Brand new Emx-1 and need some advices about sound quality

elecjay · Post by **elecjay** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:10 am

Guys,

I just got my brand new emx-1 (i am a deep house dj) and it's really awsome..
Just midi synced it with my laptop and it's flawless. I can put some beats on my tracks and extra sounds...

BUT, i know the subject has been treated a lot of times but i really need to be sure because when i first noticed that, i really thought it was a default of the unit and be prepared to send it back to the shop.

When i go after the first quarter of the master volume of the electribe, i hear a HISS (main out and headphones). It's really anoying beacuse i am really sensitive to that and i like when my sound is clean even for recording my sets.

I realized after reading tons of posts that the tubes should be the problem.
I really need that someone confirm this to me
Second thing is : i don't care about getting new tubes but what about the warranty ? i don't want to wait 2 years before having a clean sound..

Many thanks in advance for you help..

Jay

elecjay · Post by **elecjay** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:35 pm

Comon guys nobody can help me ?

mr.s · Post by **mr.s** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:00 pm

dunno where you come from but just exercise your consumer rights and return or replace the unit

robosardine · Post by **robosardine** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:33 pm

Yes take it back- this should not happen. - It's faulty. All I could think of is have you tried different headphones and played it in different environments/ sockets and done a factory reset and that it's going straight to your headphones etc and not through a mixer and that all your electrics are properly earthed? It's brand new- get it back to the shop and let them deal with it.

elecjay · Post by **elecjay** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:52 pm

OK

Just let me be more specific :
I hear the hiss when the unit is power on but with no music playing.
Tubes gain is at 0.

Put my headphones on the headphones out.
When i put the master volume up from 0 to 1/4 no hiss.
When i go after 1/4 to full volume i hear a background hiss increasing with the volume.

I thought this litlle hiss was due to the tubes.
Do you think this needs to go back to the shop ?

Evereybody is telling those unit are noisy so i am really confused.

Thanks for your help.

Yatmandu · Post by **Yatmandu** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:54 pm

Everyone has a different tolerance for hiss/noise so I would go and listen to another one or two EMX's to see if they do the same thing. All I can say is that I don't notice hiss coming out of my EMX (or ESX) regardless of which tubes were in (original or JJ's).

elecjay · Post by **elecjay** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:07 pm

The guy in the shop will be upset if i ask him to open new units.
If several users can give me, their opinion before i go to see him.

Thanks guys

Yatmandu · Post by **Yatmandu** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:24 pm

I meant a floor model or demo (obviously).

robosardine · Post by **robosardine** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:06 pm

There should be no hiss. The Electribes would not have survived and be as popular as they are if there was. Products that hiss fade into obscurity. I dont know who was telling you they ae noisy- I don't remember anyone mention it on forums or otherwise- even once. Take it back- it shouldn't be a big deal for the shop to replace it

elecjay · Post by **elecjay** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:41 am

I am pretty sure every electribes has this hiss, which is cuts down by changing with good tubes.

Some people are just more sensitive to this.
Put a headphone on your emx without playing sound and put the volume to the max.
If youy don't hear anything your are lucky....

There is a hiss on every unit wich works with tubes. Amps or else...

Some links :

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/13993_ho ... sx-and-emx

"These have excellent clarity and boost the sound coming from your machine(s) dramatically. It also cuts down on the "hiss" sound you may hear in your machine(s)"

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... -hiss.html

gotBASS? · Post by **gotBASS?** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:10 pm

And I am pretty sure mr.s, robosardine and yatmandu are correct.

The advice you have asked for here,and been given, is that there should be no audible hiss to speak of, especially when there is no music playing, and the tube gain is turned fully anticlockwise, and you only have 1/4 to 1/2 master volume. The only time I ever hear a hiss from my EMX's outputs is IMMEDIATELY after turning it on, for about 20seconds. You should be giving it (manly the tubes) tume to settle an warm up anyway.

One of those links was a thread about the ES1 and ESX's levels of hiss. There were a number of comments in it stating that correctly functioning EMX's DO NOT HISS. The other link was suggesting possible benefits for changing tubes, one of which, you are right, was:

"These have excellent clarity and boost the sound coming from your machine(s) dramatically. It also cuts down on the "hiss" sound you may hear in your machine(s)"

MAY hear, but in the case of the EMX, shouldn't really hear.

If you aren't going to take the advice to take it back or do an a/b comparison to see if you are uber-sensitive to some particular sound, you may as well change the tubes - why not throw some more good money after bad eh?

A quote from the ESX / ES1 thread:
"Yes i have this exact same problem [with ESX]. I have actually removed the tubes and it makes no difference whatsoever. Still very hissy and tube gain is at 0. I also have an EMX and it does not have this problem."

harvestein · Post by **harvestein** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 1:55 pm

Any device that use tubes, transformers or other heat producing amplification components produce hiss. This is due to electrons being 'excited' by the heat production and it produces spectral white noise and you cant ground it out of the signal. The hiss will get slightly louder the hotter your device becomes.
50HZ buzz on the other hand, is from the power supply and should not be audible, if it is is you have a grounding problem.

That is just the way it is. Nobody can notice that hiss when music is playing. the signal to noise ratio is too high. Turn your stereo or anyother device up to max when it is not playing anything and you will hear the same white noise. It is a property of electricity/heat being amplified to a level where it can be heard on loudspeaker.

Its like asking for your tv not to show interference when your on an untuned channel. Im afraid to get rid of this hiss you will need to change the laws of physics (or use superconductors at sub zero termpratures!). Although i do concede that the hiss on the electribe is slightly worse than other devices. definately not a fault though.

harvestein · Post by **harvestein** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:25 pm

i will measure the signal to noise ratio of the electribes compared to other devices, just to get some perspective on its performance compared to other machines.

Ruso · Post by **Ruso** » Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:00 pm

EMX/ESX have hiss..... the hiss comes from the tube circuitry it doesn't matter that you turn tube gain to 0 because either way your sound will go through tubes...... the usual solution is exactly what you're noticing, keep the machines below 1/4 volume and add gain elsewhere in your system.....

Getting new tubes should not void your warranty.... and if you need to do something with the warranty it's REALLY simple to put new ones in..... you undo one screw and remove the tube cover plate and replace them..... just put them back in if you want to deal with a repair!

The his can be quite annoying particularly when working in headphones where you have to turn it up past 1/4 volume..... another thing is..... the hiss probably stays when you hit play on the machine it just gets overpowered by the other sounds.... (just a theory)....

So anyway swap the tubes.... it's only about 30 bucks and not only will you improve the hiss problem, but you will also improve your sound quality by a LOT!