[reticon]

I currently have the se535 and while I love the sound, I have to use the attenuator with whatever I plug it into because of the hiss from the source. My laptop, iPod, Tablet, etc. I understand that this is normal, but what about on the se215? Would it have as much hiss as the se535? Reduced or completely gone?

 

[DaBomb77766]

If you ask me, downgrading to the SE215 is silly.  I'd suggest just trying out a different, less cheap IEM...not sure which ones in particular are less likely to hiss in that price range though.  I'd suggest the GR07 myself, since I haven't really heard much else in that performance tier.

 

[Jeremypsp]

 
Quote:

I currently have the se535 and while I love the sound, I have to use the attenuator with whatever I plug it into because of the hiss from the source. My laptop, iPod, Tablet, etc. I understand that this is normal, but what about on the se215? Would it have as much hiss as the se535? Reduced or completely gone?

 
Thought you had the SE425s? 

 

[Mooses9]

 
Quote:

I currently have the se535 and while I love the sound, I have to use the attenuator with whatever I plug it into because of the hiss from the source. My laptop, iPod, Tablet, etc. I understand that this is normal, but what about on the se215? Would it have as much hiss as the se535? Reduced or completely gone?

 
have you tried different sources/amps to see if there is a difference with the hiss? normally its the source or amp that is causing that hiss.
 
imo that would be insane to go from the 535 to the 215 and there isnt any certainty that you wont still see that hiss.
 
imo and my expierence i believe that hiss is a cause of the cable, i have switched cables on the 535 and noticed a difference sonically, no hiss and a more black imagine rendered without that hiss. im not saying buy a cable. but the 535 are pretty sensitive and do seem to pick up on lower quality amps and sources...

 

[ProjectDenz]

 
Quote:

 
 
have you tried different sources/amps to see if there is a difference with the hiss? normally its the source or amp that is causing that hiss.
 
imo that would be insane to go from the 535 to the 215 and there isnt any certainty that you wont still see that hiss.
 
imo and my expierence i believe that hiss is a cause of the cable, i have switched cables on the 535 and noticed a difference sonically, no hiss and a more black imagine rendered without that hiss. im not saying buy a cable. but the 535 are pretty sensitive and do seem to pick up on lower quality amps and sources...

 

It could be that the cable has a higher impedance.

 

[Leo888]

I don't recall getting hiss from my 535 with the Iphone 3Gs, Iphone 4, Clip Zip, Fiio E7 and the Cowon J3. There's a lot of report about hiss with the 535 but it don't seems to notice it. Am I missing something here?

 

[kawazydude]

i have the se535ltd and the se215, and lemme be the first to tell you that there is absolutely no difference in the amount of hiss.  thus, how much hiss you get will depend completely on your other components.  the se earphones are all very sensitive, so there does tend to be some hiss.  to reduce it, you need to get a good headphone dac/amp that has a low noise floor and one that accomodates for sensitive iems like the shures.  for example, i use a nuforce udac-2 and hdp.  but i noticed that the hdp has a louder noise floor than the udac-2, even though i'm sure the dac on the hdp is far better than the udac's.  as a result, i always plug my shures into the udac rather than the hdp even when i'm at home. but interestingly, i get more hiss when i plug my shures into the hdp than i do when i plug them into my laptop!  so best to worst in terms of low hiss when using iems for me would be udac-2, laptop, and hdp.  i think the hdp wasn't really meant to be used with iems but headphones. 
 
and like everyone else said, downgrading to the se215 is definitely a bad bad move.  don't get me wrong, the se215 is awesome bang for your buck.  but once i got the se535... o boy... i was in another world

 

[Glow Fish]

I have the SE425s and have never noticed any hiss from my iPhone or Cowon S9.  Weird that some people experience hiss from the same components.

 

[Mooses9]

its not the iem's themselves even though the iem's may be sensitive. personally i noticed difference in the noise floor going from the se535-v to the se535-ltd-j with my zune hd...when i switched to the dream aftermarket cable. there was no hiss or noise.
 
personally i think its the cables from shure that produce this hiss on the noise floor.
 
also agree that it can also be produced by low end amplification or low end audio sources. but i found the shure se535 to be pretty transparent and forgiving when it comes to lower end amps and sources... just my expierence

 

[reticon]

Well it seems it is indeed my source. So I guess now is that hard question. I like the feel of the Shure / Westone style IEMs, but I need something for on the go with my Galaxy S. I was thinking maybe the Westone 1 would have the least hiss? 
 
I tested the se535's with my laptop and the hiss was mildly annoying, but not bad. On my desktop with X-Fi sound card it is barely audible.
 
I really hate the options of an attenuator. I tried the one that came with the se535s and sure, it works, no hiss, but also less sound quality. Seems dumb to spend $$$ for these IEMS and then have to use an attenuator, thus defeating your purpose. 
 
I was thinking perhaps something inferior in sound quality, but not total crap, ie - Westone W1 perhaps?

 

[DaBomb77766]

I think in that price bracket you might want to look at something from the likes of Vsonic rather than Westone - Westone has excellent higher-end IEMs but their lower-end ones usually fail to compete with the lower-end ones from Chinese companies.

 

[Mooses9]

Why not get a amp of decent quality this will rid the hiss from your source

 

[jlbrach]

It is a function of the 535 simply being more efficient....my 535 plays louder and has more hiss than my westone 4 for example and in some cases it is good and in some it is bad...i use an amp with my westone 4 and my etymotic's but not with my 535's....

 

[reticon]

I've been thinking about it. I worry an amp would make the base volume level even higher and I've always got it on 1 or 2 most of the time, plenty loud for me... or am I thinking about this the wrong way?
 
Also, does USB out to an amp basically bypass the source making it more of a file storage & playing device with all of the audio coming from the amp as far as quality goes?

 

[ZARIM]

The Sony EX7550, Sony XB3, XB4, Etymotic HF5, Klipsch Image X5, Yamaha EPH100 are better sounding for the price and almost no hiss.