Audiophile Amplifier Headphones Question....

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I have a question for anyone who owns a pair of headphones that have an internal amplifier:

I bought a pair of Blue brand wired headphones. They're the model known as "Sadie". They have an internal amplifier in the headphones. They look like this:



They have three available settings:

"Off" - In this mode you can use them as passive headphones.
"On" - In this mode the internal amp is on.
"On+" - According to the manual, this mode: "applies the amplifier's analog low-frequency enhancement circuit" aka Bass boost.

I do NOT play music in headphones on high volume since I have hyperacusis and also tinnitus. I'm extremely cautious about this. As such, I generally play music in headphones at a low or very low volume level (no fun, I know, but my days of "cranking it" are in the past. I want to keep my hearing intact).

My question: On low volume with the amp turned on, I hear the hum of the amp in addition to the music. This hum goes away if I do increase the volume of the music, but that would be louder than I would want to listen. The "Bass Boost" hum is a bit more pronounced yet. I assume the hum from an internal amp is unavoidable and "normal"?

I'm very particular about sounds. I already have a pair of passive stereo headphones that look like this:



They work well, and the padding over the head is more comfortable than the "Sadie".

I will say with the amp turned on, the "Sadie" headphone sound reproduction is better than the pair of passive David Clark headphones. I just opened the "Sadie" box today and I did crack a small smile hearing just a few songs so far with the amp on....

I'm going to listen to them a bit more to see how I like them, I guess the hum from the amp is something I'm not used to so I'm fixated on that.....

The usual source of hum is the electric field created by the AC power wiring. If you had a dual trace oscilloscope you would be able to see that the signals are in phase. It is generally picked up by the wiring between electronic devices. A clever way of reducing the pickup of AC fields is to twist the wire, creating a "twisted pair."