Forced by the Hiss

David Lai

Hi friends.

For the past few weeks, I've discovered that I can hear the amplifier hiss on both of my KRK Rokit 5 G4s from my listening position, especially when my music is in the mid to low volume levels where I typically listen. In the past, I could only hear hiss when putting my ear closer to one of the tweeters.

This is disappointing, as I don't want to buy new audio gear after my Dynacaster mic and Babyface Pro FS audio interface. But my ears / brain are not forgiving what I'm hearing regarding that amplifier hiss, and it's happening on both monitors.

According to my partial research, such cheap monitors often do not have very reliable amps, and with the passing of time, they will start to exhibit problems and start to break down.

Should I continue to work with the hiss, or should I think about spending money to get better speakers for my setup? Something like the Focal Shape 65, for example?

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thank you!

David B

David Lai Hi David.

I've experienced this exact same thing recently. I decided to upgraded my KRK Rokit 6 Gen 3 monitors to the KRK Rokit 7 Gen 4 model. Unfortunately, I was sorely displeased with the purchase and they are going back to Amazon. Here are the problems.

The Rokit 7 monitor woofer width is actually 5.5" which is exactly the same as my Rokit 6. Silly me, I actually thought was upgrading in woofer size. Not so. I think that is deceptive advertising on KRK's part.
Big increase in the white noise hiss that comes from the tweeters in the Gen 4 models. I could only hear the hiss in my Gen 3 when I put my ear right up to the tweeter. Sitting 3 to 4 feet from the monitor I couldn't hear anything. However, not so with the Gen 4. Much louder hiss and I can hear it sitting at the piano 3 feet away.

The Gen 4 do sound clearer, punchier, and overall better than the Gen 3, but the hiss drives me crazy. If I was mixing music it wouldn't bother me, but playing the piano softly and still being able to hear it. No way.

So for now I'm keeping my Gen 3 Rokits and exploring the possibility of other options in the future. My N1X had a good speaker system and I was satisfied with it. However, with the Roland I'm mostly playing through the monitors and I want a better sound than I currently have. So I'm going to continue searching for an alternative. I wish Genelec monitors weren't so expensive becasue the specs on them look pretty good. Even their 8040B with the 6.5" woofer has a good frequency range (41Hz - 25kHz) and the bass roll off starts at 48Hz which would be sufficient for piano.

I wouldn't expect to see any improvement in your Rokits. I think they are just loud when it comes to hiss. Get a refund it you can't tolerate it.

God Bless,
David

SouthPark

Know just what you mean David! About hiss from speakers.

Could possibly do tests later on the system - such as short circuit the audio input connector of the self-powered speaker system. And then have a listen for hiss after that. And then wind the gain up and/or down - checking out the hiss level at the various levels of gain - from mid level to highest level of gain.

If the hiss level is much lower and much more tolerable (for short-circuit input) than for regular cases (under regular operating conditions), then it might be possible to sort out noise from other sources, other than due to the internal amplifier system. For example, ground loop elimination methods - if ground loops are contributing to noise - could be considered.

It turns out to be normal for many internal powered speaker systems to produce hiss when the gain setting is wound up relatively high. And for good quality systems, the general reports from users etc are the hiss becomes unnoticeable (or much less noticeable) when the distance between user and speaker is 1 metre or more. This 1 metre value is definitely going to depend on they system, and the gain level.

David Lai

SouthPark I've done this before. I've unplugged the XLR connecting end from the speakers, and the hiss stays at that particular level, no change. Also, when turning the endless encoder knob, the output sensitivity increases or decreases, along with the hiss. I usually keep the output sensitivity knob at 0.0 DB, so I only control the volume from my interface. At this stage, the hiss level won't fluctuate as the interface volume gains up. I am positive that that is the hiss coming from the amplifier inside the speakers.

SouthPark

David Lai Thanks for mentioning those details David. If the hiss from a distance eg. say 1.5 metre away or more is very noticeable, and is very distracting, then heading to some place to get a demo on a different active system will very likely be worth it.

The focal shape 65 is unlikely to disappoint you. Users are saying they can't hear any hiss under normal operating conditions unless they park their ear right up next to the speaker.

David Lai

SouthPark That's the problem I'm having right now. If I have my monitors at a mid-to-low volume level, I can even hear the tweeter hiss from my near field position of around 1 meter away. It's not a loud hiss, but enough for my hearing to notice it.

SouthPark

David Lai Know what you mean David. I haven't got anything like the focal shapes. I was using HS8 monitors, but only for a relatively short time. I think that they didn't have audible/noticeable hiss when they were nearby, such as 1.5 metre away or so. I packed them up again for storage, as I was just going to use them if I need more audio power on some occasions.

There definitely will be a quiet system that will satisfy you. A system that doesn't have noticeable hiss and good quality audio will be worth it - especially for the music work you do, and also the level that you are at, which is a high level one.

David Lai

SouthPark Thank you, SouthPark! I'm reading about them now and do think this would be quite the jump in audio quality! Right now Sweetwater is doing a price drop of $100 off per speaker till the end of the month. That's nearly 10% off the original price.

However, the big concerns I have about them are: first the knobs are soft and easily moved, especially the ones regarding EQ curves. The second is the auto standby mode and the inability for the user to get rid of it, except opening up the bottom plate and find a switch to do so according to one forum. I even have the picture of the switch. But I don't want to open it up, because I don't know how to do it, and I don't want to break anything. These are my only concerns about them in my research.

