What is that?
Hey DNews listeners, Trace here.
Are you listening on headphones?
Turn up the volume really loud… hear that?
that hissing noise?
Okay, turn the volume back down.
Sorry ASMR peeps.
Okay, that hissing sound might be annoying, but it's always there in speakers, headphones,
and electronics in general, even in your computer and wifi signals!
How it gets there is kind of mind-blowing…
First, etymology time, baby!
*Sigh,* DNewsPlus.
The suffix -ics is from Greek -ikos meaning "pertaining to."
Or Latin -ic "dealing with" or "denoting."
It's usually used with a body of facts or knowledge, like: Log-IC, AcoustICS, mus-IC,
even mag-IC!
Electron-ICS denotes ELECTRONS.
When engineers design computers or headphones or whatever, they take electrons and move
them through a system of wires and switches to accomplish a task.
Headphones are simply tiny speakers attached to the end of wires, not unlike the speakers
in your home theater, computer, or even at the movies.
The electrons vibrate little cones or drivers to push air around and make music.
In engineering vernacular, the music, data (or whatever you’re transmitting) is called
the "signal," and everything else is called "noise."
When assessing a system, engineers use something called the signal-to-noise ratio.
The goal of headphones is to hear music, right?
So if you had a signal-to-noise ratio of 3-to-1, the music is waay louder than the noise.
That's good!
But, if it's 1-to-1, then no matter how loud the music was, the noise would still be there.
Okay, so, back to headphone hiss.
When electrons leave the battery, the charge hops from atom to atom of the copper wires
of your device.
Every hop introduces a little bit of chaos!
A little bit of noise.
Just like molecules in a hot gas, electrons in the circuitry are constantly jiggling about
in a random fashion, and the atoms are vibrating too!
Plus, the wires are bent here or there, and the copper isn't perfectly uniform -- those
little changes cause more interference and more noise!
On top of that, wires aren't one continuous stream, there are connections, chips, plugs,
and solders, each made of different materials which cause the electrons to stutter or bounce
chaotically.
When I'm not talking, and you're still hearing a hiss, that's called the "noise floor" and
hopefully it's low.
Amplifiers, home theaters, radios, smartphones -- they all have noise floors.
The noise floor is there no matter what, just by the system being turned on, but it can
also be dependent on what you're listening to!
For example, CDs have almost no noise floor because they've been remastered digitally
to remove any noise frequencies!
Cassette tapes on the other hand, are analog, so they have some noise floor because of that,
and some from the magnetic tape itself.
The pops and cracks you hear when listening to vinyl also contribute to the noise floor
but, in that case, some people actually like the aesthetic.
At the end of the day, we humans perceive a noise floor in our digital devices as that
hiss in our headphones.
So, when you turn up the volume, you're pushing more power through the wires, like adding
flow to a water faucet… more electrons in the wires can mean more noise.
Really good headphones can often pick up noise that cheap headphones simply can't… but
cheap cables or cheap components can exacerbate the hiss.
This is why some professional cables and high end electronics cost so much, they're designed
to reduce this noise floor…
and usually have a higher signal-to-noise ratio: the signal is stronger and clearer.
Most of the time it's not a big deal, unless you're an audiophile…
But, in the end, you can't 100 percent escape electronics hiss.
If it bothers you, swap headphones, turn the volume down, or try a nicer cable, or better
audio encoder!
Sometimes, even using wireless connections can reduce the hiss!
Or, you could think of it as you listening to the sound of electrons moving, which I
think is pretty rad.
If you listen to music and podcasts and are looking for a new Bluetooth speaker, try Monster’s
reimagined boombox, the Monster Blaster!
It’s available for monthly payments starting at $25.
The Monster Blaster has the power to bring music to life indoors and out.
Check it out at themonsterblaster.com/dnews.
Do you listen to music when you study?
Or work?
Does it help you stay focused?
Let us know in the comments and check out this video for the science of listening to
music at work!
Oh, and subscribe because we love you, and you love us.
Thanks for watching.