Roland Cube Hiss

**onetruevibe** · 04-29-2012, 09:30 AM

Hi all,

I've been reading up on the Roland Cube 40XL and was curious if anyone has purchased one recently - have the corrected the hissing issue?

I've read on this forum and on others about the issue, but they mostly over a year old.

Fender Mustang 2 vs Roland 40

I know the best approach is to go the shop and play one and hear for myself. But alas, my shop doesn't have any in stock.

Thank for any input.

Brian

**SOR** · 04-29-2012, 10:16 AM

I had both the 80XL and the 40XL at the same time, and while I noticed it on the 80 I didn't at all on the 40 so that's the one I kept and I'm quite happy with it. Good luck.

**Russ Kapp** · 05-04-2012, 12:10 PM

I had a Roland Cube 60 back in the day that had the hiss you mention. I managed to smoke the thing plugging into a bad church wall socket ( from hell? ) . It not only didn't hiss after that it was torched ! I've replaced it in more recent times with the newer Cube 40XL when those came out. No
problems thus far......going to a DIFFERENT kinda church, as well.....LOL

**bborzell** · 05-04-2012, 01:11 PM

And I have one of the earlier Cube 60s that does not hiss. OTOH, i have a cat...

**Jazz_175** · 05-05-2012, 09:00 AM

THe Hiss issue is really a nightmare.
There is a Hiss on Fender Mustang amps.
So I thought: Well I'll go for a Roland Cube, but apparently they also have the Hiss Problem!

**Pierrot** · 05-05-2012, 09:25 AM

I have two Cube 60s, and no hiss. Oh, and two cats, too;-)

**nosoyninja** · 05-05-2012, 11:34 AM

I don't own a Roland Cube, so I couldn't say about the hiss on those amps. But everytime I plug my guitar in I hear a hiss too. It comes from the wife, though...

**Evan** · 05-05-2012, 05:46 PM

I have a 30xl. Hisses. Sounds like it steals the sustain out of every chord if I let it ring.

**aniss1001** · 05-05-2012, 06:24 PM

I bought a 40XL in january. So far I haven't noticed any "hiss" at all

**Classicplayer** · 05-05-2012, 06:26 PM

Annis,

Does the 40XL have a 3-prong plug on it?

Classicplayer

**aniss1001** · 05-05-2012, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by Classicplayer

Annis,

Does the 40XL have a 3-prong plug on it?

Classicplayer

Not sure what you mean? I suposse you mean that the power plug has 3 legs? If so it does! But the 3rd leg is not used because the plugs in my flat are for 2 legs only so I use a converter. Not sure what this means or whether I have answered your question?

**Classicplayer** · 05-05-2012, 06:43 PM

Your answer is fine. You use an "adaptor" to adapt your 3-prong plug (connector) to 2-prong to fit your home electrical outlets. I was just curious about the 40XL. I have a 20X Cube and it only has 2-wire plug.

Classicplayer

**Evan** · 05-05-2012, 07:16 PM

30xl is 2 prong

**Little Jay** · 05-06-2012, 05:05 AM

Originally Posted by Evan

I have a 30xl. Hisses. Sounds like it steals the sustain out of every chord if I let it ring.

That's the built-in limiter/noise gate. It's the reason I sold it.....

**FatJeff** · 05-06-2012, 12:57 PM

I have the 80X and there is definitely a noticeable hiss. It's part of the processing that is done on your signal when you play though it. It is some adaptive digital algorithm built in, and I don't think you can turn it off. What I did to minimize it is to turn the treble down. For what it's worth, it's not very bad when you play at gig volumes. I only notice it when practicing at bedroom levels.

**Evan** · 05-06-2012, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by Little Jay

That's the built-in limiter/noise gate. It's the reason I sold it.....

That really pisses me off. I returned the amp after buying it only to be cockblocked by two super egos in the store. Both plugging into it and playing at full volume aand telling me they couldn't take it back because the didn't hear any hum or hiss. When I said I don't play that loud they said I didn't even need an amp if I wasn't going to play louder than that.

Ive read elsewhere that this hiss was introduced in the x-series models and only kicks in at low volume. Precisely when it's the worst nuisance.

**onetruevibe** · 05-07-2012, 08:42 AM

Thanks for the responses, everyone. Between my wife and cat, I'm really not in the market for more hissing.

I have a Blues Jr. that I use for practicing in the living room - I can get it close, but it has just a little too much hair on it for my tastes. So, I'm looking for a low-volume replacement for that.

Really seems like a great amp and worth a test-drive. I'll check with my local shop regarding returns, and probably pick one up to see what's what.

Oh - and for the guys with hissing wives, try boosting her volume to see if it goes away. Seems to work for Roland..

