It is important to understand that High-Sensitivity Mode is not designed to remove hiss. In most cases, it will not affect background hiss.
Hiss is a separate compatibility issue that occurs when an extremely sensitive IEM is paired with a powerful, professional amplifier. This comes down to two key specifications: impedance and sensitivity.
- Impedance (Ohms, Ω): This is the measure of electrical resistance. IEMs typically have a very low impedance, meaning they require little power to operate.
- Sensitivity (dB): This measures how efficiently an IEM converts power into sound. Most IEMs are also highly sensitive, meaning they get very loud with very little power.
When an IEM has both very low impedance and very high sensitivity, it becomes so efficient at converting an electrical signal to sound that it can reveal the subtle, underlying noise floor present in any powerful audio circuit. This is what you might perceive as a faint hiss.
If an IEM is sensitive enough to pick up the amplifier's natural noise floor, you may hear this hiss regardless of whether High-Sensitivity Mode is on or off.
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