Studio monitor speakers without hiss?

[Robh3606]

My JBL 308 Mk2's are just fine. Only hear hiss 1-2 inches away. Being driven by an I-Pod through an active crossover.

Rob

 

[stevenswall]

My JBL 308 Mk2's are just fine. Only hear hiss 1-2 inches away. Being driven by an I-Pod through an active crossover.

Rob

Those do have hiss and I can hear it from feet away in a quiet room. The Mackie HR824 hisses less, and so do the new Kali's.

 

[Robh3606]

Those do have hiss and I can hear it from feet away in a quiet room. The Mackie HR824 hisses less, and so do the new Kali's.

Well maybe the system you heard them in has more noise/hiss than mine?? Mine are using balanced cables out of an active crossover. All speakers/systems hiss, just depends on how objectionable it is. Mine are fine at a reasonable listening distance. Even when I had them as desk tops they were OK. They have more hiss than my larger system in comparison but nothing I can't live with. And yes my hearing has been tested and it's normal no HF loss.

So my advice would be audition any of these active systems for yourself to see if you personally have an issue.

For you it is and for me it's not. So don't use them.

Rob

 

[stevenswall]

Well maybe the system you heard them in has more noise/hiss than mine??

That's why I disconnect them from all input sources, and I've also tried shorting the inputs.

Doesn't make a difference.

Hiss wise from worst to best:
Kali First Wave
JBL LSR 308
Mackie HR 824
Kali Second Wave
Genelec 8000 series
Devialet Phantom Reactor

The last one may have been muting when the input was too low, but for hiss if someone is sensitive to it I'd get the second wave Kali's or Genelec monitors and avoid JBL and the first wave of Kali monitors.

Here's a video of some additional speakers and their relative hiss.

 

[Adi777]

avoid JBL

I hope, than JBL 708P are silent.

 

[stevenswall]

I hope, than JBL 708P are silent.

They are nearly silent. Neumann makes some even quieter.

 

[Adi777]

They are nearly silent. Neumann makes some even quieter.

Of course, from circa 1.7 meter they are totally silent, right? I hope so.

 

[dimezis]

Thanks for all the replies! I will contact Neumann support and post the results.

I walked around the apartment holding them and could not hear any obvious changes. Also, turning various other devices (LED driver, chargers) on and off does not affect the hiss. Wrapping one of them up in aluminum foil, leaving a small hole for the tweeter also does not make a noticable change.

Oops, I didn't notice the minus sign in the gain control! Switching to -15dB reduces the hiss a little but, but it's still noticeable at 1m. I don't have anything that could measure the quality of the electricity in the apartment. I'll read up about ground loops, but for all tests the only thing connected to the was the power cord, and I tried different power outlets throughout the apartment.

The hiss comes almost entirely from the tweeter, but there's a weak lower hiss from the midwoofer if i put my ear ~2cm from the midwoofer grill. At ~15cm the midwoofer hiss is not audible anymore.

I did some more thorough testing, by putting a speaker in a random on/off state and then trying to guess the state. Single speaker at 94dB, -15dB gain, no input connected and the light covered. Speaker was set in a random on/off state by balancing the on/off rocker switch on a power strip in a middle position, covering it with a towel, then dropping (with eyes closed) a heavy object onto the rocker, and then covering the whole thing up with another towel so I couldn't see how the object fell (randomization was therefore not the best). All of this listening to loud brown noise with headphones so that the pop when the light on the KH80 changes from red to white isn't audible. Distance to speaker marked with a microphone stand, so that I never get closer to the speaker than the given distance. Table was covered with a towel so that there is no tabletop reflection from the speaker. Don't know the ambient noise in my apartment, but I've been in libraries that were quieter.

Null hypothesis: the hiss is not audible at the given distance.

At 220cm:

	Actually on	Actually off
Guessed on	11	9
Guessed off	6	8

p-value: 0.36: with a certainty of 95%, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected.

At 120cm:

	Actually on	Actually off
Guessed on	11	9
Guessed off	3	24

p-value: 0.0015: with a certainty of >99%, the null hypothesis can be rejected.

At 100cm:

	Actually on	Actually off
Guessed on	6	0
Guessed off	0	11

p-value 0.00008: with a certainty of >99.99%, the null hypothesis can be rejected.

I'm having the same experience with both of my KH80 units, even without inputs plugged in. Contacted support, waiting for the answer.
Were you able to solve the problem or find the reason?

 

[Nutul]

Hello,
because of the measurements, I bought the JBL 305P Mark II for my desktop. The problem is, that Im very sensitive with noise, but I wanted to give them a chance.
At the end I sent them back because of the hiss.

1. What measured speakers are dead silent?
2. Are there some silent ones in the same price range with similar performance? (max. 250$/speaker)

QUO

Class D amplifiers are usually more hissy than class AB ones (now, don't argue with their power efficiency, as that is another story). I have a pair of PreSonus EX5 and they are dead-silent, but they have two class AB amps each...

