[refault]

Is this normal (at the highest volume) connected to my computer rig? Is it because of the gain?

 

[raisin]

Yes, you might perceive a slight hiss at volume levels that you could never experience (more than once). Don't let it bother you.

 

[Jahn]

yep same here - if you turn it ALL the way up, you can hear hiss, and from my magwires IC you can hear the lil electromagnetic warbles when you move the cables to and fro from the CRT computer monitor here. but when you turn it down to listenable levels none of that shows up - and it probably doesn't affect the sound quality enough to make my ears notice.

 

[markl]

You may also be amplifying the noise floor of the source signal (your computer), it may not necessarily be the amp. But all components have a noise floor. If you crank the volume on any device, at some point you will start to hear background hiss that will get louder as you turn up the volume.

 

[Ray Samuels]

Quote:

Originally Posted by refault Is this normal (at the highest volume) connected to my computer rig? Is it because of the gain?

Hi refault...
At that high volume with out any signal going through, you are amplifying the noise of your sound card which includes all the digital noise & the op-amps that usually are on your card, specially using high sensative cans. If you unplug the amp from the computer while the volume is all the way up you will find that the hiss is gone. Always make sure that you have plenty of output, signal, coming from your computer (as a volume control) this way you have higher signal to noise which means in this case that the SR-71's volume control is much lowered. If you limit the volume on your source & try to push the SR-71 to amplify very little (weak) in coming signal the result would be noisy & a lot of hiss, as signal to noise is very close to each others.
Good luck.
Ray Samuels

Thanks.
Ray Samuels

 

[refault]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Samuels Hi refault... At that high volume with out any signal going through, you are amplifying the noise of your sound card which includes all the digital noise & the op-amps that usually are on your card, specially using high sensative cans. If you unplug the amp from the computer while the volume is all the way up you will find that the hiss is gone. Always make sure that you have plenty of output, signal, coming from your computer (as a volume control) this way you have higher signal to noise which means in this case that the SR-71's volume control is much lowered. If you limit the volume on your source & try to push the SR-71 to amplify very little (weak) in coming signal the result would be noisy & a lot of hiss, as signal to noise is very close to each others. Good luck. Ray Samuels Thanks. Ray Samuels

Hi Ray, thanks for making a great product + time to respond to my thread.

If I raise the output volume on my card wouldn't I have to worry about clipping? Also, I do get a "very slight" hiss with no input connected to the amp (which increases when there is an input.) This is all at the highest volume setting on the SR-71.

 

[Ray Samuels]

The SR-71 will take very high p-p signal up to 4-6 volts with out clipping or destortion. As to little hiss with your sensative ear canal phones at the highest level of volume control is due to the ear phones. You can put the volume on your computer all the way up & try it, as I don't believe your card has higher output than what is mentioned above.
Cheers.
Ray Samuels

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Actually, some soundcard outputs clip badly at relatively low volume settings. I know for a fact that the line outs of the Sound Blaster Audigy series of soundcards clip noticeably at just above 60% of maximum volume.

Quote:

Originally Posted by refault If I raise the output volume on my card wouldn't I have to worry about clipping?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Samuels You can put the volume on your computer all the way up & try it, as I don't believe your card has higher output than what is mentioned above.