My new Focal Solo 6 monitors have nasty hiss, is it normal??

[LoveThief]

Just got a pair of Focal Solo 6 monitors in this morning. Both speakers have this low-level, white noise hiss coming out of the tweeter. Is this normal? It's quite audible even from a distance of up to 1-1.5 meters. Interestingly, the tone of the hiss from one of the speaker is slightly different from that of the other. The best way to describe it is one is smooth while the other is a bit crunchy, almost sounds like rapid high frequency crackling.

Should I be concerned about this? I can't hear it at moderate volume, but if I listen to a quiet source, the hiss is actually fairly audible. The guy at the online retailer where I got these told me it's normal for the inverted beryllium tweeter to have hiss. I just find it a bit odd for a £1500 pair of speakers that have arguably amazing resolution to have such an audible background hiss...

[Matt Syson]

Hi
I have just listened to my manky 'Hi Fi' setup, an ancient Kenwood amplifier and some Gale speakers. With the volume turned down I can hear a faint hiss with my ear on the tweeter, otherwise not. OK not quite a fair test as I have to keep the volume turned down as it has other 'issues' but should be representative for a line level powered monitor amp input.
No I would not be happy.
You should not hear noise at more than say 2 feet from the speaker.
Matt S

[automatom]

Had these ones for a long time. You'd have to get pretty close to them and have the source very loud to hear a hiss.

[LoveThief]

Thanks. I am starting to believe there is something wrong with this pair, or at least one of the speakers which has an audibly louder hiss coming out. Will see if I can arrange for a replacement but would appreciate if other Solo 6 owners can chip and shed some light on how loud the background / normal operating noise for these speakers should be....

[alooker]

heard a pair of focal 6 twins that hissed, not an issue when playing music through them but when the monitor level was pretty high and nothing on playing there was a definite low level hissing

[Matt Syson]

Hi
Don't forget that the input must be 'terminated' to be a true test. This means either short the input connector or feed it from something turned down.
If there is a level control pot on your speaker, does it vary the noise?
There is another 'hissy monitor' thread, see what other ideas have come up there.
Matt S

[Matt Syson]

Hi
If the hiss varies when you turn up the monitor pot on other gear it is NOT the speakers that are doing it. This is a gain staging issue which needs addressing differently. You must 'blame' the right piece of gear!
Matt S

[Rev. Robb]

Unplug the input from the speakers and see if the hiss is still there.

Also, could the hiss be from your playback system? Try connecting an iPod directly to your Focal's and see if you still hear the hiss. But be careful and have the iPod's volume turned way down before you hit play.

[LoveThief]

Fair points, but actually I did this with the input unplugged, and only power cables connected. As far as I understand the Solo 6's are fully open, i.e. always at maximum volume level so perhaps that's the culprit. I don't really understand why they didn't include a level control on the cabinet itself, is this normal for high-end speakers?

Anyway, I shipped them back for a replacement, will report what happens here.

[Matt Syson]

Hi
An 'open' input is also NOT the way to test this as you must have a 'termination' of some sort on the input. Either short the inputs (pin 2 to 3 of an XLR) or use a resistor of 47 to 600 Ohms. If it is hissy in this situation then it is 'faulty'. If it is quiet then it is as it should be so you need to address the controller / source of the signal.
Matt S

[automatom]

The HF contours weren't turned up were they?

They must have been broke, mine are things of beauty not hiss.

[LoveThief]

I tried with both input plugged in and out (source not playing). Contours were reset. Made no difference to the hiss levels.

automatom, do you get any hiss of any kind? All speakers are hissy when you put ear against them, but how close do you have to get before you get that? With mine, the hiss was obvious in the sweet spot listening position.

[audiowreck]

My Solo's do the same. I believe it all comes down to your noise floor in your enviroment. Mine's quiet enough that I hear the hiss all the time. I must admit that it drove me crazy but I just became used to it. I used their 65's prior and they were dead quiet. Not sure if it's a thing with BASH amps. All things considered I do still really like them for the size of speaker.

Just to add I run my studio with full balanced power.

[Jomox]

It's a known fault with many Focal monitors, contact support and get them repaired.

