[Skylab]

My PSBs do not hiss or buzz at all.

 

[MacedonianHero]

My PSBs do not hiss or buzz at all.

Yep...mine didn't either. Just a slight hiss when the NC circuitry was turned on.

 

[Jess70]

I can't believe such a small number of users here seem to find the hissing in active and ANC modes disturbing.

I bought the M4U2s yesterday and in passive mode they sound absolutely fantastic. I don't consider myself as an audiophile, I don't own other expensive audio equipment, but the difference in sound quality between these and e.g. Bose QC15s (which I tried out in a store) is enormous even to my ears.

However, immediately when I switch the amp on, the very loud hissing starts. It doesn't matter which audio source, if any, is connected - the same noise is there even if I unplug the cord from the headphone end. It even gets slightly worse when I switch to ANC, and gets an additional high-pitch buzz. Sure, if I turn the volume up, the hissing is covered by the music itself (how high volume is required depends on the music type), but still, after paying $400 for headphones which were supposed to reduce the noise and not increase it, I'm quite disappointed. After all, what I really wanted was the ability to listen to the music at low volume levels in airplane.

So, is it just that a) most people, even hardcore audiophiles, are not sensitive at all to hissing or buzzing sounds which do not belong to the music, or b) is my pair of M4U2s defective? 

I mean, should I try to get the headphones replaced - that is, is there anyone here who admits being sensitive to hissing but not hearing any from their M4U2s - or should I accept the fact that all headphones with built-in amp and/or ANC make some hissing sound and just go for passive in-ear models? On one hand it would sound very strange that people such as the professional reviewers of audio gear who are so sensitive to small nuances in sound and flatness of frequency response would not consider this level of hiss (that I have in my M4U2s) to be disruptive - on the other hand, at least one user on this thread who had the same problem already tried replacing his headset and experienced the same issue in the replacement unit, which would indicate that it's a subjective matter after all...

The hiss on mine with the circuitry turned on is barely audible. With music on I can't hear it at all. I have a pretty sensitive ear.

Yours must be defective. See about getting a new one. Try out a demo one if you went to a store. You should only barely hear a hiss when the music is off only. I would encourage you to not give up on these phones. I absolutely love mine. The sound is amazing for the price and closed back phones. I prefer these to much more expensive phones.

 

[ztsen]

my set, slight noise when amp is on. but not notice when music play.

 

[Jaggie]

I found a pair of demo M4U2s in a Best Buy store and it had exactly the same problem as mine. Even though the audio source itself had some noise (which was audible in passive mode as well) and the store environment was anything but silent, the additional hissing in active and ANC modes was very clear and the lowest volume levels of sample music did not cover it up.
 
I ended up returning the headphones because the store had none in the stock for replacement, but I think I'll have to buy them again from somewhere because I just can't believe that this hissing sound is something only I (and few others) can hear. It's not even very low or high frequency, I think it's quite "pure" white noise so it should't depend on your age whether you can hear it or not (I'm 28). 
 
I really hope that I was just very unlucky and both pairs I tried were somehow defective, and that most M4U2s don't have the hissing sound, at least not as loud. Otherwise I really don't know what to do - I'd be willing to pay double the price of M4U2s to get the same features and sound quality without the hiss, but would I still have any options?

 

[Jess70]

What source are you using ?  Maybe there is some feedback interferance with your source, especially if it is a smartphone.  Sometimes particular apps have been known to cause distortion or hissing with some electronic audio devices.  I remember reading in the HiFi M8 forum that a similar thing happened with a particular app running in the background.

 

[Jaggie]

I did use smartphone (Nokia Lumia 1020) as a source, but it can't be the reason because even if I unplugged the cord from the headphones the hissing in active and ANC modes remained exactly the same. In the passive mode, there was absolutely no hiss or distortion even when the music was playing.

 

[musicisthekey]

I had two pairs of M4U 2's and both had a slight hiss with the amp on while the music was not playing. However, it was still there on very quiet passages as well. That's the reason why I sold them. Your headphones are not defective. It's the way they are designed.

 

[Jaggie]

That's disappointing to hear. Which model did you then buy instead? Are there any over-the-ear headphones with as good sound quality and decent noise cancelling? In any price range?

 

[musicisthekey]

I haven't bought a different pair yet. I want to audition T51p and Bowers P7's. Momentums and M500's weren't to my liking.

 

[Jess70]

Good luck in your search. I love the sound of my PSB's. I preferred them in a head-to-head vs the momentum's and the P-5's. I have heard good things about the P-7's. All of those have lower impedance than the PSB's without the amplification.

 

[Craigster75]

Good luck in your search. I love the sound of my PSB's. I preferred them in a head-to-head vs the momentum's and the P-5's. I have heard good things about the P-7's. All of those have lower impedance than the PSB's without the amplification.

Check out the NAD HP50.  Only passive isolation, but similar sound to the M4U2.

 

[dleblanc343]

For all you hockey fans out there... (if there are any)
 
Here's P.K Subban repping for PSB.
 

These headphones are coming back to our store as a demo unit, since we loaned it out to the company. Guess I'm going to have to get the M4U's and HAVE to get a signature!

 

[KLJTech]

I heard these for the first time last night while shopping for a new large screen TV at Best Buy. They were next to one of their two higher end sound rooms (which I didn't even know they had), and I put them on while waiting for my purchase to be rung up and was really blown away by the sound with the amp on but the noise cancellation turned off. I really like that you can listen to them in passive mode, with the built in amp on but w/o noise cancellation or with the amp and noise cancellation on. 
 
I have no idea if the headphones are truly THAT good or if its simply due to them playing a certain selection of music that really shines with those headphones or any other headphone they sold on that wall...they were next to the B&W P5's. The PSB M4U2 were attached to the unit that only allows you to select play and volume up or down but they certainly did sound incredible. I don't own any closed back can's and have no need for noise cancellation BUT these having me seriously considering adding them to my headphone collection.
 
I'm really curious if the PSB are truly great for the money or are simply nice but sounded great with the music they were set up top play. It may be that I was SO tired of dealing with sales people that any good sounding headphone would have been a wonderful break at that time...I have a feeling that the PSB is something special though. I'd love to see a review of them compared to other cans in their price range like the HE-400's, AKG's...something along those lines and based only on SQ as I couldn't care less about noise cancellation.

 

[Jess70]

I absolutely love the sound of my PSB's. To me they don't sound colored at all. For my taste they have just enough treble to have sparkle without siblence, walking that fine line. The bass is true to the recording. Songs with heavy bass give accurate and deep bass and sub-bass without bleeding into the mids. Other songs make you wonder what happened to the bass. (It wasn't produced with heavy bass.). The detail is amazing, yet they are still musical. They sound good with a wide range of music from rock to classical to jazz to folk. Acoustic guitars women's voices and snare drums sound especially good on these phones.

To me the drawbacks are that they are ugly and the active mode has a very slight background hiss. However I don't notice it with most music playing. Some find them uncomfortable. However, they are comfortable to me.

Many love the SQ of this headphone. I prefer them to some headphones 2-3 times their price. I am a fan-boy (if you can't tell!). This combo review is what made me try them. It is a headphone-off with many respected reviewers voting. An interesting read that reviews many headphones in the $300-$400 range.

http://m.thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-300ish-headphone/