SouthPark

David Lai Good catch and research about the auto-off feature. If the design team doesn't include a convenient option to permanently disable the auto off, then that's a fail on their part. That would be a marching orders situation.

I'm going to read up on the fix/hack to see what it involves.

Update ….. just saw your weblink post. Thanks for adding that

Another update … the image they refer to may been lost due to the site they uploaded it to ….at link

Found another source. Uploading the pic from this other place. Accessing the board inside, showing the person's hand over the switch area, at lesst provides a manufacturer procedure to disable that feature permanently. Will at least take back the bit about marching orders. Although, the switch you actually be conveniently accessable, instead of inconveniently.

David Lai

This is what I found regarding the switch, a few scrolls down the thread:

https://gearspace.com/board/high-end/1160607-focal-shape-65-any-user-reviews.html#post12766628

SouthPark

SouthPark Will at least take back the bit about marching orders. Although, the switch you actually be conveniently accessable, instead of inconveniently.

Typo …. 'should'

David Lai

SouthPark Wow, you've got the photo!!! Maybe my dad could look at the photo and decide which switch to flick? That would be really cool. We've got tools to open things at our house, as long as there's no accidental damage! 🙂

Edit: I sent the photo to him and he immediately knew what to do. This means, no more deal breakers except the knobs. I'll need to ask more questions to those who have used them to see how they feel.

MacMacMac

It's sad that there's hiss in your speakers.
With all the advances in technology you'd think amplifier hiss was an artifact that disappeared after the 1970s.
How is it even possible to design hiss into an amp these days?

David Lai

MacMacMac I know exactly what you mean!!! It's sad that after nearly 4 years, the hiss has gotten louder. I didn't want to buy new speakers, but as the subject says, I'm being forced by this hiss… Looking at the reviews, maybe this would be worth my decisions. Hopefully it'll last me a good while. 🙂

SouthPark

I don't know if it's true or not … I recall reading one source/comment saying something about early generation rokit 5 having insulation breakdown a portion of circuit board … breaking down more with time. Just going to see if later if possible if it is officially confirmed.

David Lai

SouthPark I don't know about early generations, but mine is the 4th generation Rokits. I guess some beginner level producer might still get some use out of them if I decide to pull the trigger and get something new, big and, hopefully, stable.

SouthPark

David Lai Thanks for mentioning that David. I definitely wouldn't expect fourth gen to do that sort of thing. Will be interesting later - and I'll read up more later - to see if any groups have consensus about a known performance versus time degradation issue for gen 4. And if there's a consensus on gen 4 rokit 5 has an inherent issue with hiss level. If it turns out that the majority of gen 4 haven't got the issue, then the possibility of a service by a KRK tech could sort it. And then end up with a rokit 5 that might even be better than new.

David Lai

David B Well David, I remember reading about the rokit7s and indeed they hiss a lot! Now my Rokit5 is beginning to have similar loud hissing levels, so yeah. Glad I'm not alone!

Well, I guess now that there's a way to kill the auto standby in the Focals, I'll give them a try sometime next week at the earliest and let you know what I think. Sweetwater is doing a $100 off special for the Shape 65s, it might be what you're looking for if they're indeed quiet. I'll report back once I've purchased them.

Although their hour has not yet come, it will be a bittersweet upgrade.

ADD: My pair of Rokits was purchased 4 years ago at Sam Ash. At that time, I thought everything sounded fine, though there's the hiss, which could be heard when pressed close to the tweeter. Surprised that 4 years later, here I am on the verge of an upgrade.

SouthPark

David Lai Sweetwater is doing a $100 off special for the Shape 65s

If Sweetwater has authorised techs for krk etc, then maybe they could even help to do the 'operation'. The disabling of the auto-off. Also taking into account what you mentioned earlier - about soft dial/ control etc, possible susceptibility to performance changes if something gets bumped etc. A few words or communications with a product manager will probably sort a few things out in that area.

David Lai

SouthPark Well, I bought the pair in Cincinnati, and now it's already out of warranty for at least 2 years. I don't know if that particular Sam Ash is still in operation, but I heard other music shops like Guitar Center are not doing very well. I think perhaps the quicker way to get something quiet without mailing my speakers to some place and I can't run my VST's is to just get something different, thus an upgrade works better with my setup. My VPC1 doesn't have built-in sound.

David B

SouthPark If it turns out that the majority of gen 4 haven't got the issue, then the possibility of a service by a KRK tech could sort it. And then end up with a rokit 5 that might even be better than new.

I contacted KRK with my issues and their technician gave me some mumbo-jumbo about the internal size being different even though it's not reflected in the outer cone and the hiss being normal because the amps are running wide open. He said there can be a perceivable difference in hiss between different monitors in the same line. It's a crapshoot.

God Bless,
David

SouthPark

David Lai True. A quick upgrade will sort it faster. And the old ones can be stowed, and if there become further developments or new information about fixes on the hiss, then that will be great as well.

David Lai

SouthPark Ah, that's a great idea!!!! But regarding the KRK, since they were not purchased at Sweetwater, I assume I won't get actual fixing service, or if I do get it, it will cost extra than those who may have purchased from Sweetwater.