[WILLIAMD]

Funny that the dealer says that whining is normal. The guys at Pathos said it's the first time that they hear about such noise.

So your amp doesn't become better after running several weeks?

 

[Puzzles]

In my particular case, no, it hasn't changed.

 

[WILLIAMD]

  In my particular case, no, it hasn't changed.

Hope it's not some error during prodoction
 
Besides, at least u can tell those guys in Pathos u r not the only one hear this noise LOL

 

[MozartMan1201]

In the beginning I got some (very faint) noise on my unit also but I simply attributed it to the tubes.  Then I played with the gain & volume settings and it's all good and silent now.  First, you turn the volume knob to half way 50% and the gain control to minimum, then you GRADUALLY turn up the gain until you hear a noise.  You need to repeat this calibration with each headphone.  For my AKG K812 (36 ohms), I found optimal gain at 2 o'clock position.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Audeze's new King Amplifier has the same 2-tube hybrid/MOSFET architecture as the Pathos Aurium and reportedly sounds X-times better.  But the $3999 price tag.. Ouch! 

 

[WILLIAMD]

  In the beginning I got some (very faint) noise on my unit also but I simply attributed it to the tubes.  Then I played with the gain & volume settings and it's all good and silent now.  First, you turn the volume knob to half way 50% and the gain control to minimum, then you GRADUALLY turn up the gain until you hear a noise.  You need to repeat this calibration with each headphone.  For my AKG K812 (36 ohms), I found optimal gain at 2 o'clock position.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Audeze's new King Amplifier has the same 2-tube hybrid/MOSFET architecture as the Pathos Aurium and reportedly sounds X-times better.  But the $3999 price tag.. Ouch! 

Thx for ur reply. But the noise in my unit doesnt change with gain or volume. And I already get a new one as warranty which has dark background now : )
 
Besides, I use it to drive K812 too and really like the sound

 

[Abuhannibal]

I have one on order from Echo Hifi. Will be about 3 weeks before I get it, but will report on how it works/sounds with Senn HD-650's and Denon AH-D7000's.

 

[MozartMan1201]

  I have one on order from Echo Hifi. Will be about 3 weeks before I get it, but will report on how it works/sounds with Senn HD-650's and Denon AH-D7000's.

 
I sometimes use HD600 on my Aurium and frankly it's not my favorite pairing because you're hooking up a very warm headphone to a very warm tube amp.  I like my K812 + Aurium much better... The cleaner, more analytical sound of the AKG warms up nicely on the Aurium.  I've compared the K812+Aurium with K812+Oppo Amp setup and liked the tube sound better...there's less 'glare' in the orchestral strings and you get a really gorgeous lush string sound.
 
Just my $0.02.  I only listen to acoustic music (Classical/opera).