• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Amp Hiss

jhfva

jhfva

May 2, 2004
31
0
Roanoke, VA
#1
I come from an audiophile world where amp hiss is very, very low.

I have an Ampeg BA210SP that seems to have quite a bit of hiss even with the input levels turned up and the volume level turned down, but not off. I can hear the hiss over a television at a low level 7 feet away. How much hiss is normal?
 
#2
I have a BA-115 and yes, it does hiss....but the second I start playing I don't hear it anymore. Hiss in between songs does not bother me. I've seen comments like this before about this series of amps, so I'd say they hiss a little above normal, but not enough (to me) to fret over.

I didn't buy it to turn it on, then watch TV.;)
I like it, I'll live with the hiss.
 
#3
jhfva said:
I come from an audiophile world where amp hiss is very, very low.
Click to expand...

me too! its taken be several years to not let hiss bother me as much as it first did. On many of my combos/cabs over the years, I've just turned off the tweeter. with higher quality preamplification you will usually get less hiss, but I find there is usually some.

when making tone adjustments I go for the mids first, then the treble. one recent bummer is I've found the joy that is Eden and come to find that on older models of the WT300 higher levels of hiss are quite normal (tube preamp section). the hiss is so loud the sound engineer was complaining about it!:bawl: I love the eden tone besides.

hiss usually bothers me more at home/quiet places.
 
#4
"Recovering Audiophile", I like that :cool:

You probably did not have a 400W or 500W audiophile system. The more gain, generally the more noise. At a gig, the noise floor is so high you will never notice the hiss. So it is not worth the expense trying to get rid of it.

Once our guitar player had a problem with his pedal board and had to shut it down. The "silence" was stunning. I put it in quotes because he also was using a strat that puts out high levels of noise when he takes his hands of the strings.

A lot of bass players put a lot of effort into getting there basses very quiet. Star grounds, shielding, etc. Yet guitar players seem to just accept it.
 
#5
I think hiss in a live situation is quite tolerable but when you practicing at home I find it very annoying. When I upgraded to a sterling from my jazz copy the reduction in hiss was great. In fact I think that it was one of the reasons for upgrading...plus I just wanted a nice bass. But I do find hiss annyoingwhen on my own
 
#6
The hiss is from the tweeter. It is normal and should not bother you after you get used to it or resign yourself to the fact that it exists!
Now, if you do a search you will find that some people actually unplug the tweeter or even purchase a higher quality tweeter, both of which I never attempted (I believe unpluging the tweeter could void the warranty). So, I just turned down the Treble to a level that was acceptable (turn it all the way down would eliminate any hiss).

I loved my BA115, but I am no longer jamming so I opted for a small practice amp (30watt)!!!! Um, oh yeah, and I am keeping Amber, my Walter Woods Head:D
 
#7
spliffnriff said:
The hiss is from the tweeter.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I forgot to mention that in my earlier post.
On the positive side though, if you ever want/have to run a drum machine thru your bass amp, (bass thru the standard input, drum machine simultaineously thru the padded input), having a tweeter seems to make all the difference. I've ran my Alesis SR-16 thru bass amps without a tweeter and it sounded like crap. Thru the BA-115 it sounds great.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back