Total Bit-head and Shure SE530

[Dreadhead]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone else that used a Total Bit Head and Shure SE530's has to use the Shure attenuator to get rid of the hiss or am I particularly sensitive? (I had e500s but the cord broke so now 530s

) I have to have the attenuator in (only on slightly) and the hiss goes away, I guess the amp was designed for a larger load. I've read a "famous" Stereophile reviewer say that he uses the TBH+E500 pair with no mention of this and I'd find it torture. On the other hand the sound with the amp does appear to be more open especially in the highs but the HISSSSSS.

Just an observation, has anyone else tried/noticed this?

Thanks,

 

[Dash]

If I remember correctly there is a selectable gain in the battery department. Also is the hiss with USB Dac or line in?

 

[Dreadhead]

The hiss is there on both gain settings (louder on high) with the e500's and the se530's when powered from the batteries with nothing connected just the amp turned on. This is my second tbh because the firs one had connection issues (Headroom replaced no problem, thanks!) and both of them did this. This his is not noticeable with my older Sony earbuds or any other headphones I've used but I can hear it loud and clear with the Shures which I find interesting. What I find most interesting is that it seems to pretty much disappear with a little more load (the attenuator) because once the attenuator is in I can turn the volume up to where it would absolutely drive me nuts and it's pretty much gone.

The optimum I've found is to keep the amp on low and with nothing connected and then turn up the attenuation until it's dead quiet.

Just wanted to see if anyone else had tried this or noticed this noise.

 

[double07]

I have older Total AirHead that I used with SE530. The SE530 is very sensitive. It brings up many hiss and noise on AirHead. It's so bad that I don't even use this combo any more. I guess SE530 is a good tool to test how good is the amp as far as noise floor? I don't have any other amp to test, I am waiting for my Pico. I've heard people said Pico has really low noise floor. We'll see about that. I think The Total AirHead used a cheap components, thats' the bottom line.