If a hissing sound in headphones is heard when plugged into the audio source such as a computer or an audio player, there are several reasons causing this? One of the most common reasons is that there may be an electronic interference happening; there may also be frequency interference occurring, which can likely be solved.
Aside from the electronic interference, there may also be hardware issues causing the hissing sound in headphones. Not to mention, software issues like the driver being corrupted, may also cause the annoying hissing sound.
The only tricky part about having different possible causes is that it will be more difficult to pinpoint the actual problem. And this is a daunting task most especially for those people who are only experiencing this situation for the first time.
It would feel like wandering endlessly in a forest when one does not know the actual situation they are in, and how they will be able to solve it. But there is always the option to troubleshoot and identify the right fix to correct the hissing sound in headphones. The symptoms just need to be identified to be able to clearly pinpoint what their headphones are going through.
Available fixes for the hissing sound in headphones
Different approaches on how to fix the hissing sound in headphones will be elaborated below to help people identify and think whether the following fixes are applicable to what they are currently going through.
The first fix that can be applied to identify what’s really wrong with the headphones is to check if it has anything to do with a hardware issue. To be able to do this, the audio ports and cable can be checked to see if they are working properly.
And the most effective way to check is to connect it to an alternative audio source and see if the hissing sound disappears. One can also turn the volume up or down and see if there is any improvement with the hissing sound in headphones.
If the hardware component check did not solve the problem, the next available fix can be considered to eliminate the hissing sound in headphones. This involves turning off all the other electronic devices to rule out electronic interference that have different frequencies that clash with one another.
This happens when there are several electronic devices beside one another such as Bluetooth speakers, microwave oven, and cell-phones. To be able to tick this off from the possible causes of hissing sound in headphones, one can turn off these nearby devices and even unplug them from the power source before testing the audio feedback of the headphones again.
When this is able to remove the hissing sound in headphones, the nearby devices can be switched on one by one to be able to identify which one is causing the hissing sound in headphones.
If the previous solution did not eliminate the hissing sound in headphones, the next suggested solution is to now conclude that the problem might be the audio source or the actual headphones. To be able to check this, one can try connecting the headphones to a different audio source.
If this is does not solve the problem then chances are the headphones might be the problem and buying a new one might remove the hissing sound in headphones. But if the problem was solved when the headphones is connected to a different audio source, then the source will undergo a troubleshooting process to be able to hopefully solve it.
To be able to troubleshoot the audio source to be able to successfully remove the hissing sound in headphones, one must first identify the audio source. If the source is a personal computer, one solution that can be executed is to update the audio driver.
This is because an outdated audio driver might be causing the hissing sound in headphones. Updating the audio driver can be done either manually or automatically; the user can either use a driver on their own using the installer, or they can go online and scan for the latest version of the audio driver.
A lot of people find it easier to just use tools to be able to update their drivers; this way, they don’t need to know different details about their computer such as the version of the operating system. Doing an automatic update also allows people to have a smaller chance of committing mistakes.
For those people who do not have prior experiences when it comes to using tools to automatically detect whether the drivers are updated or not, these are the easy steps that they can follow to really fix hissing sound in headphones.
Tools are usually downloaded online and then they can easily be installed on the computer. Once the installation has completed, one can just run the tool and then it will automatically detect whether the driver is updated or not. If not, it will download the latest version and automatically install it.
Another thing that can be done to be able to hopefully remove the hissing sound in headphones is to fix the audio jack to ensure that it is not just dirty and only requires cleaning.
When doing this, one can use alcohol to clean the audio jack and also make sure that the headphones is not connected to the audio source to be sure that it will not cause any electrical damages.
The last method one can do to be able to ensure that the hissing sound in headphones can be fixed is by configuring the sound settings in the computer. The settings are usually found in the Control Panel under the Hardware and Sound option.
Then Sound must be selected from the list of options and then right click on the Speakers option to be able to select Properties. The Enhancements tab must then be selected to be able to make sure that the Disable all sound effects option is not selected. Then make sure that the Apply button is clicked.
Causes of hissing sound in headphones
Earlier it was mentioned that there are various possible causes as to why there is a hissing sound in headphones. And this section will try to elaborate more on these causes by discussing them in a more detailed manner.
The first cause that might be causing the hissing sound in headphones is that the auxiliary port might have a problem. To check whether this is the case, it is a good strategy to insert the headphones jack into different auxiliary ports and see if the hissing sound in headphones is just an isolated case, or if it also happens with the others.
Another thing that can be attributed to the hissing sound in headphones is the possibility of having loose wires. Because of the very thin wires used by headphones, they can very easily break when bent.
While this problem can often be fixed by mending the broken wires, some people feel like it is still more worth it to just buy a new one because it’s hard to regain the original sound quality once the wires have already been broken.
Hissing sound in headphones also happens when the setting on the equalizer was not done properly. Sometimes when the different sound levels are not fixed, the sound breaks the speakers of the headphones, and thus creates hissing sounds.
This can be avoided by making sure that the headphones are capable of accepting a high level of sound to be assured that it will not break in the future.
The worst reason that might be causing the hissing sound in headphones is that the actual device might be broken. If this is the case, it would be hard to actually fix the problem to make it work like it used to. And when it comes to this, the only real solution that a person can do is to just buy a new pair of headphones to replace the one that was broken. The saving grace for this problem is if the equipment is still under warranty because then the person does not have to spend an unnecessary amount of money just to buy a new one.
With all the necessary information to be able to troubleshoot the problem of hissing sound in headphones and in understanding its possible causes, people are now assured that even if they experience this for the first time, they will not feel lost as to what they need to do.
Most importantly, they will not be shooting in the dark for the possible solutions because now they will be able to have a certain level of clarity as to what might be happening to their headphones. It is truly a great challenge to try and fix a problem when you don’t even know what the cause is in the first place.
Now with this guide, it will be much easier to make a decision and look for alternatives on the best approach they can do if ever they experience a hissing sound in headphones.
If you want to buy a pair of safe and quite headphones, then below is our list of recommendations based on quality, price and users’ feedback
For more information about noise cancelling headphones and headphones in general you might want to have a look at our list of e-books below
- Your health and headphones
- The In and out of anti-noise headphones
- Evolution of headphones technology
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