Studio Monitor Tweeter Hiss (JBL LSR305, KRK Rokit 5 G3, Etc.)

[miketurn]

I have recently been able to test the JBL LSR305 and the KRK Rokit 5 G3 and I noticed something (that many others have noticed as well) that when you put your ear close to the tweeter, the monitors emit a very noticeable hissing (almost light white noise sound). Being that monitors have their own amps built in, I would imagine that self noise is likely to occur but I was wondering if everyone experiences this?

I tried them on a couple of different wall outlets and both monitors also make this sound on their own (not plugged into any audio interface, etc. so has nothing to do with other pieces of gear or computer interference)

Main models I would like people to verify this on are the following....
JBL LSR305
KRK Rokit 4 G3
KRK Rokit 5 G3
PreSonus Eris E5

I am also interested if others experience this with other models as well.

The test is to unplug everything from your monitor except the power cord and then turn it on and put your ear close to the monitor itself, mainly focus on the tweeter but moving your ear around the entire monitor (tweeter, speaker cone, sides, back, top) and see if you hear any noise / hissing.

I have read quite a few things about this, but it seems that everyone has their own views on the issue.
(Some say they don't hear anything, some say the noise is normal, some say it is a power issue, etc.)
Hopefully someone can clarify this for me.
Thank You

[chk071]

I can confirm that the JBL LSR305's are hissing. As you wrote, like white noise. I immediately noticed that after i bought them. And my M-Audio BX5a's which i had before had much less, if any hiss. Anyway, for me, it's tolerable. Not great, but, as they do sound great otherwise, and i don't have them at low volume levels, it's ok. I'm frankly a bit surprised that testers didn't notice that though. In a few tests, you can read about the hiss, but most don't even mention it. Talking about "golden ears" once again, i guess...

As far as i read, it's the amp which produces it. It's supposed to be not really top quality, and, the price has gotta come from somewhere, so...

BTW, i can hear the hiss with my ears 1-1 1/2 metres from the speakers. Don't really have to put my ears near, or even on the speakers. So, it's quite loud. Interestingly, it gets even louder when you turn up the speakers volume over 8-9 on the 10 points scale. Below that, it's more silent, and, when you turn the volume to 0, it's gone. The sound too though.

[thecontrolcentre]

A bit of low level hiss is normal. My Genelecs do it too. I never noticed until I got a quiet computer ...

[chk071]

A bit of low level hiss is normal. My Genelecs do it too. I never noticed until I got a quiet computer ...

Good point. It's hardly louder than the fans in my computer. But, computers have gone more and more silent, so, at some point, you simple hear the hiss. It's a bit subpar, when you try to listen to silent parts of your music.

[thecontrolcentre]

A bit of low level hiss is normal. My Genelecs do it too. I never noticed until I got a quiet computer ...

Good point. It's hardly louder than the fans in my computer. But, computers have gone more and more silent, so, at some point, you simple hear the hiss. It's a bit subpar, when you try to listen to silent parts of your music.

I only notice it when I first switch the monitors on. Once I'm making music, or just listening, its not audible.

[tehlord]

If it doesn't go up and down in volume with everything else, it's fine. And normal.

[JCJR]

It is possible for digital hash and other interference to be shared between devices via the power connections. Some devices are designed more-immune to this, some not so much.

Just because it is possible doesn't guarantee that a person would have a significant problem with noise on the powerlines. Maybe the odds of powerline noise problems, on average, could be proportional to the number of devices in a studio or on a stage. Because noticeable powerline noise issues don't always happen, possibly it stands to reason that if you have 20 interconnected devices, the odds of shared interference might be higher than with only two devices.

In other words, maybe folks with lots of gear would be most likely to have power issues which need significant attention to solve?

Little powerline noise filters sometimes help. I personally would not necessarily have much faith in "dirt cheap" power noise filters from walmart or whatever.

I saw some internet threads of fellas just starting out with not much gear, sounded like they had genuine poweline noise problems. The ones I recall the fellas were set up in old houses with antique wiring or crappy apartments wired by the landlord's idiot nephew, or whatever.

If you are in a position to throw a little money at it, it can be worth the money to locate an electrician "familiar with the issue" and get him to wire your music space. Most licensed electricians are competent but the specialties vary. Some electricians only work with high voltage cables the size of one's arm. That those guys remain alive provides implicit evidence of competence with giant high voltage cables, but such fellas might be somewhat foggy about fine details of noise-immune residential, office or studio wiring practices.

Just sayin, some excellent electricians won't necessarily be the most excellent to hire to wire your studio. Though electricians are generally a sharp breed in my experience.

A properly wired studio, proper attention to details all the way from the pole pig out on the street, thru the properly grounded breaker box and the proper number / configuration of circuits feeding your music space. If you get that right, the odds of powerline interference are drastically diminished.

