Heya USE, I have Elixir nanos on 2 guitars- 1 MiM Strat with noiseless pickups (recently bought, so I haven't tried any other strings on 'em yet), and a Brian Moore i91 that has Elixir polys- same strings for over a year; these strings just don't die. No hiss or pop for me- or barely noticable.

On my 6 or 7 other guitars, just like elk said, if the gain is too far up, either on my amp or especially on my distortion pedal, LOTS of annoying hiss (but no pops). I use a noise gate that has really cut down on the hiss.

The only time I've had unwanted pops, was when I discovered a loose signal wire to the output jack on one of my guitars. A resolder of the wire cured that.

I can't offer any solutions other than telling you my experience with Elixirs and what fixed my popping problem.

PS: re. Elixirs-hate 'em, and can't wait to change the strings on my MiM Strat. Only reason I'm keeping 'em is they cost $14, and they sound different than my other 2 Strats that have D'Addarios on 'em. I hardly ever play my Brian Moore. Still, I hate 'em. But I doubt it's the cause of your hissing/popping problem.