**onetruevibe** · 05-24-2012, 02:59 PM

Hey guys - just to close the loop on this thread. I picked up a used Cube 80X yesterday and it's pretty stinking quiet. I guess if you listen very closely in a quiet room in the middle of night in your underpants, you can hear some digital murmuring, but nothing I'm concerned about.

The only I notice the "hiss" is when I turn on the Bright switch on the JC Clean channel. I don't foresee that feature getting mush use, so, yea.

Brian

**zigzag** · 05-24-2012, 10:25 PM

I have an 80XL and I really like it for a SS amp. I did not notice hiss until I used multiple affects simultaneously. Chorus was worse. Playing with only one effect at any level or multiple effects all at low levels is not a problem.

**khingdheano** · 05-25-2012, 08:15 AM

I've had a 30x for about 5 yrs. No hiss. Now my JC-120, on the other hand...

**ooglybong** · 06-24-2012, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by FatJeff

I have the 80X and there is definitely a noticeable hiss. It's part of the processing that is done on your signal when you play though it. It is some adaptive digital algorithm built in, and I don't think you can turn it off. What I did to minimize it is to turn the treble down. For what it's worth, it's not very bad when you play at gig volumes. I only notice it when practicing at bedroom levels.

I recall hearing that the Cube 80XL was somehow a slightly different circuit than the "plain" 80X Cube. (Besides the looping, of course.) Any truth to that if anyone knows or has compared them? Possibly, has the hiss that FatJeff is mentioning here been eliminated or lessened somehow?

Also, is any of this hiss found back in the much older Cubes: the orange Cube 60 or the grey Cube 60 Chorus? (From what I know, those were identical amps except for the chorus on the grey Cube.) Any of the legendary hiss on either of those? (I might have a tip on geting the Cube 60 Chorus amp, but I'm not interested if it hisses. My JC 77 did that and I finally got rid of it a couple of years ago.)

TIA.

Larry

**nakim55** · 03-16-2013, 06:57 AM

40xl, NO hiss on mine.

**yebdox** · 03-16-2013, 09:32 AM

80XL, but don't play it much much - not much hiss on the black face mods, which is all I use it for - gain up a bit, and volume down, which is where the better tones seem to be. I like the ZT Club with an EQ pedal in the loop much better, more headroom and quieter, but really don't like either of them, one is in a part of the house I rarely use for practice and the other is for when I don't feel like carrying a 65 pound tube amp to a jam.

**tonedeaf** · 03-17-2013, 01:34 AM

I had a Cube 40 and it hissed a lot. One day I was moving it around and I noticed that the hiss changed. It only had a two-prong power plug and I suspected that might be the problem. So I took and old three-prong power plug and cut the amp side connector off. I then put a round crimp connector on the ground wire and attached it to the amp chassis (I also put wire nuts on the other two wires). I then plugged in both the amp cable and my modified cable. Viola! Hiss gone.

**Desafinado9** · 10-26-2015, 07:59 AM

Hi all!
I've been asking about these Roland Cubes lately as the reviews & specs say they sported a set of features that very much coincide with what I'm looking for (sturdy/rugged, powerful, lightweight, easy to use, good clean sound, decent OD, or at least nice to pedals, aux in, line out & speaker out are desirable, and on-board looper -not a must have, but more than welcome-) for my intended uses (both practice at home & gig -rock & jazz-).

This weekend I've found a shop that has one available so there I went to try it, just for a few minutes as I was on a bit of a hurry but at least so I could have a taste of it. Those few minutes were enough to find it had some hiss, which I had read about before but still didn't get clearly if it's possible to rid of.

This hiss is actually a shame because I really liked the overall features of the amp.
And here's where I need some feedback from you Cube owners who use yours to gig please, and for what I thank you all in advance:

Ok, can't remember exactly now, again I just tried it for a few minutes, but there was some background hiss even without the guitar cord plugged in the amp, I've found this hiss comparable to that of some analog modulation pedals and wasn't that much audible.
Asides this, there was other hiss, present in both the Clean and Lead channels, starting when I gently touched the strings (without making em sound) or played something, going quieter at certain moments and I recall to my ears it was more audible as the notes decayed, like a trail; since the guitar I borrowed from the store to try the Cube was a Fender Cabronita whose pickups, IFRC, are humbucking, I assume the hiss is not 60-cycle hum from the pickups.

What I'm wondering is if this hiss could come from improper grounding (I didn't see if the plug was 3-prong or 2-prong, and don't know the electric installation of the shop either) which means it would be possible for me to get rid of it, or if it's inherent to the digital design of the amp.

I guess in a rock band situation (or other kind of busier/noisier band) the trailing hiss wouldn't be so noticeable, but I'm worrying about it being an annoyance when playing jazz solo or quieter stuff, which is something I intend to do. If I couldn't get rid of the hiss would it make this amp a poor choice for this application? would this be something that could be seen as unprofessional/cheap/non suitable?

Thanks again in advance and best regards,