Z680 Hiss?

[Kido1986]

I've got some Z680s hooked up, replacing my old Z640s (Logitech is kicking ass ). They are hooked up with the regular 3 mini-jack plugs to a Sound Blaster Audigy.

There is an annoying hiss while the speakers are on. I hear it even if muted or turned down. Only goes away when the speakers are turned off.

My 640s didn't do this to me. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[letdown]

You have three options:

1. Turn them off,
2. Be listening to something all the time, or
3. Return them.

Nothing else will get rid of that hiss, which Logitech claims is a normal attribute of high-powered speakers.

Some of the more recent Z680s are supposedly a lot better about the hiss than the older ones. Don't know which ones you have...

 

[OTL]

That's just the way the Z-680's are.

 

[Kido1986]

Damn. Oh well. I usually just turn them off to prevent this, but was hoping for a fix.

I read in some other forum about some guy having that problem until he upgraded to an A2ZS but I'm not dropping $80 until I have some [H]ard proof.

 

[letdown]

Originally posted by Kido1986[LG]
I read in some other forum about some guy having that problem until he upgraded to an A2ZS but I'm not dropping $80 until I have some [H]ard proof.

I really doubt that. I have mine on an Audigy2 via coax, and have had them on direct lines too. I've also run an Xbox and a normal DVD player via the optical in.

Bottom line - if they're on, they're hissing. For anyone looking at getting the 680s, I don't mean to slam them that much. They're very powerful, they're cheap, the decoder's nice, and the hissing isn't really _that_ noticeable. I just turn them off when I'm not using them.

 

[n3m3s1s]

does this hissing get louder as the volume goes up???
or does it stay at a constant level???

 

[letdown]

It's constant, doesn't vary with volume setting. Once any actual sound is being played, at any volume, it's totally unnoticeable.

 

[Jrmicon]

Yeah, the hiss really pisses me off as well. I have just gotten used to turning the speakers off when not using them.

 

[ilkka]

Originally posted by Kido1986[LG]
My 640s didn't do this to me. Anyone have any suggestions?

Switch back the 640s... I am not familiar with the speakers, but the numbers are close, so I assume there isn't a vast difference between the two. Paying more for annoying, but slightly better speakers sounds like a waste.

 

[Talz]

I think it's something with the cheap decoder circuitry, because the 2200s have no hiss. I'd be happy with something cheaper that didn't hiss, or spend some more cash for the klipsch ultras. I hate speaker hiss background and like to leave my speakers on sometimes though.

 

[Duck-BOT]

Originally posted by ilkka
Switch back the 640s... I am not familiar with the speakers, but the numbers are close, so I assume there isn't a vast difference between the two. Paying more for annoying, but slightly better speakers sounds like a waste.

What an excellent way to compare speakers!! The numbers are similiar so that MUST mean they are comparable!


Listen to both of them before you make such a snap judgement.

 

[Sanitarium]

I hate that hiss too. If I had known it was as bad as it was before I bought them I would have gotten Pro Medias instead.

 

[ilkka]

Originally posted by Duck-BOT
What an excellent way to compare speakers!! The numbers are similiar so that MUST mean they are comparable!

It is a pretty reliable way of comparing products.

Listen to both of them before you make such a snap judgement.

I have no intention of doing so. I don't need to know how good they are. Obviously if you were buying it would be important to listen, but I am not. But if your new speakers produce an annoying hiss, and your old ones did not, and the old ones are sufficiently comparable as to be usable, it makes sense to return the new ones, and use the old ones, or buy a new one that works properly.

 

[Duck-BOT]

No, it is not a reliable way of comparing products.

That'd be like me saying the Radeon 9200 is the same as a 9600, the numbers are similiar so that must mean they are similiar in performance!

I have no intention of doing so. I don't need to know how good they are. Obviously if you were buying it would be important to listen, but I am not. But if your new speakers produce an annoying hiss, and your old ones did not, and the old ones are sufficiently comparable as to be usable, it makes sense to return the new ones, and use the old ones, or buy a new one that works properly.

Yes, break the first rule of judging sound. If you haven't listened to either of them, you can't really say anything about it.

I've heard the hiss, and it's just non-existent if you are playing something through the speakers. If you're not using them, turn them off. I see no reason to leave the speakers on anyways.

And no, in reference to the original poster, his "old ones" are in no way comparable to his "new ones".

Maybe I should link you to both of them? The subwoofer on the Z-680's is MUCH bigger and powerful than the Z-640's. The satellites are designed in a completely different way. The Z-680's are louder. The amp on the Z-680's packs over 5 times the power (on paper) of the Z-640's. The Z-680's have a digital decoder built into the control pod and has a remote. The Z-640's doesn't even have a separate control pod. The Z-680's use actual speaker wire when connecting their speakers. Hrm.

That's the technical stuff. Should I get into actual sound quality with you?

Wait, you must be a visual learner.

Here you go, the Z-640's in it's "greatness":

And the Z-680's for you:

My point is you shouldn't be offering that kind of advice. It's ridiculous.

 

[nullvector]

I've got the 680's and have never had the hiss problem.

I've used sound blaster 16, awe 32, audigy 1,GTXP 7.1, and now the Audigy2 ZS, and haven't had the hiss with any of them.

It appears to be unique to each set, as I dont know if there were any technical changes made between production runs of this product.

If they hiss even when unplugged from computer, its definitely the 680's.

