Skylab
Reviewerus Prolificus
My PSBs do not hiss or buzz at all.
My PSBs do not hiss or buzz at all.
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...
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.
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