Re speaker hiss, everything analog makes noise. It is usually possible to diminsh noise but noise will never be eliminated. Even the electrons jiggling against each other in a silly simple wire makes a certain amount of noise. Many electronic components make lots more noise than simple wire.

Though maybe some devices are both cheap and low noise, usually it seems that low noise components tend to be more expensive. And even with low noise components, a device will be noisy if not designed properly. And even with low noise components in a well designed circuit, the device might still be noisy if not manufactured correctly.

Unfortunately some expensive devices might also be excessively noisy, so you can't just cure the problem by purchasing the most expensive gear.

But on average, the cheapest gear is not gonna be the lowest-noise gear.

[Mister Natural]

fwiw - my Focal Alpha 50s are dead silent . . .

[BertKoor]

[...] when you put your ear close to the tweeter, the monitors emit a very noticeable hissing (almost light white noise sound). Being that monitors have their own amps built in, I would imagine that self noise is likely to occur [...]

These are near-field monitors, but not for THAT near.
All analog systems have some noise. It is usually listed in the tech specs under "S/N Ratio" (signal/noise) but probably then with the signal at absolute maximum volume. So it's always a bit guessing what the absolute noise level (as measured at one meter distance) will be. The theory says zero dB SPL is the hearing threshold, but some people can hear noises as faint as -10dB.
Put it in perspective: your mixes have a level of 85 or maybe 90 dB SPL, take into account an extra 15 dB headroom, totals 105dB SPL for peaks. If the hiss is at 10dB SPL the dynamic range is 95dB: that's comparable with compact disk16bit audio. Nothing wrong with that...

[x2mirko]

As others have written, a bit of noise is absolutely normal there, but there's certainly differences between different models. With some, I certainly can hear it when sitting in my monitoring position, with others just when i'm right in front of the speaker. My KRK Rokit 8s didn't hiss very badly, but were slightly noticable at the monitoring position if everything else was quiet. My Neumann KH120A are nearly impossible to hear at monitoring position. I also tried Dynaudio LYD-8s recently and those were hissing quite a lot, enough that it was definitely easy to hear them from the monitoring position. Of course, once you turn up music, you will most likely not hear it at all anymore, but i found it sort of annoying.

[idfpower]

LSR305 = confirmed.

Damn it, I haven't noticed it before, now it's gonna "haunt" me forever Really, not that big of a deal, but yeah, it's there. On a different note... man, these monitors are stupid loud! Even at 4/10 volume, they shake the room And they do have more than enough bass.

[chk071]

LSR305 = confirmed.

Damn it, I haven't noticed it before, now it's gonna "haunt" me forever

I'm quite sensitive about stuff like that... it can be good for certain things, but bad for others. Anyway, as i wrote, i absolutely can live with it. The sound of the LSR's surely make up for it anyway.

[idfpower]

Anyway, as i wrote, i absolutely can live with it.

Of course... but it's THERE, lol Yeah, awesome monitors. Actually I'm a bit amazed how different they are and sound.

[miketurn]

Thank You for all the responses

@ldfpower
Especially sorry for bringing it to your attention

I didn't have a ton of time with the KRK 5s, I wish I could have analyzed them a bit more, can't really remember how noticeable their noise was in comparison to the JBLs, the environment was loud.
Very curious about the KRK Rokit 4 G3 and the PreSonus Eris E5 if anyone has them to comment on as well.

I must admit I am really interested in the KRK Rokit 4 G3, I have a problem because when it comes to certain technology I like things to be a bit smaller which unfortunately monitors seem to run the opposite way. So the KRK 4s have a small footprint which I desire (I would really like a set of 3" monitors), but the whole purpose of them requires larger sizes. I just want my desktop to be as sleek as possible.

Like how you mention that the JBLs have a ton of bass, someone on one of my other threads mentioned he bought a subwoofer to go with them and mentioned it was kind of redundant which I like to hear because I would not prefer to purchase a subwoofer, going with my comment above about saving space, also more damn wires!

Anyways, yeah if anyone else has anything to share please do so.
Thanks Again

[idfpower]

Well tbh I hear that noise only if I'm dead close to the speaker. In regular use it's really not a problem even in a quiet environment. The problem with these (and any other rear ported monitor) is that it needs some distance from the back wall, otherwise the bass is getting boomy. Like someone else already stated, you also need some distance away from them in order to hear them properly - when seated close to them, you might get ear fatigue fast (they're loud). And yeah, I personally don't think a sub is necessary. I'm still tinkering with mine to find the ideal position - even an inch makes a difference...

PS: it takes a while to adjust to them; especially if you're used to work on headphones (like me).