Why Headphones Make Crackling Noises And How to Fix It?

Headphones are the essential accessory whether we are working in an office or exercising; without this, our life becomes slow and boring. However, sometimes they produce crackling noise which irritates a lot. Have you ever thought why the headphones produce crackling noise? What can be the possible reason and what can be the potential fix to the problem?

So to know the answers of the question, let’s get little deep into the problem to know what possible solution we can adapt to solve the issue.

Why headsets make crackling noises?

#1- Loose wire 

The wires allow the electronic signals to be sent to and from the speakers. The rubber coating surrounding the headphone wires are mostly thin which can easily be bent and disconnect the signals which may cause crackling sound in the headphones. It can be the primary reason why your headphone is producing crackling noise, or it may be an indication that its high time you start searching for a new pair of headphones.

#2- Defective headphone jack

The apparent cause of crackling headphones can be due to the defective headphone jack. The easiest and full proof way to check your headphone jack is working properly or not is by plugging it into several ports and that too in different devices. When plugging in, make sure that the headphone jack is plugged adequately in the port. Any loosing or partial plugin will cause crackling sound because of poor electrical signal transfer. This method will easily tell you whether your headphone jack needs to be fixed or your device port.

#3- Poor equalization

The headphone crackling can be caused due to the poor quality of audio or because of poor EQ setting of the media player. If the settings are not set properly like bass or treble settings are too high or the volume max out beyond the certain recommended limit, it can cause crackling and bursting sound which can actually harm both the ears and the headphone speakers. Therefore, it is highly recommended not to listen at higher volume, and it is the major reason for sound crackling because the headphone speakers are not designed to produce a sound more than the set volume. 

#4- Broken speakers

If the problem is not caused by all three above, then the chances are that the headphone speakers are broken. The reason for the loss can be because of listening to the music on high volume, poor handling, long term wear and tear or due to damaging of wires. If the warranty is still there, then you can expect replacement or repair under stated terms and condition, if not, then it’s high time you should buy some new headphones.

These are some of the root causes why headphones make crackling noise which can either force you to buy a new set or spend some bugs on its repair. But wait! Before jumping to spending the money, let’s know some possible fixes which can genuinely save money.

How to fix headphones crackling sound?

1) Reduce headphone static

If you are using a Bluetooth headphone, then disconnect and reconnect it again with the device or if it is wired headphone, then plug-in and plug out because there is a possibility that interference is causing the issue. It can be tested by moving the device and headphones to another place. Therefore, if you find the problem is interference, then you have to move the device cause interference or reset your wireless headphones by changing the setting to default. It is the perfect way to solve the sound crackling problem and enjoy your music non-stop with any popping sound.

2) Disable the exclusive mode and change the format of sound

Exclusive mode on means full control of a specific app so that other apps on the device cannot play the audio.  This feature interferes with the audio drivers causing a crackling sound problem in the headphones. To fix the problem, you need to disable the exclusive mode. Here are the steps to disable the Exclusive mode:

1. On the WindowsOS, search the manage audio device and open it.
2. A dialog box will open displaying speaker and headphone option. Right click on the speaker and open properties.
3. Now click the advanced tab. Un-check the box (allow the application to take exclusive control of the device). Then, click on apply to save the changes.
4. Check whether the sound is noise free or not by playing some music. If it doesn’t resolve the issue, then follow the 5th step to change the audio format.
5. Again in the advanced tab select the 16-bit 44100Hz (CD Quality) option. Now click on apply to save the changes.
6. If the problem still continues, then try another audio format as well.

3) Update the device drivers

A corrupted or not installed driver can see a reason for headphones crackling problem. However, it's tough to find out which one is creating a problem, so we need to update all the drivers available to perform the function to solve the issue. There are two ways you can update the drivers to resolve the issue.

Conclusion

Yes, we all know how important our headphones are to us and the price we have paid to buy the best out in the market. After that facing a problem like crackling headphone is not tolerated. So, by adopting some these solutions to the mentioned problems can really help you to work peacefully with your headphones on.