Poll: Are you affected by the hissing problem?

[streamy]

I experience hissing but it is not noticeably at a normal listening position. I can hear it only at about 10-20 cm away from the speaker, at low volume parts of the music, especially with classical music.

Are you sure that the hissing isn't actually on the recording? It is not uncommon for low levels of classical music to run near the background noise level of some microphones and particularly of recordings made to analogue reel-to-reel tape where the signal to noise ratio is not to CD standard.

I listen mainly to classical music and have never heard any hiss from my Phantoms that was not on the recording.

OTO no electronics are completely silent. For years, before CD, my best cartridge input for my turntable produced a level of noise audible about 1 m from the speakers, but not from the listening position and certainly inaudible when music was playing.

With the new firmware I have the impression hissing has increased, specifcally because low
volumes are now between 0-35 instead of 0-10 in earlier firmwares. I will record the hissing for you and all interested over this coming WE. I have localized classical music that develops strong hissing at the volume (new scale at 45) and stays constant when volume is decreased to 15 and for some seconds hears to be about 50% of overall volume. So this is not neglectable and strongly audible. I'll going to analyze the frequency spectrum of the hissing to find out if ageing (I'm over 45) is a factor that some do not hear it or if it is device dependent. More to come.

[racapsa]

I experience hissing but it is not noticeably at a normal listening position. I can hear it only at about 10-20 cm away from the speaker, at low volume parts of the music, especially with classical music.

Are you sure that the hissing isn't actually on the recording? It is not uncommon for low levels of classical music to run near the background noise level of some microphones and particularly of recordings made to analogue reel-to-reel tape where the signal to noise ratio is not to CD standard.

I listen mainly to classical music and have never heard any hiss from my Phantoms that was not on the recording.

OTO no electronics are completely silent. For years, before CD, my best cartridge input for my turntable produced a level of noise audible about 1 m from the speakers, but not from the listening position and certainly inaudible when music was playing.

With the new firmware I have the impression hissing has increased, specifcally because low
volumes are now between 0-35 instead of 0-10 in earlier firmwares. I will record the hissing for you and all interested over this coming WE. I have localized classical music that develops strong hissing at the volume (new scale at 45) and stays constant when volume is decreased to 15 and for some seconds hears to be about 50% of overall volume. So this is not neglectable and strongly audible. I'll going to analyze the frequency spectrum of the hissing to find out if ageing (I'm over 45) is a factor that some do not hear it or if it is device dependent. More to come.

Ok, I'll go a little deeper into this. From my first day with my Phantom a had a little bit of hiss, it is the same regardless of firmware or updates. In fact there is a "two-level hiss". I agree that the 2nd level, noticeable just while playing music is probably related to the recording itself. But there is an even more subtle one (first level hiss) that I can hear just one or two seconds before the actual music starts and the same after the recording ends. After that, there is complete silence, related most probably to the Phantom going to sleep. Between the songs, this tiny hiss disappears, so that the time of several seconds separating the pieces of music is again completely silent. If I pause the music, there is again no hiss at all. The problem is that this tiny hiss is noticeable always, regardless the music I play. Of course I can hear it better with classical music, when the recording gain is low. What I mean is the fact that there is always a small background white noise.Thank you for sharing your experience.

[racapsa]

By the way, this tiny hiss I am talking about can be reproduced for about one second or two, if I unplug my Phantom and then I replug it to the mains, just before the lateral wings move, after which the Phantom probably goes to sleep and of course there is no more hiss.

[Bogardo]

By the way, this tiny hiss I am talking about can be reproduced for about one second or two, if I unplug my Phantom and then I replug it to the mains, just before the lateral wings move, after which the Phantom probably goes to sleep and of course there is no more hiss.

This hiss is more audible when listening to music via the optical input to my understanding and gets stronger and can fluctuate after some hours the phantoms not going into sleep mode.

[ragwo]

I've done some more testing regarding the hissing and found out that the reduction of the noise in firmware 1.3.0.31 correlates with the recorded volume on the song playing. If the volume on the recording is low, the noise is reduced further up on the volume scale. A quiet passage of a song could have reduced hiss up to about volume 10, a louder passage in the same song would have reduced hiss to about volume 5.

[Dvlt PhD]

Unfortunately yes and yes. The noise is reduced from volume 0-5, not from 6 and upwards. It is constant from 0-5 and 6 and upwards. I can hear the noise in the couch, six meters away. My listening position is about four meters away.  If the hissing noise was reduced all over the volume range everything would be fine, I can't hear the noise from volume 0-5 in my listening position.

Wow.. Sorry for your unfortunate luck. But, this is more than  about luck, I believe. You already returned one pair. Now, assuming they didn't send you back the same pair... (you mentioned you were suspicious. About what, not sure I re-read your post and get it, now better), the least they could've done is test a pair before shipping them to you.

Now, if they did test them... Have you tested them in a different home location? ; A different house?

I have a feeling that they test whatever Phantoms they send to the dealers, where they are meant for listening sessions only.


Now, I'm going to be honest... if a product is in perfect conditions, then I wouldn't want people to be re-opening packaging for test before shipping. But, since there's a problem about hissing...would I want my Phantoms' order to be re-tested before shipping? Well...I don't know what to tell you...

Maybe everything should be tested before shipping, since there's a hissing problem... I don't like people handling the merch, too much, but, what can I say....

I listened to a Silver pair at a dealer near me, before the newest FW update, about 2 weeks ago...and I noticed a hissing when music was not playing (during Phantoms' setup), but I had to put my ear as close as possible to the tweeter, without making contact with the Phantom, to actually hear it.

From normal listening distance...non existent.


P.S. - Sorry for the late reply. I've been trying to catch up with the FW thread.

P.P.S. - maybe the hissing I experienced is the "no electronics are completely silent" bit, that f1eng mentioned.

I listened only through WiFi.

[seb]

No problems here. White Phantom (newest model with integrated Bluetooth) with most recent firmware, no Dialog.

[BjornWiman]

Only when listening very close to the speaker, I can detect a hissing noise - and only at levels around 2-7 on the scale. At that level you can hardly hear the music playing from Tidal.


Skickat från min iPad med Tapatalk

[RobLnd]

No / 2 silver 1 dialog first bunch out of the fabric latest software

[ragwo]

Just visited the Devialet flagship store in Berlin. Both Silver Phantoms demoed were hissing. I'm inclined to believe that the problem affects all or most Phantoms. Hopefully Devialet will release the promised firmware update that will get rid of the problem.