Hi, today I want to ask about the problem I face when I use any portable cassette player. Basically my 24Ohm KZ earphones are too loud in many cases, they amplify the noise level and hurt my ears. Moving to my 32Ohm studio headphones the noise level is lower but I still don't enjoy it unless I increase the volume to unsafe levels. The thing is there is a unchanging level of background noise in music. It is always there and easily noticeable in low volume levels. The more I increase the volume the louder music gets and I hear the noise less because noise doesn't get louder for some reason. At least it is my experience. My Sony WM-GX652 can decrease that noise with Dolby B noise reduction but if the cassette doesn't support it it makes the sound quality worse. And many retail cassettes don't support Dolby B as you know. Also I got a Wintec C-101 walkman which is basically a simple but sturdy walkman without auto reverse or anything complicated but it also has more noise and some motor sound mixed in with the sound because of its old age. It also makes a pop noise when you stop, fast forward or rewind, basically any button action makes a little pop sound. Normally this is not a problem but 24Ohm headphones makes it too loud. So what is the solution. Should I get some sort of resistor between the earphones and the walkman to increase the impedance of them thus making them more silent and increasing the volume from the walkman. Or I need headphones with more Ohms like 64Ohm ones etc. BTW I can confirm using old style Sony headphones gives better experience with less noise in music I am am sort of sure that is the problem. Sorry for the long text guys I wanted to explain as best I could.
The issue is sensitivity / efficiency, the headphones you are using a too sensitive / efficient. I take it your KZ are in-ear monitors? (IEM), IEM’s are sensitive and being close to your ear drums reveal many things. So either use less efficient / sensitive IEM's or get an amp that can cope with the sensitive IEM's between your personal stereo and your IEM. I use a Ray Samuels P-51 Mustang, it has 3 gain settings Low, Mid and High. I use the low setting for IEM’s, mid for most things and anything difficult to drive get’s the high setting.
I use regular over-ear headphones as well as earbuds (not IEMs). No big difference regarding treble or hiss. @MissionTroll, I would say what you hear is normal. Hiss is audible at high volume in pauses. Dolby NR does work. Maybe in Turkey they used to sell pre-recorded cassettes without Dolby NR, but most cassettes sold in Western Europe and the U.S. used Dolby B (some even used Dolby S). This was the reason why I specifically looked for a walkman with Dolby decoder, it works even on a cheap walkman.
http://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/wintec-c-101-buzzing-noise.7498/ I found that this was a problem specially about this walkman. The Sony one actually sounds much more clear even without Dolby. I don't know if all of the cassettes in Turkey lack Dolby because except one of them all of the other ones I own lack any writing about dolby noise reduction and sound worse when it is enabled.
