Good for self made Attenuator?

[thowe]

Using good headphones I notice the white noise of my player (which is at a constant level independent of the audio volume). As white noise is very annoying, I am looking for a method to attenuate the headphone by about 10dB. This would result in a better signal/noise distance of 10dB, when I compensate the volume on the player.

Would it be possible to make an attenuated headphone by soldering in two micro resistors of let's say 100 Ohm in the "hot" wire?

Thank's for any advice.

[CrowdAds]

[WesleyH]

Originally Posted by thowe

Using good headphones I notice the white noise of my player (which is at a constant level independent of the audio volume). As white noise is very annoying, I am looking for a method to attenuate the headphone by about 10dB. This would result in a better signal/noise distance of 10dB, when I compensate the volume on the player.

Would it be possible to make an attenuated headphone by soldering in two micro resistors of let's say 100 Ohm in the "hot" wire?

Thank's for any advice.

Have you tried one of the 'pocket amps'? You might have better luck, and better sound too, without having to solder anything. If you could cut down the output of your player and boost it with a high-quality line amp, you will probably get the same effect you are after, but with the added bonus of not having to mess with the wires, AND a better overall sound.

[dfkt]

You can also buy attenuators. Ultimate Ears and Shure sell some, but certainly more can be found.

Here's the UE tool kit, for $20 (attenuator is in the middle): http://www.ultimateears.com/superfi/...i-tool-kit.htm

[thowe]

Thank you for your answers.

I have bought this UE Attenuator. But for me it is absolutely useless:

• The attenuation is too strong.
  
• The attenuation is quite a bit different on the left and the right side.
  
• The sound is not only attenuated! It is influenced somehow. It sounds "hollowly".

As I want an ultraportable solution an external amp is no solution for me.

Best would be an earphone that does reduce noise by its sound characteristics. Or I can solder into the cable some resistors to reduce overall volume as described in my firts post.

And by the way: best solution would have been, when Samsung had produced the T9 without the white noise... ;-)

[dfkt]

Attenuators always slightly change the sound character. Different impedance means differently driven armatures/speakers.

My UE attenuators sounds the same on both channels - maybe you got a defective one?

I use the attenuator not with my DAPs, but only with my headphone amp, to cut down on the background hiss for high-sensitivity/low-impedance phones. It works fine for that - but yes, it might be too strong for a weak DAP amp.

If you build one yourself, don't use 100 Ohm resistors - 40 Ohm should be plenty enough for IEMs or earbuds. BTW, what phones are you trying to mod?

[thowe]

Thanky for your hints. :-)

On the Sennheiser CX 300 the Samsung YP-T9 does show a white noise. The noise is not noticeable when using the (not bad) Samsung headphones.

I agree that there may be some *minor* differences when attenuating. But as every normal volume control is such an attenuator, this can be done without such effects as produced by the UE Attenuator.

Maybe my UE Attenuator is bad. Anyway. It is unusable for me.

[dfkt]

Well, the volume control doesn't change the electrical resistance in the output path. No matter if you listen at high or low volume, the impedance for the phones stays the same - AFAIK.

I have a (very) slight hiss on all my DAPs with the low-impedance UE, V-Moda, and SennCX. Curiously, my strongest amped DAP, the Cowon D2, hisses the most. But only when no music is playing - the hiss is inaudible when music is playing.

[dfkt]

Here's another attenuator for sale: http://www.head-direct.com/index.php...nc=detail&id=8

75 Ohm, made for Ety ER-4P to sound like ER-4S, I guess...

[IpaqMan]

For these situations, I use the inline stereo volume control available at Radio Shack for about ten dollars. You can choose your level of attenuation.