Why Do My Headphones Make a High-Pitched Noise?

High-pitched noise is not something pleasant to the ears. You will find it disgusting to enjoy your music or listen to audios from your device when you have this problem. Of course,
there are several reasons why you might be getting this from your headphones.

High-pitched noise from your headphones could result from having damaged wires, Bluetooth connectivity issues, audio settings or blown-out drivers. These issues can cause the headphones to malfunction and to produce.

There are many things that can lead to your headphones producing a high-pitched sound. I have mentioned the main ones but it could be more than that. In this article, you will learn everything that may be causing the problem, and how to fix.

Contents show

Issue Identification of a High-Pitched Noise

There are multiple differences in why you’re encountering screeching in headsets, and all these issues have their solutions.

To ascertain this, you must know which problem affects your headphones and how to fix it. The problems include the following:

A damaged wire
Issues with the wireless connectivity
Duration of the problem
Checking volume and impedance

Wire Damages

Headsets may make a high-pitched noise due to damage caused physically. If you’ve had your headphones for a long time, you need to factor in that wear and tear may have a toll on them. This damage is primarily present in internal wires. Damage to wires tends to happen in the following areas, the jack of the headsets, ear bud connection, and volume control connection.

There’s a lot of protection in these areas to safeguard the inner wire from damage. However, the storage and use of the headsets may cause them to still encounter damage.

Short circuits may occur when the wire is damaged, causing drastic changes in sound quality or making a screeching sound. To test this shorting, twist the headphones wire and listen.

You can do this test in the following way. Plug your headphones into your phone and put audio, then from the top, twist the wire as you move down and be keen on the sound. If there’s a sound change, a short has occurred in a specific place, and holding the cord at one particular place rectifies the issue.

Issues with Wireless Connectivity

Upon the use of Bluetooth and you perceive a high-pitched noise, the issue may be your connection.

The primary problem encountered is Bluetooth Interference. This issue arises when barriers are in the way of the wireless connection from the source to the headset. Bluetooth interference is shown in three key ways:

Moving Near the Audio Source

Every Bluetooth-using gadget has a range that its connection can reach without interference. This range may be from 10-100 meters. Moving nearer to the audio source may assist you in denoting the issue.

Disconnection and Reconnection of Headsets

This disconnection and reconnection of headsets from audio sources may solve the issue. The system clears cached data and bugs from the initial connection. After doing this and the headphones behave normally, you may rest easy.

Switching Locations

The existence of physical interference, such as a wall, may cause a weakening of the Bluetooth connection before reaching the headsets. Additionally, other invisible connections like Wi-Fi may be in the area, causing connection issues. Then if these are the areas you’re in, you need to switch to a good Bluetooth connection.

Duration of the Problem

You may be shocked that your headphones aren’t the problem. If you have another set of headphones, connect them to any of your devices. You may also try connecting them to other audio origins and see if the issue persists.

This connection to other sources may notify you if the headphones are the problem themselves or the audio settings.

Volume and Impedance Check

Some of the reasons for high-pitched noises are blown-out drivers. These drivers may cause inequivalent impedance or excessively high volume. You may ask yourself what impedance is.

Impedance refers to the electrical resistance between headsets and an audio source. High impedance with a low audio source, performance issues are due to occur. Consequently, use of headphones with a powerful amplifier with low impedance, the results remain the same as its inverse.

When the audio source’s electrical resistance is higher than the headphones, they can’t contain excess power. This leads to a blowout of the drivers, which no longer work properly.

Even if the impedance is properly set, hearing music at a high volume for a long time leads to driver damage. Headsets can handle a certain amount of volume, and this is because, at maximum volume, vibrations and wave exclusion are in larger proportions. Therefore, leading to damage and hence high, pitched noises. Lower volume on the device reduces this problem and keeps the sound quality going for a long.

How to Fix High-Pitched Noises on your Headphones

Fixing the problems resulting from the headphones may be categorized into two types,

Hardware solutions
Software solutions

Hardware Solution

The headsets may produce crackling sounds due to hardware problems. There are solutions to these problems, starting from less to more complex. Let’s take a look at them. The solutions to be highlighted include the following:

Headsets audio port (jack) cleaning
Headphone plug straightening
Fixing the headset wire
Replacement of blown-out drivers
Bluetooth connection resetting

Audio Port Cleaning

A high-pitched noise production may result from the faulty connection between the audio port and headphones. Dust or ear gunk may accumulate inside the port, causing the prevention of the headsets remaining in the jack.

