T5 Headphone Hiss

[Verxion]

So I just recently tried headphones on my T5, and was outright STARTLED to notice that there is a large amount of hiss when no sound is being played.

If I play an mp3 that has portions that are silent or very quiet, the hiss is VERY prominent.

Is this unique to my T5, or do others of you have this problem as well?

-Verxion

[Mindfield]

My Zire 72 had it. The problem is most likely a cheap DAC (specifically, a poor signal:noise ratio). You'll hear it on a lot of cheap hifi equipment, most prominently on headphones, but also over speakers when the volume is turned up. There's not really much help for it -- but it's the sort of thing you expect from a device where audio is not its primary function.

[Chiana]

Turn the volume up. I have it on my T5 to.. don't like it, but once you use it a while you barely notice it.

[Maceo]

I agree with Chiana. There obviously is a lot of noise present on the T5, especially with high-efficiency headphones - but in a mobile setting, ambient noise (for open headphones) as well as the music itself will mask the noise. Luckily, there is not much distortion at higher volumes, and the bass seems to extend much more deeply than on the T1/T2, e.g., so the T5 still gives me a pleasant listening experience with my Koss Portapro.

What bothers me more is that background playback is not continous while another application accesses the SD card simultaneously. I often read iSilo documents while PTunes plays in the background. When changing the doc in iSilo, there is an annoying "hang" (sounds like a very small sample loop lasting on the order of half a second). The PTunes support says it has to do with the NVFS of the T5 and isn't likely to be fixable.

Also, when turning the T5 on with a headphone plugged in, there is a loud popping noise on the headphones.

Anyway, the T5 still serves me well on my daily commutes.

Cheers, Maceo

[dbett]

I have the same problem with my TX.

I originally used the Shure E2 headphones and moved up to the E3s which have a bit higher impedance thinking that might help. But the E3 showed the same background hiss.

So, I spent $9 on this:

http://www.shurestore.com/earphones/images/attenuator.jpg

It's the Shure Line Level Attenuator. Here's how Shure describes it:

Some playback devices, such as airplane headphone outputs, may be too loud for comfortable listening even at the lowest volume setting. For this reason, Shure offers this level attenuator to reduce the level of incoming signals and allow for precise volume adjustment, minimizing background hiss.

I got mine from the Ear Plug Super Store (http://store.yahoo.com/earplugstore/roaueaac.html). It was only $8.95 and they shipped it out very quickly.

Setting it to about 1/2 volume removes all the hiss.

And it's pretty compact so I don't think I'll mind carry it around... In fact, I think I can modify the E3's carrying case to fit it.

[dsl88]

Hi all

Similiar approach to dbett's suggestion of using an inline Level Attenuator, you can also try using headphone that comes with an inline volume control. Sony and Philips have these in their headphone range. You should able to find these in most electronic stores that sell mp3 or discman devices.
I used an old headphone came with my old Sony Clie T665 (which has since broken down and I switched to a Tungsten E2). I set the headphone inline volume knob mid way and increase the PDA volume. The signal came thru nicely without any distortion and there is no hissing noise even when I pause the music.
So don't lose hope on your T5. Its a good device - just get the right head phone to match.