What headphones do you use with your g750?

[derpcules]

Like the title says and what do you think of the "awesome amp"?

Im using one of the most sensitive and lowest impendance iems on the market (ie 80) and i get a noticable background hiss (Before I followed the guide to get maxx audio installed properly it was too much but now its tolerable, thanks to everyone posting about that particular solution. The only way to control impendance/gain setting is through maxx audio so if youre getting crazy hiss with low impendance headphones its probably because the default gain setting is high without maxx audio installed.).

Money is no object within reason when it comes to sound quality for me. Only reason i bought htc one was the sound quality through headphones. I always have the best available source files for my music, never anything below 320 kps mp3s and thats rare its almost always flac.
I own a cambridge magic + for my speaker setup.

Im considering buying Shure SRH940-E or hd 650 because i dont want a whole string of dacs and amps, I want something that works well with the built in amp wich i can hear is more than enough in clarity except for the hiss. Im leaning towards Shure SRH940-E because detail is everything to me but its so clinical it enhances all faults in the source from what ive read, so im wondering if hd 650 might be a better choice if the built in amp has that hiss regardless of impendance/sensitivity.

Anyone using either of those phones?

Im not going to buy hd 800 because that price class is beyond reason for next to no gain imo. Its to use with this laptop without a string of extra gear, thats the point.

I think the headphone amp is great for what it is ( more separation and clarity than any other built in solution ive heard even on bad recordings like youtube) except for the bad gain settings/hiss.

[villiansv]

YesNoYes- wrote:
Yes- standard iPod headphones are 32ohm. Don't really use them, but tested successfully with no hissing.

Not sure about this, or there are different types of iphone/ipod headphones. http://store.apple.com/uk/product/ME186ZM/A/apple-in-ear-headphones-with-remote-and-mic claims 23ohms. On the other hand, if 23 ohms don't hiss, you can safely say 32 won't hiss either :-).

[zalbard]

YesNoYes- wrote:
Yes- standard iPod headphones are 32ohm. Don't really use them, but tested successfully with no hissing.

Good news, thanks. I ordered a pair of new IEMs. Will report back whether they work fine.

[zalbard]

Here's my report: the amplifier in G750 is simply bad. Noise floor is too high, which results in this hissing/buzzing. Poor shielding as well (so expect extra sounds during active HDD access and other internal things).

Headphones tested:

1.Sony MDR-E818LP (16 Ohm, 108 dB/mW). Completely unusable. More noise than music at any volume.
2. HiFiMan RE-400 (32 Ohm, 102 dB/mW). Not really usable unless your music is VERY loud. Whenever you pause your music (or during the not-so-loud parts), expect to endure annoying hissing.
3. AKG K550 (32 Ohm, 100 dB/mW). Same issue as with HiFiMan.
4. Sennheiser HD800 (300 Ohm, 102 dB/Vrms) - usable. Is there still noise? Yes. But not too much. There is ZERO noise on my desktop amp, though.

Verdict: there will be audible noise present no matter how good and expensive your headphones are. I expect experience to be tolerable for headphones with impedance of at least 150 Ohm (although I would shoot for 250 Ohm or more myself).

[Myroslav]

zalbard wrote:
Here's my report: the amplifier in G750 is simply bad. Noise floor is too high, which results in this hissing/buzzing. Poor shielding as well (so expect extra sounds during active HDD access and other internal things).

Headphones tested:

1.Sony MDR-E818LP (16 Ohm, 108 dB/mW). Completely unusable. More noise than music at any volume.
2. HiFiMan RE-400 (32 Ohm, 102 dB/mW). Not really usable unless your music is VERY loud. Whenever you pause your music (or during the not-so-loud parts), expect to endure annoying hissing.
3. AKG K550 (32 Ohm, 100 dB/mW). Same issue as with HiFiMan.
4. Sennheiser HD800 (300 Ohm, 102 dB/Vrms) - usable. Is there still noise? Yes. But not too much. There is ZERO noise on my desktop amp, though.

Verdict: there will be audible noise present no matter how good and expensive your headphones are. I expect experience to be tolerable for headphones with impedance of at least 150 Ohm (although I would shoot for 250 Ohm or more myself).

Have you tried this?

hmscott wrote:

5. Some complain about headphone jack based noise; the noise floor is higher for low Ohm headphones. Get / use headphones higher in impedance.

It is a pretty clean sounding amplifier when running, but at idle - when there is no sound to amplify - the amplifier goes into power saving mode - which for some creates crackles from the headphone jack. I found the fix early and haven't heard the crackle. I do hear the sound floor between input passages, but when the source has exited the silence returns.

Here are the registry settings to turn off the power saving mode while plugged in



Details for audio driver and registry locations in post #13
http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?37273-ASUS-G750JX-headphone-sound-problem./page2

[villiansv]

Myroslav wrote:
Have you tried this?

The powermanagement tweak makes no difference - hiss is still there, and if I didn't have decent headphones, I'd be complaining too.

[hmscott]

villiansv wrote:
The powermanagement tweak makes no difference - hiss is still there, and if I didn't have decent headphones, I'd be complaining too.

The power manager registry hack is to stop the power saver mode from going on and off - causing spikes / pops.

