Sudden Crackling

[lennyanders]

Hey,

My problem is that I'm suddenly hearing crackling with my headphones.

The thing is, two weeks ago the left side of my Denon AH-D5200 died, and so I let them repair. I used these for 2 years and a few weeks without a problem. While these were getting repaired, I used my old Audio-Technica ATH MSR7 again, and they sounded just like I remembered.

A few days ago I got my denons back and the left side is working again, but I was hearing small cracks in music and YouTube videos I didn't notice before. I tried connecting my audio technicas then again and heard the same cracks. So it doesn't seem to be the headphone.

I'm using my headphones on a Fiio K3 (the first model) and I also tried connecting them directly into my Mac mini (M1) and using different USB cables and settings for the Fiio. I tried testing some frequencies too. When listening to low frequencies (below ~150hz) and changing volume on the Fiio I also hear a weird sound, but not when I do it directly on the Mac. Maybe because the mac's volume is controlled completely digitally (I guess).

So, I am currently thinking that I am probably paranoid and somehow don't want to trust the people who repaired my headphones.

Maybe some of you have had similar issues and have ideas of what it could be. I would be really glad for any tips.

 

[Berwhale]

I've had crackling noises from headphones a couple times for very different reasons...

1. Any headphone plugged into the 4.4mm balanced output on my Topping A50s. There must have been a foreign body or residue in the socket; I put some isopropanol on a cotton bud, carefully inserted it in the socket, rotated it a few times and the problem was resolved.

2. Crackling from one side of my Sennheiser HD 660 S. This one had me worried as it was happening with different cables connected to the HD 660S and with them plugged into different amps. It turns out that hairs can get caught in the foam pads and these hairs can pass through the pad to touch the driver. You would not believe the sound a tiny hair can make! Careful cleaning of the pads and removing any stuck hairs with tweezers resolved the issue.