Folks, I am a new owner of the 950/755 combo. So far I enjoy it a lot generally, but got one issue as the following:

I got slight hiss from the 950 while using any source in analog mode, it will disappear whenever I switch the input to digital coax. The hiss is only audiable from my front speakers (Dynaudio Audience 82 with 87db sensitivity) when I put ears very close (several inches) to them.

Is this normal for the final version of 950 (Blue DOT?)? Just wondering why there is no hiss from digital input, I thought the signal should be going through less circuits in bypass mode.

Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.

Thanks.

Ming

A certain amount of hiss is almost impossible to avoid no matter what gear is involved. At a distance of mere inches, I would not be surprised at all to hear a little hiss when there is nothing playing -- that would qualift as reasonable even with the "blue dot" 950. This hiss may be the unavoidable by-product of listening to silence at an excessively close proximity to your speakers (pardon the sarcasm -- it's been a long day already), but the fact that you are getting this hiss on analog inputs but not digital suggests to me that the hiss may also be due to interference picked up by the analog cables leading to the 950 (proximity to a power cable, etc).

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Gonk, thank you for the reply. Glad to know some electronic noise is unavoidable to most of the processors including Outlaw 950. The hiss in my system is very slight and not annoying at all, guess I must have paid too much attention to the hiss problem reported on 950 from reviews on the old version.

Now I will throw more music on the 950/755 and continue my evaluation.

I drew the conclusion too early yesterday about the hiss issue in my system. I forgot one important factor: the volume setting while checking the hiss level.

After reading more discussions at this forum about the hiss problem on 950, looks like after the Blue DOT fix the worst hiss level for a very sensitive speaker should be only audible 1 or 2 feet away with the volume set to +10dB.

When I set the volume on my 950 to +10dB and select CD as the source in the bypass stereo mode, I can hear the hiss 8 feet away at my listening position. I tried to power on/off the CD player, disconnect CD player from 950, disconnect all devices from 950 except the 755 so there were only interconnects between them. All these didn't make any difference. On the other hand, there are no any hiss (completely silent) when I switch to the digital inputs even if the volume is still set to +10dB.

I talked with Steve of Outlaw, he suggested me to swap the cables between CD player, 950 and 755, I will try that tonight and really hope it's simply a cable problem. On the other hand, can anyone tell me if you have experienced the similar thing with your 950? Do you folks think what I found here is within the "normal" range or not?

So far I really love the performance of the 950/755 combo, just try to get rid of the hiss issue. I would appreciate your opinions/suggestions very much!

Ming

I drew the conclusion too early yesterday about the hiss issue in my system. I forgot one important factor: the volume setting while checking the hiss level.

After reading more discussions at this forum about the hiss problem on 950, looks like after the Blue DOT fix the worst hiss level for a very sensitive speaker should be only audible 1 or 2 feet away with the volume set to +10dB.

When I set the volume on my 950 to +10dB and select CD as the source in the bypass stereo mode, I can hear the hiss 8 feet away at my listening position. I tried to power on/off the CD player, disconnect CD player from 950, disconnect all devices from 950 except the 755 so there were only interconnects between them. All these didn't make any difference. On the other hand, there are no any hiss (completely silent) when I switch to the digital inputs even if the volume is still set to +10dB.

I talked with Steve of Outlaw, he suggested me to swap the cables between CD player, 950 and 755, I will try that tonight and really hope it's simply a cable problem. On the other hand, can anyone tell me if you have experienced the similar thing with your 950? Do you folks think what I found here is within the "normal" range or not?

So far I really love the performance of the 950/755 combo, just try to get rid of the hiss issue. I would appreciate your opinions/suggestions very much!

Ming

When you have the volume control at +10db, you are running the 950 in an unrealistic situation. Assuming the rest of your system is performing normally, if you played a movie or CD at that level, you would blast yourself out of the room.

Any component will generate some hiss when it's gain is set to maximum.

I was one of the original prople who complained about the hiss problem since my speakers have efficiency of 106db/watt, which is way more than any consumer speaker you can buy. The current blue dot 950 is quiet enough so that the hiss cannot be heard at the listening position through these speakers.

If you are hearing hiss at the listening position at levels that are not unrealistic for even high volume listening, something other than the 950 is amiss in your system.

Thank you Soundhound for your reply. I agree that +10db is not a realistic volume, but can you please try this on your A/V system and let me know if you also get audible hiss at listening position?

I got this idea of testing from Gonk's 950 User Review, which is very informative and had helped me a lot in purchasing my new HT components, and some messages on this forum. It doesn't seem that there are other people who have the similar level of hiss with 950 after the Blue DOT fix.

I have tried to swap the cables between my CD player, the 950 and the 755 last night, but didn't see any difference on the hiss with all kinds of combinations.

Don't want to panic too much here about this hiss thing because it is not an issue at my normal listening volume, just hate to think I might have got a unit with defect and try to rationalize it.

Any other fellow 950 owners who could share your experience/opinions/suggestions with me? Thank you in advance.

If you do an archive search about the whole hiss issue, you will see that I not only explored every possible setting/configuration/volume setting etc, but I measured with lab equipment the noise levels of my 950 and those of other users. I evaluated the original blue dot prototype, again with lab equipment, and listened to it extensively.

The blue dot 950 presents no audible hiss at the listening position at any volume level where I could stand to be in the same room - and my speakers are as large as refridgerators.

As I said before, if you are hearing hiss at normal realistic listening levels, something other than the 950 is wrong with your system.

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited March 10, 2004).]

What you are hearing is totally normal. Try it with your last receiver and I guarantee it will do the same thing. For your peace of mind I just turned my 950 to +10 and got a loud hiss as well (it completely disappears around -2), but that is not the hiss problem you have read about. I used to hear hissing at -40, but that was corrected with the blue dot. Like SH says, there is no way you will ever be listening to anything at that level, and if you do, I doubt you will ever hear the hiss again, along with anything else.

Edit: I just went and turned my Rotel Preamp to full gain, and guess what, hissing.

[This message has been edited by Jed M (edited March 10, 2004).]

I've had my 950 for about 2 months and have experienced no hiss problem in any mode at any volume even with my Klipsch speakers. There is no hiss at all from the listening position. Of course, like everyone else, I stuck my ear in the horn of one of the speakers and did hear slight hiss. This is completely normal for electronic gear and the 950 is actually quieter than my previous pre-amp, an Acurus L-10.

The 950 is a very nice piece of equipment (especially for the money). SACD/DVD-Audio sound superb and even stereo sounds so musically satisfying that I'm re-discovering all of my old CDs.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy!