[dougwx12]

For the E4/E4C owners out there:

I know the 1G shuffle hisses like a beast with these phones (I have them both.) I've read that the 2G shuffle has a similar problem.

How about other ipod models, using the stock headphone out?

 

[GreatDane]

I have a 2G shuffle and 80 GB iPod and neither one gives me any noticable hiss with E4 using headphone out when listening to music. When the shuffle is on and music paused there is a very, very slight hiss, nothing abnormal. Am I just lucky?

 

[dougwx12]

That slight hiss is what I'm talking about. Drives me crazy during quiet passages.

Chances are it's not that you're lucky; just that I'm spoiled. My HR-2 is dead silent in similar circumstances.

How's the 80g ipod?

 

[GreatDane]

The hiss with my shuffle is so slight that I don't notice it even with quiet passages, I had to really listen to hear what people were talking about. I would have never noticed it.

I really haven't noticed any hiss with my 80 GB. If it's there it isn't anything that would ever bother me.

You must have really good ears.

 

[richsto]

I use the E4 with a 5.5G 30GB Ipod and haven't noticed any signfianct hiss. If I turn the volume up greater than 3/4 of the way I can hear some hiss without anything playing - otherwise it's hiss free. I'm very picky and this really hasn't been an issue with this combination.

As a side note, I only use the E4's in noisy environments so they don't get the use my Grados do but overall I'm farily pleased with the E4s. Not the end all, especially in upper frequency detail but very pleasant to listen to. I wish I could afford an IEM of truly reference quality.

Good Luck.

Rich

 

[dougwx12]

Thanks, that's exactly the feedback I was looking for. Anyone tried the E4's and the latest nano?

richtso - I'm in the same boat. Eerily the same boat, as my main listening is also done with Grados. The E4's are solely for when I want to block out the world, which is much rarer.

 

[nothingman]

Never experienced dramatic hiss with my E4's and my 3G ipod. I quite liked the pairing, actually.

 

[abitdeef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dougwx12 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks, that's exactly the feedback I was looking for. Anyone tried the E4's and the latest nano? richtso - I'm in the same boat. Eerily the same boat, as my main listening is also done with Grados. The E4's are solely for when I want to block out the world, which is much rarer.

There is a touch less hiss with the new nano and my E500s, but I prefer the depth and soundstage of the 5.5 pod.

 

[bcwang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dougwx12 /img/forum/go_quote.gif That slight hiss is what I'm talking about. Drives me crazy during quiet passages. Chances are it's not that you're lucky; just that I'm spoiled. My HR-2 is dead silent in similar circumstances. How's the 80g ipod?

I've got a 5G video ipod and it hisses with the E4. I also tried it on the latest nano and it also hisses. In fact, my XP-7 with AD797 also hisses with my e4 so I'm surprised your HR-2 doesn't. Er, or maybe it was the volume was too great with the XP-7 before the channels equalized which is why I don't use the XP-7 with them. I can't remember exactly now since I haven't used them together since I realized the combo won't work for one reason or the other. The only thing I've tried that does not hiss the slightest bit with the E4 is the tomahawk.

 

[hawkhkg11]

The hiss is because the impedance of the IEM is really low so it picks up the inherent noise in the crappy built in dac/amp. I bought one of these and it worked perfectly:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

Local radio shack should have one.

It lets you attenuate the volume until the hiss disappears, and then you just need to turn up the volume on the player a little. Now quiet passages are hiss free.

 

[mrsmr2]

It's very low level on my D2 but there is some hiss there.

My E4Gs came with an attenuator so I could follow the above post to remove this hiss. I'm not sure what else the attenuator is removing from the sound so I think I will steer clear.

 

[dougwx12]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcwang /img/forum/go_quote.gif In fact, my XP-7 with AD797 also hisses with my e4 so I'm surprised your HR-2 doesn't. Er, or maybe it was the volume was too great with the XP-7 before the channels equalized which is why I don't use the XP-7 with them. I can't remember exactly now since I haven't used them together since I realized the combo won't work for one reason or the other.

Oh yeah, way too easy to get Ray's amps too loud with the E4's. At first, I could only move the volume pot about half a millimeter before it wanted to blow my ears out, and that was too low to get things equalized properly, as you said.

Since I only listen to Grado's and the E4's on my HR-2, I asked Ray to lower the gain on it, which he did happily. Did the trick nicely. No hiss at normal listening levels, and all is happy. And I still can't turn it up all the way even with power hungry Senn HD600's, so I'm not missing the higher gain at all.