[pedrogoya]

No way. I had 2 pairs of solos, now only have one pair, and never had that kind of hiss sound.
There must be something wrong with them. Even when pulling sound to an extreme volume, I can barely hear a thing. The sound is crystal clear.

[Cerpintaxt]

Never had any hiss problems with my solo's, great speakers though

[LoveThief]

Hey guys,

I wanted to follow up on this thread. I ended up returning both speakers and getting a replacement. One of the speakers was tested at the distributor and reported as normal. The other was was damaged by UPS during transit so they sent me a new one which was also tested and reported as normal.

I may be crazy, or maybe it's something to do with my setup, but I am still hearing the hiss quite audibly and quite annoying!!

I decided to do something pretty radical and actually recorded the hiss using a measuring condenser mic. The fact that the hiss was loud enough to actually be audible on the recording is pretty telling in itself. See the attached raw audio file and let me know what you think (there is no processing of any sort, straight export from the recording).

P.S.

Apart from this problem, I love the speakers! Just finished a new mix on them and I am very happy with how it translates. The hiss is inaudible when listening at moderate to loud levels, but otherwise really annoying and obvious if listening at quiet levels.

[Kyle_PL]

Hmmm ... this hiss is quite "big". Have You comapared this hiss to other active monitor? (Genelec 8040, ADAM A7X,Neumann KH120). Hiss is the same when speakers are unplugged from interface? ADAM A7X have hiss, but without this metalic "ringing/buzzing"

[LoveThief]

Originally Posted by Kyle_PL

Hmmm ... this hiss is quite "big". Have You comapared this hiss to other active monitor? (Genelec 8040, ADAM A7X,Neumann KH120). Hiss is the same when speakers are unplugged from interface? ADAM A7X have hiss, but without this metalic "ringing/buzzing"

I used to own the KRK Rokit 8 and those were quiet as a mouse and unfortunately that's my only reference point. The hiss is there regardless of being connected to the interface or not.

This is a long shot but... could this be some sort of magnetic interference? I would imagine high-end speakers such as these are fully shielded but might be worth asking...

[Kyle_PL]

Originally Posted by LoveThief

I used to own the KRK Rokit 8 and those were quiet as a mouse

Cheap RP8 have much lower self noise than Focal Solo6 Be?

Switching input -10dB<->+4dB changing something? If You move HF knob there is any diffrence?

[nicolas debard]

Do you use a balanced audio interface ? If so, did you adjuts the sensitivity to +4dB ?

Nicolas @ Focal.

[LoveThief]

Originally Posted by nicolas debard

Do you use a balanced audio interface ? If so, did you adjuts the sensitivity to +4dB ?

Nicolas @ Focal.

My interface is MOTU Ultralite (1st gen, firewire), which has balanced outputs. Cables are high-end Mogami 1/4 inch to XLR.

[LoveThief]

Originally Posted by Kyle_PL

Cheap RP8 have much lower self noise than Focal Solo6 Be?

Switching input -10dB<->+4dB changing something? If You move HF knob there is any diffrence?

Switching from +4db to -10dB on the back of the monitor increases noise floor a bit. HF knob does not materially change the hiss.

[ohmtom]

Do you have the power feed to the speakers from the same wall outlet or power conditioner as the interface? Had a ground loop that made my Tannoys make some noise, although the outlets was just a few yards apart.

[LoveThief]

Originally Posted by ohmtom

Do you have the power feed to the speakers from the same wall outlet or power conditioner as the interface? Had a ground loop that made my Tannoys make some noise, although the outlets was just a few yards apart.

How would I test for this? As far as I can tell noise is there regardless of where I plug in the speakers (I tried different rooms, etc.) Also, hiss is present even if speakers disconnected from interface (and latter switched off).

[ohmtom]

Originally Posted by LoveThief

How would I test for this? As far as I can tell noise is there regardless of where I plug in the speakers (I tried different rooms, etc.) Also, hiss is present even if speakers disconnected from interface (and latter switched off).

Ok. Then there is no ground loop. That is if a DC current flows beetween your interface and your speaker due to a small voltage difference in different wall outlets. But not your case here.