Sennheiser PC37X randomly goes bad after disconnecting the cable ?
Greetings, Yesterday I was using my headset like normal with my macbook, just listening to music and on a call with people like usual, and the headset was perfectly fine. The stock wire that came with the headset is extremely long and yesterday it annoyed me very much that it kept getting tangled with itself, so I decided to see if the cable is replaceable. I pulled out the cable from the headset and saw the adapter, and looked online for a replacement. Upon plugging it back in, the audio sounded extremely muffled and washed out. Im not sure what I did wrong to make it mess up like that as I've always taken good care of it, ive had it for about 2 years and its always just been chilling on my desk, but anywho I thought the cable just went bad and ordered a replacement. The replacement came, and the issue is still persistant, so I am not sure what the issue is I've tried multiple different headsets and the issue is not with the port, and I also tried it with my windows laptop and...
Apr 23, 2024
https://vid.me/IUPA
I do not get the hissing sound when I use headphones. Are you getting hissing through the headphone port as well?
The noise is not due to the rca cables, I believe. I have tried disconnecting the rca cables while still having the speakers connected, and the hissing remains. I'm being careful about passing judgement on the SMSL amp so quickly because the problem could very well be my speakers. Just this morning I was getting random sound drops ranging between 10-30 seconds when playing music. Very odd. I will comment if I discover anything new.
I personally have had a few usb DACs introduce digital noise. It is clicky more so than just a solid white noise hiss. (classic high noise floor hiss).
Isolate , Isolate, Isolate! It is easy to blame the new piece so having other reference gear around helps. 99% of the time it is the new piece or other equipment issues now being exposed. Signal chain and very importantly ground chain factor.
Remember an amplifier physically amplifies what it receives electrically. We demand a lot of it.
With 87db per watt/meter efficiency speakers I get a audible 10k white noise hiss but below my 38db spl sound meters ability to measure at point blank 1mm . I have to be direct ear proximity of 3 inches or closer next to the tweeter to hear it. With 95db/watt spl or greater speakers this may push it beyond tolerable.
That being said, it seems to be on par with the aprox -98db SNR noise floor. The SA-160's Achilles heel. The TDS7498e chip has this inherent limitation. We sometimes get obsessed with the elusive -127db noise floor possible. -110db to -115db noise floor seems to be the accepted standard for not discernible. Granted some tests show -90db to -100db.
Always a compromise somewhere... Turn it off when you are not listening to it? The SA-160s sound quality more than makes up for this IMO.
I love the sound coming out of this device so not the biggest deal. I will be purchasing the power bar you suggested or the Tripp Lite (TLP1208TELTV). Would you say the Tripp Lite is just as good as the Furman? The product description mentions "EMI/RFI line noise filtering" just like the Furman -- I'm just not really sure how well it compares.
All in all, I'm loving my SMSL and it would be PERFECT if I could reduce the hissing noise.
SMSL SA-160: I did pre-purchase read about the hiss issues in that forum thread but it seems the person had a defective board on the older SMSL version. I do have a second SA-160 coming and will A/B the 2 to see if noise floor is the same.
I have yet to test the SA-160 headphone amp section. (didn't buy it for the headphone amp) I did read (maybe this thread?) that the headphone amp is driven by the 5532 opamp. Maybe a NJ4562 or the NJM4556 (higher output) might be slight upgrade. Since the TDA7498e has a fixed gain the ALPS pot is likely all that is needed for volume control versus a inline pre-amp. I might break it down after warranty or at least a few months to insure reliability first to determine if the POT is direct or to the 5532 for volume control..
I do retract the recommendation of the sparkolabs opamps as its phase accuracy isn't ideal despite its brilliant specs otherwise. The problem with opamp rolling is often when it is switched it actually creates anomalies that we find subjectively pleasing. (see tube amplifiers). Proper bench testing is the only way to verify an actual improvement. Some are swappable as they can react similar in the same circuit others not. The tl072 is a notoriously bad op amp and I would generally recommend a swap for that one. (source of bad rep for opamps)
Gimmediscount said: "All in all, I'm loving my SMSL and it would be PERFECT if I could reduce the hissing noise."
An inevitable compromise so far with D-amp technology.(noise floor -105db-110db) The TDA7498E chip seems to be one of the best D-AMP (t-amp) versions for usability and is at its prime at 75db to 100db (typical 87db spkr 1m/w) range listening level. To be fair, it would be nice to bench test the SMSL SA-160 iteration of design to see how close it reaches the actual noise floor limit of the TDA7498E. SMSL states -98db SNR. Circuit layout, components and power supply do greatly influence the noise floor.
There is always a dynamic to what sounds best versus what is technically best. Subjective versus the scientific objective. I see subjective preference often equating to what effects (eq, compression, reverb, harmonic manipulation etc) one wants to apply to their playback reproduction. Objective use scientific measurements to describe results. One of the hardest thing to quantify is resolution and quality. It generally takes all tests combined to do so. Even to this day, there have been 1000's of pieces of audio gear all trying to do the same and yet still no set of extensive standards of testing.
Hence 35 years later I am still buying "Gear". The audiophile industry is being nebulous for a reason.
Here's a video example of my experience: https://vid.me/tToZ It will sound a lot more exaggerated than it really is if you have the volume of the video all the way up.
Not sure if I have a defective device since I am also getting occasional sound muting that last 4-12 seconds. Are you returning yours?