I've heard that people who have the 'hiss' problem, do not notice it through the headphone jack on the 680 pod. It appears to be an Amp-related issue, in those cases. Maybe a few filter circuits are using cheap parts, or were designed incorrectly to begin with, or maybe there is a design issue with the first production run.

I've also heard that some people have received replacement pods from Logitech that have fixed the issue.

A call to logitech might clear things up for those of you with the hiss problem.

680's are a TON better than 640's any day of the week.

 

[ilkka]

Originally posted by Duck-BOT
No, it is not a reliable way of comparing products.

That'd be like me saying the Radeon 9200 is the same as a 9600, the numbers are similiar so that must mean they are similiar in performance!

It's like saying that the Radeon 9600 is similar to the Radion 9800. Which happens to be accurate; if there were some problem with your new 9800, you could use the 9600 instead.

Even taking your 9200-9600 analogy, I can assure you that I would use the 9200 instead of the 9600, if the 9600 had some annoying feature like artifacts whenever not playing games, or something like that.

I've heard the hiss, and it's just non-existent if you are playing something through the speakers. If you're not using them, turn them off. I see no reason to leave the speakers on anyways.

There is an annoying hiss while the speakers are on.

It seems like the only person whose opinion matters finds the hiss annoying.

My point is you shouldn't be offering that kind of advice. It's ridiculous.

Had I pretended to know the two sets of speakers, the advice would have been ridicilous. But I did not. I clearly stated that I am not familiar with the specific speakers. Because of that, the original thread starter can take my opinion with a grain of salt of the size he deems appropriate. My opinion is that you shouldn't pay more for a more annoying product. Especially not if there are other choices out there, and there most certainly are. My suggestion is still that you should return the 680s, and use the old 640s, and then buy a better pair if you want.

 

[Duck-BOT]

Originally posted by ilkka
Had I pretended to know the two sets of speakers, the advice would have been ridicilous. But I did not. I clearly stated that I am not familiar with the specific speakers. Because of that, the original thread starter can take my opinion with a grain of salt of the size he deems appropriate. My opinion is that you shouldn't pay more for a more annoying product. Especially not if there are other choices out there, and there most certainly are. My suggestion is still that you should return the 680s, and use the old 640s, and then buy a better pair if you want.

Switch back the 640s... I am not familiar with the speakers, but the numbers are close, so I assume there isn't a vast difference between the two. Paying more for annoying, but slightly better speakers sounds like a waste.

That is exactly what you said in the beginning. And I say you shouldn't be offering advice like that based on the simple fact that you have not heard and/or do not know what you are talking about, but just basing it simply on NUMBERS. You have not heard the hiss he is referring to, therefore you cannot really judge the actual annoyance of this hiss and tell him to drop his money elsewhere when he has a perfectly good set right in front of him.

Of course there are other choices, but what other choices does he have in that price range that offers the same type of features? None.

 

[Jrmicon]

Originally posted by ilkka
It is a pretty reliable way of comparing products.

That is by far the stupidest thing I have ever seen posted in this forum . . . . . wow

 

[ilkka]

Originally posted by Duck-BOT
That is exactly what you said in the beginning. And I say you shouldn't be offering advice like that based on the simple fact that you have not heard and/or do not know what you are talking about, but just basing it simply on NUMBERS. You have not heard the hiss he is referring to, therefore you cannot really judge the actual annoyance of this hiss and tell him to drop his money elsewhere when he has a perfectly good set right in front of him.

Then no one is qualified to give him advice. After all, there is no objective measure of goodness in speakers, and no one but the thread started can accurately judge the annoyance of the hiss or the quality of the different speakers. I can judge the annoyance of hiss based on the post of the thread starter; the fact that I don't have a personal opinion about the hiss does not matter, since my opinion is irrelevent. What matters is that the thread starter finds it annoying.

I offer advice when I feel like it. Perhaps the thread starter shouldn't take my advice, but that is a decision I leave up to him. I did make note of the limitations of my advice, so the thread starter can make an educated decision about whether or not pay attention to my advice. But even if he chooses to ignore it, that does not mean I shouldn't offer my advice if I want to, provided I remember to add the necessary caveats.

 

[ilkka]

Originally posted by Jrmicon
That is by far the stupidest thing I have ever seen posted in this forum . . . . . wow

In this context it is a sufficient way of comparing products. I've yet to see two similarly numbered items that are not relatively similar. The two sets of speakers in this thread, though obviously not equilevent, are sufficiently similar that the thread starter can return the new annoying ones, and use the old ones until he can acquire a new set of speakers that are not annoying.

 

[letdown]

Originally posted by ilkka
In this context it is a sufficient way of comparing products. I've yet to see two similarly numbered items that are not relatively similar. The two sets of speakers in this thread, though obviously not equilevent, are sufficiently similar that the thread starter can return the new annoying ones, and use the old ones until he can acquire a new set of speakers that are not annoying.

I think your original post made it sound like he should permanently revert to the 640s, with the idea that they're close enough, which would be wrong. Despite the similar product numbers, these are very different products. I could revert from my 9700 to my GF2MX if I wanted to, but it wouldn't really be a viable solution long term if there were a problem with my 9700.

The arguments here come from the fact that comparing product numbers, which are totally arbitrary products of the marketing department, is not a sufficient way to compare the two speaker sets. But as a temporary fix, you're right. If he's unhappy with his 680s, he should return them while he can and find something that suits his needs later. The 640s should do the job reasonably well until then.