Excessive hissing in some tracks but not others?

[gallionetech]

MQA is a compression routine, are you using that?

Ooh yes I am

 

[Chrispy]

I doubt it's particularly audible, tho....

 

[gallionetech]

My A90D is on 80, high gain headphones are DCA Expanse. My D90SE is in DAC mode. Don't know if that helps to understand my listening volume though.

 

[gallionetech]

Tried it without MQA, same thing. Super weird

 

[Elitzur–Vaidman]

I just checked out Stairway and I think it's just a 'hissy' song.

 

[Holmz]

I just checked out Stairway and I think it's just a 'hissy' song.

Do you know how and why?

 

[gallionetech]

I think I'm just listening at louder than normal volumes potentially. My fiancee didn't think it was too loud but I just changed to filter 3 on the Topping D90SE and although it isn't as loud as the same sound level the hissing is almost nonexistant

 

[gallionetech]

I think I'm just listening at louder than normal volumes potentially. My fiancee didn't think it was too loud but I just changed to filter 3 on the Topping D90SE and although it isn't as loud as the same sound level the hissing is almost nonexistant

Is there anyway to see what dB level I'm actually playing at to determine if my ears are just bad and I'm playing at higher than normal levels lol?

 

[Holmz]

I think I'm just listening at louder than normal volumes potentially. My fiancee didn't think it was too loud but I just changed to filter 3 on the Topping D90SE and although it isn't as loud as the same sound level the hissing is almost nonexistant

The hissing will be the same on most of the songs on that LP.
Just when there is music, then it is masked.

And at some point the 100+ dB of SINAD is limited by the song which only has maybe 40-60dB of SINAD on the recording.
So a Topping of other high $$$ DAC is the same as a $50 DAC on those songs.

Is there anyway to see what dB level I'm actually playing at to determine if my ears are just bad and I'm playing at higher than normal levels lol?

The NIOSH iphone app is free. It may no be perfect, but as long as it is repeatable then you’re golden.
Make sure you put dB(A) or dB(C) depending on which you use.
Since there is little bass in that song, and since hissing is high freq… used dB(A).

 

[enricoclaudio]

Just turn on the Dolby NR function in your DAC

 

[majingotan]

Excessive hissing in some tracks but not others?​

The hissing is part of the audio track and not part of your system electronics if it only occurs with some audio tracks.

Can confirm this.

I hear it the most in the beginning of the song. I had my fiancee try it out and she agrees to make sure I'm not crazy lol.

Yes same results as USB, and also I had the same issue with my last AMP/DAC before I sent it back. None of the cables, or equipment is the same as my old setup. The only thing that is the same is the outlet it's plugged into.

Right now for example I'm listing to Flowers by Miley Cyrus which is 48kHz and absolutely no signs of hissing.

Switch back to All of me and there is a prominent hissing sound. Are you using Tidal?

I'm listening on that same exact deluxe edition album and with just my Apple EarPods, I can hear the hissing on the "All of me" from the beginning and during quiet passages

 

[kemmler3D]

All of Me by John Legend is a digital-era song for sure... but for some reason it does seem to have relatively high noise for a modern cut. Sounds like mic noise.

Stairway to Heaven remaster has some pretty audible hiss but nothing serious, higher than All of Me but not vastly so, good for the era.

If the noise floor is high enough to be distracting on these songs, I think there might be something wrong with your playback chain instead of the track TBH. They don't have markedly higher noise than any other digital track, from what I can hear on spotify thru a MOTU M2.

 

[Dunring]

I've had the exact same thing with Tidal tracks. Usually in the first 10 seconds there's an audible hiss and only half a dozen songs or so. Tried several amps and dacs, with and without mqa, same thing. If I got to YouTube music, the exact same song has no hiss. It's never after about the 10 second mark, but it's really noticable on those few songs.

 

[gallionetech]

All of Me by John Legend is a digital-era song for sure... but for some reason it does seem to have relatively high noise for a modern cut. Sounds like mic noise.

Stairway to Heaven remaster has some pretty audible hiss but nothing serious, higher than All of Me but not vastly so, good for the era.

If the noise floor is high enough to be distracting on these songs, I think there might be something wrong with your playback chain instead of the track TBH. They don't have markedly higher noise than any other digital track, from what I can hear on spotify thru a MOTU M2.

Its def not bad more so something i picked up when listening, just wanted to make sure its not something wrong with my setup.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

I have 1984 and 2014 CDs of Led Zep IV and also a 1990 "Remasters" CD and have just listened to all three. There is hiss, but it's relatively innocuous - nothing out of the ordinary for early 70s microphones, desks and tape.

Because of a lack of desk channels / tape tracks, complex pieces could be "bounced" from multiple tracks/channels down to 2 in order to free up tacks/channels for overdubs, each bounce increasing the noise floor. This may have happened here...

 

[dasdoing]

the standard is still(!) to throw tracks and/or 2-bus at any given point through analog gear to give it "that sound". some mastering engeniers go as far as throwing the stereo track of the mix trough a real tape recorder

 

[kemmler3D]

Its def not bad more so something i picked up when listening, just wanted to make sure its not something wrong with my setup.

If you want to hear actual bad recording quality check this out:

One of the best guitar players ever to walk the earth, and this is what we have... tragic... but also, at least we got this much.

 

[Holmz]

If you want to hear actual bad recording quality check this out:

One of the best guitar players ever to walk the earth, and this is what we have... tragic... but also, at least we got this much.

FCS - I don’t think that they had electric guitars when he played, let alone anything but wax and tape (and wire) recorders.
Certainly not digital recorders.
Even NASA was using tape in 60s.,, and it was state of the art.

 

[Dazerdoreal]

I heard a hiss on just a few tracks on my "Hifiman Deva Pro" for a long time. Just recently I found out that it came from a very small but high peak around 12khz on the left driver.

 

[kemmler3D]

FCS - I don’t think that they had electric guitars when he played, let alone anything but wax and tape (and wire) recorders.
Certainly not digital recorders.
Even NASA was using tape in 60s.,, and it was state of the art.

This was in the '30s, so you are correct. Still, I think the possibility of better audio existed in his day - he just never made it into a SOTA studio before he died.