Are You Experiencing Unwanted Noise in Your Studio Headphones?
Unwanted noise and hiss is an unwelcome problem for any headphone user, but it can be especially frustrating when it occurs in your expensive high-end pair of studio headphones. It can be mildly distracting at best and completely unbearable at worst. Many headphones have met an unfortunate and untimely demise over this surprise occurrence.
Fortunately, there are things you can do before saying goodbye to your old faithful pair of headphones forever. First, make sure that the unwanted noise you hear is actually coming from your studio headphones. It sounds like an obvious first step to consider, but people often have a tendency to overlook the most simple of solutions. If the noise isn’t actually coming from your headphones, then all you have to do is move yourself and your headphones away from the source of the problem.
If you are sure that the source of the noise is coming from within the headphones, then check to make sure the connected cables are not lying across any other electronics, wires, or power sources. Unshielded wires and cords are often the cause of interference and go unchecked. Many times noise problems and hissing can be alleviated just by moving a few cords.
The third step is to check to see if the noise or hiss is coming from your audio source. If you have your studio headphones plugged into any kind of music player, check the source to make sure it isn’t a problem with the output. A poorly recorded CD track, scratchy sound effects added by a music producer, and bad ports can all be causes of unwanted noise in your headphones. Isolating the problem through trial and error will be your best bet in this scenario.
Check your volume. Sometimes distortion and hissing can occur if you have the volume set to too high a level for the headphones to handle. Adjust the volume on your audio source first and, if applicable, also adjust any volume settings on the actual studio headphones themselves. Make sure that your input levels aren’t overpowering your headphones.
Double-check your connections. Is your headphone jack plugged all the way in? If not, pull it all the way out and then push it completely in again until it can’t go any further. If that’s not the issue then take a moment to clean your headphone jack and blow out the dust that may have accumulated in the port. It’s crucial that a solid connection is formed between the headphones and the source so that digital audio information can complete its journey into your earphones.
Check all wires leading into the earphones. Make sure they are not bent, broken, or damaged in any way. If they are, it might be time to get a new pair of headphones. This typically happens with older studio headphones and those that have been repeatedly misused.
By consulting a checklist like this one before making any hasty, irreversible decisions, you may save yourself a lot of time, money, and aggravation. Unwanted noise and hiss can get very annoying very quickly but it’s usually one of the simplest problems to fix.