[PlanetCCRMA] Noisy new Sennheiser headphones

Fri Jun 23 10:21:03 2006

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Well, I am not sure if it will cheer you up, but I also pick a lot on noise
on my Dell.
I use the headhone socket on the built-in soundcard, as I assume you do.
The noise is not noticeable on my old Sennheiser headphones (can't remember
model name), but i get a really nasty sharp buzz when I plug the card output
into my mixing desk.

Funnily enough, the noise greatly depends on system activity.

I am not practical enough on electronics to help you diagnose the problem.
Just a few thoughts :
- The word 'impendance' has been used before and indeed, I would think this
makes a big difference,
- Re : grounding issues: the buzz stops here when the Dell is only powered
by its battery. Have you tried to unplug yours ?

These PCs do have a grounding issue; I have rehearsed with a live band
lately, and even my external Firebox soundcard produced the same annoying
buzz if the Dell was sector-powered. So I left it on battery during the
gigs, and reloaded it during the breaks ...

Peace.

On 6/23/06, Ron Pepper <feffer777@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Just got a new pair of headphones, Sennheiser 280 Pro's, to be used
> while working on my computer. Unfortunately, I'm picking up what I
> think is system noise, that cheaper 'phones don't detect. My system
> is debian on a dell box. Amarok is my favorite player, but it's also
> the noisiest. The noise is a low level hiss/buzz and can be detected
> even when Amarok is totally muted. The noise intensifies when I move
> the mouse around and over links, hot-spots, menus etc. I posted to
> Amarok, and Xine, but they suggested the problem was in my system. I
> turned off unused channels in alsamixer, but that didn't help. Same
> noise for sessions in kde or icewm. The problem is not the headphones
> themselves, as there is no noise when used in OSX and iTunes.
>
> I'm willing to try a few things, if anyone has any suggestions, but I
> don't want to mess around with major surgery on my system. If there
> is no obvious/likely software solution, I want to exchange the
> headphones. In that case, can anyone suggest headphones that might
> work better. Obviously, I'll lose some of the quality that the 280's
> provide, but that would be better than the noise. Is there something
> in the specs of 'phones that I should be looking for? Also, frankly I
> don't like the closed circum-aural 280's as much as I thought I
> would. They're a bit hot and tight. Is there a lighter open-ear
> headphone that still might be reasonable quality that might work
> better for me?
>
> Hope my question isn't too off-topic. I've subscribed on and off to
> the list for over a year and have been greatly helped in the past.
>
> Thanks,
> Ron
>
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Well, I am not sure if it will cheer you up, but I also pick a lot on noise on my Dell. I use the headhone socket on the built-in soundcard, as I assume you do. The noise is not noticeable on my old Sennheiser headphones (can't remember model name), but i get a really nasty sharp buzz when I plug the card output into my mixing desk.
 
Funnily enough, the noise greatly depends on system activity. I am not practical enough on electronics to help you diagnose the problem. Just a few thoughts : - The word 'impendance' has been used before and indeed, I would think this makes a big difference,
 - Re : grounding issues: the buzz stops here when the Dell is only powered by its battery. Have you tried to unplug yours ? These PCs do have a grounding issue; I have rehearsed with a live band lately, and even my external Firebox soundcard produced the same annoying buzz if the Dell was sector-powered. So I left it on battery during the gigs, and reloaded it during the breaks ...
 Peace. <div>On 6/23/06, Ron Pepper &lt;<a href="mailto:feffer777@yahoo.com">feffer777@yahoo.com</a>&gt; wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Just got a new pair of headphones, Sennheiser 280 Pro's, to be used while working on my computer. Unfortunately, I'm picking up what I think is system noise, that cheaper 'phones don't detect. My system is debian on a dell box. Amarok is my favorite player, but it's also
 the noisiest. The noise is a low level hiss/buzz and can be detected even when Amarok is totally muted. The noise intensifies when I move the mouse around and over links, hot-spots, menus etc. I posted to Amarok, and Xine, but they suggested the problem was in my system. I
 turned off unused channels in alsamixer, but that didn't help. Same noise for sessions in kde or icewm. The problem is not the headphones themselves, as there is no noise when used in OSX and iTunes. I'm willing to try a few things, if anyone has any suggestions, but I
 don't want to mess around with major surgery on my system. If there is no obvious/likely software solution, I want to exchange the headphones. In that case, can anyone suggest headphones that might work better. Obviously, I'll lose some of the quality that the 280's
 provide, but that would be better than the noise. Is there something in the specs of 'phones that I should be looking for? Also, frankly I don't like the closed circum-aural 280's as much as I thought I would. They're a bit hot and tight. Is there a lighter open-ear
 headphone that still might be reasonable quality that might work better for me? Hope my question isn't too off-topic. I've subscribed on and off to the list for over a year and have been greatly helped in the past.
 Thanks, Ron __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam?&nbsp;&nbsp;Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around <a href="http://mail.yahoo.com">http://mail.yahoo.com
</a> _______________________________________________ PlanetCCRMA mailing list <a href="mailto:PlanetCCRMA@ccrma.stanford.edu">PlanetCCRMA@ccrma.stanford.edu</a> <a href="http://ccrma-mail.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/planetccrma">
http://ccrma-mail.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/planetccrma</a> </blockquote></div>

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