The hiss is there because it is a really good headphone amp for driving high impedance headphones - the higher the impedance the lower the effect of the hiss - the lower the impedance the more hiss. There are great headphones at both ends of the impedance spectrum.

I searched for an impedance matching accessory, but I can't seem to find one. I know they do/have existed 🙂

The other choice is to get higher impedance headphones. Take the laptop in to some place local that has a bunch of headphones on display - of varying impedance and check out which you like best. Then let us know what impedance sounded best!

I recall someone on this forum lived near a place that had Beyer-Dynamic headphones they could try out, but we haven't heard back from them.

Beyer-Dynamic has some more expensive and some less expensive than these - and in 250ohm and 32 ohm versions as well as the 600ohm version for many models.
http://www.amazon.com/Beyer-Dynamic-Premium-600-Headphones/dp/B0024NK34O

Has anyone tried 600ohm headphones with the G750?

Lots of good reading here, and lots of good links too:

Headphone/Amp impedance matching: Basics you need to Know
http://www.head-fi.org/t/607282/headphone-amp-impedance-matching-basics-you-need-to-know

[villiansv]

zalbard wrote:
Here's my report: the amplifier in G750 is simply bad. Noise floor is too high, which results in this hissing/buzzing. Poor shielding as well (so expect extra sounds during active HDD access and other internal things).

Headphones tested:

1.Sony MDR-E818LP (16 Ohm, 108 dB/mW). Completely unusable. More noise than music at any volume.
2. HiFiMan RE-400 (32 Ohm, 102 dB/mW). Not really usable unless your music is VERY loud. Whenever you pause your music (or during the not-so-loud parts), expect to endure annoying hissing.
3. AKG K550 (32 Ohm, 100 dB/mW). Same issue as with HiFiMan.
4. Sennheiser HD800 (300 Ohm, 102 dB/Vrms) - usable. Is there still noise? Yes. But not too much. There is ZERO noise on my desktop amp, though.

Verdict: there will be audible noise present no matter how good and expensive your headphones are. I expect experience to be tolerable for headphones with impedance of at least 150 Ohm (although I would shoot for 250 Ohm or more myself).

My 80-ohm DT770 Pros don't have any hiss at all, even when volume is cranked all the way (I'm 30 though, so maybe hearing isn't what it used to be 10 years ago 🙂 ). My in-ear buds are a different story though - unusable without a USB DAC.

Edit: If I really struggle, I can actually hear a slight hiss (the 80ohm headphones). I can only detect it if I listen carefully when plugging/unplugging the headphones though. I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been looking for it.

[zalbard]

villiansv wrote:
The powermanagement tweak makes no difference - hiss is still there.

I can confirm this.

villiansv wrote:
My 80-ohm DT770 Pros don't have any hiss at all, even when volume is cranked all the way (I'm 30 though, so maybe hearing isn't what it used to be 10 years ago 🙂

Could be, my hearing is very good. Which makes the whole thing twice as annoying...

Perhaps, for some reason, 80-150 Ohm is the sweet spot, and going out of this range creates impedance issues. But I find it highly unlikely.

[villiansv]

zalbard wrote:
I can confirm this.


Could be, my hearing is very good. Which makes the whole thing twice as annoying...

Perhaps, for some reason, 80-150 Ohm is the sweet spot, and going out of this range creates impedance issues. But I find it highly unlikely.

Not sure you read my edit in the post. I *can* hear the hiss, but very faintly.

However, my wife has access to the same DT770 Pros at her work, but the 250 ohm version. I'll see if she can borrow them for a day so I can compare directly to my 80-ohms, then post here.

[zalbard]

zalbard wrote:
Here's my report: the amplifier in G750 is simply bad. Noise floor is too high, which results in this hissing/buzzing. Poor shielding as well (so expect extra sounds during active HDD access and other internal things).

Headphones tested:

1.Sony MDR-E818LP (16 Ohm, 108 dB/mW). Completely unusable. More noise than music at any volume.
2. HiFiMan RE-400 (32 Ohm, 102 dB/mW). Not really usable unless your music is VERY loud. Whenever you pause your music (or during the not-so-loud parts), expect to endure annoying hissing.
3. AKG K550 (32 Ohm, 100 dB/mW). Same issue as with HiFiMan.
4. Sennheiser HD800 (300 Ohm, 102 dB/Vrms) - usable. Is there still noise? Yes. But not too much. There is ZERO noise on my desktop amp, though.

Verdict: there will be audible noise present no matter how good and expensive your headphones are. I expect experience to be tolerable for headphones with impedance of at least 150 Ohm (although I would shoot for 250 Ohm or more myself).

Update (with a fix!):
So, yes, it is 100% impedance mismatch.

I bought "Ultimate Ears Airline Sound-level Attenuator Adapter" (plenty on EBay, but I don't want to give links as to not look like I am advertising). It is essentially an inline 100 Ohm resistor. It cost me whooping $9 USD. 🙂

Now I can use my 32 Ohm headphones pretty much without any noise.

Here's a link to an image of what I am talking about: http://i.ebayimg.com/t/GENUINE-Ultimate-Ears-Airline-Sound-level-Attenuator-Adapter-for-UE-Earphones...

And it's not the only option (although probably the most convenient one). Head-Fi lists a few more.

Hope it helps.