Hiss from monitors

[Nicro]

I don't know why. I've been trying to figure it out but can't. If I have them turned on and turn them up I can hear this messed up hiss. Any ideas?

 

[bandcoach]

Thermal noise aka Johnson noise in the amplifiers or (more likely) in the preamps.

 

[Nicro]

Thermal noise aka Johnson noise in the amplifiers or (more likely) in the preamps.

Is there anyway to fix it?

 

[Ruff_Trak]

you could try using ferrite rings/beads as a cheap fix, it has worked for me before. they are used to supress high freq noise/hiss in elecronic circuits and they will only cost a few quid. deffo worth a try

 

[moses]

I don't know why. I've been trying to figure it out but can't. If I have them turned on and turn them up I can hear this messed up hiss. Any ideas?

You should really track down the reason for the noise. You probably talk about "noise", the term "hiss" is mostly related to vinyl playback. Check out your sound driver buffer settings in case you really hear "hiss" or "glitches", maybe your sound buffer is just to short.


First of all, all analogue gear produces noise, so a little bit of noise is absolutely normal. Even the best analogue chain have a signal to noise ratio about 80dB (which means you'll slightly hear noise during low level passages) - only very minimalistic setups like those used by mastering engineers will practically have less noise.

In case you still feel the noise is too high, try the following:

Go to your audio editor and create a file with silence. Then play it.

1.) Do you hear noise via headphones? If yes, your soundcard is noisy and not your speakers. If not, step forward to 2.)

2.) Do your hear noise in your monitors? If not, your source file probably just contains noise. If you can still hear the noise, step to 3.)

3.) In case you run active monitors, disable all EQs and check you cables: are you using symmetric connection? If not, buy symmetric cables and try again.

4.) If your monitors are still creating noise, the internal preamp and amp of your monitors will most probably be on the "toys'r'us" level. Buy new monitors.

 

[Dopedee]

yeah i would just follow the signal flow and try and take out un needed variables to find the source of the problem

 

[bandcoach]

Is there anyway to fix it?

To add to what moses has said already, thermal noise is in everything: it is also known as entropy, the heat death of the universe, or the tendency for a system to decay from order to chaos: you can ameliorate this (make it bearable) but you cannot stop it - the axioms of physics notwithstanding

 

[Nicro]

Word thanks guys, I'll check it all out tomorrow. My production name is actually Entropic Thought haha.