jon_m Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Hi,I've just got some etymotic 6i earphones to go with my much-loved md player. However, using them with my minidisk player they sound very loud - I have the minidisk on the lower possible volume setting in order to get a moderate listening level. More annoying is that they hiss - they're silent when nothing's playing, or when the MD player is switching between tracks, but a hiss starts when a track starts playing. Any suggestions as to why this might be :Not Sure: or, better, what I could do about it Earphones are fine from my laptop, and another pair of headphones work fine on the md (no hiss).Thanks in advance,Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyIvan Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 I have noticed this on an MP3 player I have and different headphones. I have not used etymotic phones but I get the general impression that they are higher efficiency phones showing the shortcommings of the amp on the MD unit or impedance differences making itself known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_m Posted February 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Thanks - maybe it is a problem with impedance... The other headphones I've used the MD with are quite decent beyerdynamic ones - which should be fairly revealing (though they are less sensitive than the etys). Any suggestions before the earphones go back - they're too expensive for earphones that don't work right Cheers,Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 Send them back and get Shure canalphones. Both E3 and E4 work great with MD, and the E2 probably do too. Stronger build, richer sound, no hiss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_m Posted February 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 thanks. Must admit I do like the sound/fit/isolation of the etys, but yeah - if they don't work they will go back Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xatax Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 (edited) There's nothing wrong with your Etys...as you see they sound perfectly good or at least better in you laptop or other MD units... it's actually the crappy MD amp and your good tuned ears that make this nice pair of In Ear Monitors sound like ehem, not so good. The Shure's are too boomy for the same price range, the Etys are far superior and true to the source unless you go for the Shure E4c or E5, which cost as much as 2 or 3 N707s respectively And about the volume, the Etys are 16 Ohm, the same "natural" impedance of MD amps. Try lowering the treble sound setting one or two points and see if that makes them more usable. (but you'll be missing some great Ety detail aswell.) Edited March 6, 2006 by xatax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_m Posted March 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Thanks for the suggestions. I've now tried the etys in 2 more MP3 players - they pick up some hiss in all of them The irony seems to be that - because they're so revealing - they're not usable with quite a few portable devices... I persuaded my laptop's maker to get the shielding on this nicely sorted - because I use it for recording - so that may be why this sounds so clean...can't take it to the gym, though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xatax Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 (edited) Damn... Maybe it's time to get a HI-MD with digital amp? I think they have less hiss, can anyone confirm this? Edited March 9, 2006 by xatax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
husky_ky Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 Damn... Maybe it's time to get a HI-MD with digital amp? I think they have less hiss, can anyone confirm this?I'm using the shure E3c, and so far I've not heard any hiss in my NH900 yet. However the impedance of the E3c is slightly higher than the ER6i, so it'd probably miss some hiss that'd otherwise be picked up by the ER6i Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xatax Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 (edited) Your NH900 has a digital amp. I believe digital amps have a lower signal/noise ratio. Another point: I dont' have the E3c myself so I can't compare them to the Er-6i but from what I've read in Head-Fi and other forums/pages, the 6i have better high frequency response than the E3c. Maybe that's the reason you're not picking it up? Anyways, hiss = not cool. Edited March 11, 2006 by xatax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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