Headphone noises

[Vincent Oliver]

I purchased a headset by Audio Technica model number BPHS1 (£150)

I have had these for over a year but have never been able to use them due to head noise. each time I move my head I get clicking and creaking noises. Does anyone know how the resolve this?

I have included a very short audio file of the noise.

[Greg Miller]

If it's any consolation, I have a pair of AT ATH-M10 phones with the same problem. I've relegated them to a "go / no-go" monitoring situation, where I need to confirm only that the audio is present at the recorder, and there's no question about the quality of the audio.

I've thought that if I were willing to disassemble the cans, the brackets, the headband, etc., and add the right combination of rubber washers (e.g. plumbing washers) I might succeed in killing the noise. But frankly they were very inexpensive, and I've never felt it would be a good investment of my time. Easier to just write off the phones.

[Vincent Oliver]

Thanks Greg, unfortunately that is exactly what I have done. Although these were quite expensive $245, but no good for the task in hand. AT did exchange one pair for me, but the replacement was just as bad. Live and learn the expensive way

I now use a boom arm with a Rode mike, but really wanted the convenience of headset so I could move my head about whilst doing screen shot tutorials, ie look at monitor, Wacom and keyboard etc.

[Gary Nattrass]

We used those for commentary on the commonwealth games but I don't recall having such problems with them. I also used a set to monitor all my commentary and coms systems as I was inside the clyde arena doing the weightlifting and had a 10k PA system to annoy me.

We use the AKG's for the Olympics which are horrible as the mics pick up audio from the huge headphone drivers and whilst the AT's are no sennheiser HMD25 they are better than the HMD26 which has terrible noise from the cable going into the earpiece.

It might be worth looking at the cable seating and locking screw to see if that is what is causing problems.

As a side note the small wind shield that you can get from Maplins at £3.99 is a perfect add on to allow better pop suppression!

[Vincent Oliver]

Thanks Gary. It is just the overall headset that has the creaks. In the audio clip I did move my head about quite a lot to demonstrate the point. However, in normal use I do get the creak popping up here and there, which is the annoying bit as I am not aware of head movement at the time. It's just something that I shouldn't have to worry about. If you are in a noisy environment, i.e. a sports fixture, then I am sure a lot will be hidden due to the excitement of the moment, crowd cheering etc. But for silent voice recording of tutorials, I do hear the clicks and creaks.

I am using a table top boom arm setup with Rode mikes at the moment, but that picks up the computer fans too, hence the reason for the headset. I guess maybe most viewers will not hear the clicks and noises due to their own home environment noises. Maybe I shouldn't worry so much, especially when I see and hear some of the other garbage sound on YouTube, Vimeo etc.

But thanks Greg and Gary for taking the time to reply