The cleaning process is quick and easy, as shown:

1. Place a two-sided tape on either side of a toothpick.

2. Insert the sticky tape end in the audio port and move it around the edges to clear any dirt.

Headphone Plug Straightening

If the audio port is clean, but you still don’t feel satisfied when inserting the headphones, the headset plug may be bent. You can straighten the plug yourself as follows:

1. Use thin pliers to hold the tip and another to hold the base.

2. Softly and slowly twist the jack until it’s straight.

If this fails to work, you may need to replace the whole thing.

Fixing the Headset Wire

When the issue is the wire, it majorly revolves around two things, frayed wires or short circuits. Fixing frayed wires is simpler and can be performed using a common item, the electrical tape.

1. You need to cut the electrical tape needs to the apparent length required

2. This tape is wrapped around the wire tightly, and it’s that simple.

If your wire problem is a short circuit, more technical know-how is needed to fix it. Short circuits are difficult and need the cutting of wires, and that’s why you leave it to the experts.

Replacement of blown-out drivers

It’s sad that blown-out drivers cannot be fixed but require replacing. If you’re certain you can take the mantle and solve this, then this is how you perform it:

1. Remove the earpad.

2. Take out the screws attaching the speaker to its position.

3. Cut near the edges to loosen it and take out the broken speaker.

4. Use a soldering iron to disconnect the wires.

5. Finally, put the new speaker in place and reconnect the wires using the soldering
iron.

Bluetooth Connection Resetting

As highlighted earlier in the article, you may choose to move to another location or disconnect devices causing interference. However, there’s another way to solve this
problem, and it’s by resetting. There are many ways to do this because of the existence of different brands, but the most used are:

1. Press the power button on the headsets.
2. Hold the button for around 10 seconds until the light appears.
3. Pair the headphones with your device.

Software Solutions

After we’ve concluded the hardware issues, software issues still need solving. If the noise does not result from the hardware issue, then definitely this could be a software problem and you need to understand it so that you can fix with ease.

Sound Drivers Update

These sound drivers on your PC ensure the PC’s OS and audio system link properly. If the computer uses an old sound driver, it may cause high-pitched noises and therefore require an update.

Follow this to update:

1. Go to “device manager”
2. Click the “audio inputs and outputs” menu.
3. Right-click on the gadgets you’re utilizing.
4. Choose “update driver”

Equalization (EQ) Settings Adjustment

If the EQ settings aren’t properly set, weird sounds may emerge, causing other sound-related problems. After such a scenario, it’s checking the EQ settings and seeing if the noise disappears upon adjusting is best.

Adjust the EQ settings isn’t a problem, as we’ll show you:

1. Move to sound settings by right-clicking the sound icon.

2. Move down and choose the “sound control panel.”

3. Inside the sound control panel, look around for your device, shown with a green
mark. Click this and move to “properties.”

4. In the pproperties section, choose the “enhancements” option.

5. Upon entering the enhancements, click “equalizer” on the ellipses that pop up,
which opens the equalizer tab. From there, adjust the sliders until you get an
improvement on the headsets.

Disabling Exclusive Mode

The Exclusive Mode is a setting that gives music playing on your computer (Spotify) overall control of the system's sound drivers. A problem resulting from this appears when trying to switch audio apps.

This process shows how you can disconnect this setting:

1. From the “control panel” select “sound”
2. Choose your device and move to “properties”
3. On the “advanced option” uncheck the “Allow application to take exclusive control”

Changing Default Audio Format

The audio format you use on your device affects the quality of sound. To solve, this is how you go about it:

1. Go to the sound control panel and right-click on properties.

2. In the properties window, move to advanced and select a different audio format.

Conclusion

With this information, you would be able to find what causes your device or headphones to produce a high-pitched noise, and how you should fix it. Of course, understanding the problem-solving technique relaxes you as it minimizes unnecessary costs resulting from taking your headsets for fixing or buying new ones.