[Chinchy]

Argh, my headphones are driving me nuts! So I'm looking for a new pair of headphones. To clarify, I love all my current headphones, but they all have a common problem. I'm not sure what the technical reasoning is, but I'm guessing either they are too low impedance or too high sensitivity.

On some of my amps, particularly the Total Bithead, and to a lesser extent on my freshly modded SHA-1, I hear a lot of hiss and noise in the background. It's particularly worse on the Senn HD25-1, and on the Ety 4P's. When the music is playing, it fades away, but psychologically speaking, I know it's there and it's really adding a level of frustration. And while I enjoy the music, it's gotten to the point where I'm looking for something that will attenuate out the noise. And I think the high impedance phones are where it's at. Oh, and I want to be able to wear the headphones for more than 2 hours at a time, because the Grados, God bless them, make my ears sore.

This will primarily be used at work, the main requirements are:
- Cannot hear the hiss/power noise from the Total Bithead.
- Comfortable. I'm talking 8 hours comfortable.
- Grado-like sound. I'm not a fan of wide soundstages, nor of boring sound. I want to groove.

Cans I have found not to my taste in the past (i.e. don't recommend it):
- Sony CD3000
- Sennheiser HD600

Cans I am currently considering:
- Beyerdynamic DT531
- Sennheiser HD595

Anyone have any info to share / cans to recommend? Please help put me out of my misery...

( or alternatively, suggest a low-to-no noise sound card that can be paired with a laptop, that will drive the Senn HD-25-1 without annoying me. I can live without the TBH if need be since I also have a META42 at work).

 

[wallijonn]

Take the amp, short the inputs. is the hiss still there? Turn up the volume to max. Is there hiss?

Do you know what I mean by "short the inputs? It means that you have to but rca plugs and solder the signal wire to the ground. You then remove the RCA cables from your CD player and insert the shorted plugs.

If the hiss goes away, the problem is downstream. Changing over to other RCA cables may help.

If the hiss does not go away it could be diode switching noise. But first you'll need to go to the opposite side of the house and try another AC outlet.

If it is still there then you will need to try different impedance headphones.

 

[Kirosia]

If it's not your amp, it could be your source. If your using your amp/phones from the jack of yourcomputer or a low-quality soundcard, there's gonna be hiss. My laptop and desktop have a lot of hiss from their stock soundcard/headphone jack. A LOT of hiss.Make sure there isn't anything interfering with the signal. Could even be a software component

OR, it could be the recording. If it's a badly recorded mp3 or messed up cd, that could be it. Or maybe the song was just recorded badly.

 

[go_vtec]

This is a tough one

Both Meta and TBH (also TAH) produce audible background hiss. Hiss/hum is more noticeable with low impedance cans, but can be heard using high impedance cans. Of course, some phones make these hums even worse. There are some amps I know of immune to these hums/hiss (assuming your source is up to the challenge), but they do cost heck of lot more than these portables (some of them are Headroom Max, Prehead, V2-SE, ...).

I'm using Yamaha DP-U50 with my labtop and it's virtually silent with most of phones I owned when paired up with descent soild-state amps.

 

[raif]

I would also suggest a better source. I am using the headphone/line out of the m-audio transit and it isn't half bad.

 

[Chinchy]

It's not the source. It's the amp. Even with nothing connected as a source, the hiss is still there. Even if the volume is set to 0, the hiss is still there. The only time the hiss goes away is when the headphone is unplugged from the amp.

Also, when I connect my Meta to the same source (Laptop), there is no audible hiss except at really high volumes. So at the very least, I can always fall back on the Meta, at which point, yes I'm dealing with soundcard issues. But I'd still hate to waste the investment on the TBH. And we could all use another pair of headphones right?

Wallijohn: I would try shorting the plugs, but even if nothing is connected there is still noise. And for the TBH, the noise is there whether I run off USB power or off batteries with no external power source. I'm pretty sure it's the amp.

Edit: I'm not planning on getting a dedicated source for work. I'm happy with the laptop..

 

[raif]

i am sorry, when I said source I meant the TBH, which is said to have hiss issues.

 

[Chinchy]

Nooooo..... Not the TBH... nooooooooOO . I want to like it, really I do. Surely there must be some headphones that attenuate out the hiss... Surely!

 

[lindrone]

I think it's more of an amp issue than anything else. I would just use a different amp instead of acquiring some other headphone which may or may not be your taste anyway.

 

[wallijonn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chinchy The only time the hiss goes away is when the headphone is unplugged from the amp.

Well, duh.

You'll need to listen to the amp in the middle of the night with everything turned off elsewhere in the house.

Now, if you are using batteries - are they fresh batteries? I can see where the CD3000 could cause problems, though. Then it may point to an impedance imbalance. I wonder if a high pass filter would help.

Yeah, sounds like you may need a better amp. Hiss is probably 1 reason that these guys are paying $300 for AC cords.

 

[ReDVsion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallijonn K1000 - THE goovelisers.

Off topic, did you misspell 'groovalizers' intentionally?

Team Grammar Nazi

 

[raif]

When I was having hiss issues with the ppa these headphones completely removed any hint of hiss.

Sennheiser hd650.
Philips hp890

Now the senn hd595 have a similiar impedence as the philips, if their sensitivity is similarly matched and the hiss in the TBH is like the ppa then you should have no problems with them. I would suggest picking up the 595 at a place with a return policy(headroom) and if it hisses, then its their dang fault and you won't feel bad about returning the phones.

 

[raif]

or....


I can swing by with my ps-1s and if no hiss, then you know what to buy.

 

[Chinchy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raif or.... I can swing by with my ps-1s and if no hiss, then you know what to buy.

You sir, are evil. Very evil. But either way, aren't the PS-1s approximately equal to the other Grados in terms of impedance and sensitivity? Anyways, I still want it.

And lindrone:
Quote:

Originally Posted by lindrone I would just use a different amp instead of acquiring some other headphone which may or may not be your taste anyway.

Uhm, yes. Okay Mr. "I'm going to buy the Yamaha RH5MA for Silent-services even though I already have the kings of IEM."
Hahahah!

So.... barring buying another amp... HD595 or DT531?

 

[raif]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chinchy So.... barring buying another amp... HD595 or DT531?

I couldn't stand the dt531. I listened to them at the local meet a while ago and it took all of five seconds before I took them off my head. Even the cd3k through the headphone out of the d25s stood up longer than these phones through a very good source and amp.(i think utep10s pioneer elite and either the grace or something similar) The issue? brittle, harsh highs. The difference, the dt531 tries to hide them with sloppy bass. IMHO

Of course this is the same meet I heard the ps-1 and hp1000 for the first time, so take of it what you will.

Get the 595 with the return policy and then invite me over for a mini-meet. Or we can just crash ayt999's crib, which is quite pimp.