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).

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