 

[somebodyelse]

Class D amplifiers are usually more hissy than class AB ones

I'd love to see some stats on that as there are plenty of counter examples, and no inherent reason for one to be less hissy than the other.

 

[Berwhale]

I'd love to see some stats on that as there are plenty of counter examples, and no inherent reason for one to be less hissy than the other.

See the spreadsheet linked to in this thread: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/hiss-list-s-r.18050/ (you need to select the 'Data' tab in the spreadsheet)

This list doesn't currently include amplifier type, but a column could be added.

 

[somebodyelse]

I'm aware of that useful resource, but as you say it doesn't include amp type, or types if any manufacturers have gone with AB for HF and D for LF. I'd probably want to collect more info about them in case there's a confounding factor like a noisy signal processor upstream of the amps. Correlation may not mean causation.

 

[solim71]

In my own observations, the kali audio in-8 v2 has a higher level of hiss than the focal alpha 80 evo. But basically both types do very well, but Focal is better by some percentage. I own a pair of both and I'm not complaining. Not long ago, I sold an older Behringer B 3031 A. There was already the limit where the hiss started to bother me. And Behringer has an A/B amp, and Focal has a D, and I think it's the best.

 

[RDoc]

I'm having the same experience with both of my KH80 units, even without inputs plugged in. Contacted support, waiting for the answer.
Were you able to solve the problem or find the reason?

On our KH 80's there is a hum/hiss that I can hear from about 2' away, balanced input cables plugged in or not. We use them for far field listening, so it's not an issue.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

On our KH 80's there is a hum/hiss that I can hear from about 2' away, balanced input cables plugged in or not. We use them for far field listening, so it's not an issue.

Send them back. No hum/hiss on mine.

 

[solim71]

Many people told me that what you don't like about this and that brand, I have them, and they are completely silent, 0db. I just always tell them that either you don't register it, or you have hearing problems, because every active speaker emits a certain noise, the only difference is the intensity. I don't have a problem with it, the problem occurs when I register the noise when listening to music quietly, for example, I noticed it with Behringers when the music was quiet, but with kali audio in 8 v2, and the focal alpha 80 Evo, I don't register the noise even with the quietest music, and if the music is not playing, and I want perfect silence, then I made a remote switch off separately for the speakers. Have a nice day.

 

[Jhify]

Many people told me that what you don't like about this and that brand, I have them, and they are completely silent, 0db. I just always tell them that either you don't register it, or you have hearing problems, because every active speaker emits a certain noise, the only difference is the intensity. I don't have a problem with it, the problem occurs when I register the noise when listening to music quietly, for example, I noticed it with Behringers when the music was quiet, but with kali audio in 8 v2, and the focal alpha 80 Evo, I don't register the noise even with the quietest music, and if the music is not playing, and I want perfect silence, then I made a remote switch off separately for the speakers. Have a nice day.

I don't think it's about being able to hear the hiss with music on for many people here we most of the time can't unless the monitors are very bad or faulty. My monitors are on all day long and I don't want to hear any hiss when there's no playback and I grab a guitar or go on the piano to try something out, it would just irritates me and switching them on and off 100 times a day is not an option either.

 

[solim71]

I don't think it's about being able to hear hisses with music for a lot of people, most of the time we can't be here unless the monitors are very bad or faulty. My monitors are on all day and I don't want to hear any hiss when there's no playback and I grab a guitar or go to the piano to try something, it would just irritate me and turning them on and off 100 times a day is also not possible.

But it's really possible, and the monitors don't have to be downright bad, a lot depends on your hearing, I'm 52 years old, and I can say that I have very good hearing for my age, and for example, during solo piano music, or spoken passages, I heard a hum with some loudspeakers, for example with the mentioned Behringer B 3031 A, and also with the KRK Rokit RP10-3G4, which I also had, and there the hiss is really extreme, and it can be heard quite clearly in quieter passages. They have a beautiful delivery, but the hissing, so you really can't get used to it, as it disturbs even during the music. So that was the reason I returned them a few days after purchase. And I really have no problem pressing one button on the key fob and turning off the monitors when I want absolute silence. Or I can also do voice control or clapping, and it will be even more convenient.

 

[Krit]

I had experience with JBL 305P/306PMKII, Mackie MR524/624, Focal Alpha EVO 65, Kali Audio IN-5, Edifier Airpulse SM200

They all are easily hearable from one meter away in absolute silence. For some reason Edifier Airpulse A100 (Active HiFi) and Edifier S350DB (Active 2.1) with built-in DAC is noticeably quieter and basically dead silent from one meter away..... JBL was the worst of them all (40-50% gain only) 100% is an insult! Quality is so low that in my opinion should not be allowed to pass quality control. Kali and Focal are similar or second loudest and as i remember Mackie and Airpulse my be about similar in self noise or in third place as a quietest of them.

I don't know maybe my ears are to sensitive but i can hear these things very well.

 

[daftcombo]

I don't know maybe my ears are to sensitive but i can hear these things very well.

You're not alone, the JBL 305P are very noisy.