What can I do about headphones that click randomly? When adjusting to the head?
I have recently had a stint of wearing my ATH R70x Refine and on occasion they will click, when looking left or right or some period of time after putting them on, they will snap into place. It isn’t all that off putting for these headphones, rather it makes me think of the headphones that do this to an unbearable level. Edition XS. I can’t even listen to them because the rotation mechanism will take 20+ minutes to settle in after putting them on and every time I take them off it start’s over. Given that I have the bladder the size of a walnut along with TMJ that leads to abnormal jaw movement, they are unbearable to listen to. I’m sure that I have other headphones that do this, but of the couple I regularly listen to the ATH is the only one that does it.
The only thing I can come up with is attempting some kind of lubrication like a white lithium grease and giving them plenty of time to leak out and clean up. But I have zero reason to think this will work, so I wanted to see if anyone has any suggestions. I’m willing to try something on my XS because it’s essentially a dead headphone to me.
I guess I just don’t understand what part of the headphone is “clicking “ that you’re trying to describe.
I have that headphone, there’s nothing on it that “clicks” on mine. Can you post a picture of where you think the sound is coming from? Really not sure what to suggest. Maybe a small squirt of some kind of dry lube, like silicone spray?
It might help to see where you are talking about on the headphone…
I never really thought about what part was the culprit, but today I tested my XS and was surprised that it was the pivot at the….. um….. here center stage
Just a note, I have TMJ so my jaw and head are moving more than typical. But if you want to test any headphone you have for this phenomina just clench your jaw and look left to right.
Headphone creak is a common problem. The culprit is usually something plastic in the headband. Lubrication doesn’t seem to help from my own experience and what experiences I’ve read from others.
My Focal Clear creak sometimes. I almost sent them in for warranty repair but it wasn’t consistent enough when wearing them to bother me. They do creak consistently when I first put them on. I don’t move my head much when listening to them though. I think I may be a worst case scenario for headphone creak as I have a XL head and live in the desert.
My AKG K712 Pro developed a creak in just the right cup after the warranty expired. It drives me nuts because I was using them as a daily driver, which means I am working and thus moving my head quite a bit. I tried everything including 3M plastic lubricant to no avail. I never actually pinpointed the source either as it only happens when it is on my head.
But in general the better built headphones do not have this issue.
This is a common issue, and certainly affects the Clear. In prior discussions I think I mentioned silicone spray when someone had used (bad idea) WD-40.
I’m wondering if rubbery silicone gasket or sealant products would help? I’ve not tried them, but one might consider a little dab on pivot and friction points. Silicone shouldn’t be too hard to peel off it doesn’t work.
Yeah I had the dreaded Clear OG “creak” in mine when it was new, and I also almost sent it in for warranty service.
Ironically, it doesn’t creak anymore and hasn’t for some time, whatever it is creaking seems to have worn in or resolved itself. Mine are still going strong, no other issues and I’ve had them about 5 years. They were my first “hi-end” headphone, which I bought new the very first time they were on “final clearance”. Which has lasted now about 5 years… Felt kind of duped for a while, but they remain a great sounding headphone.
Thank you all for the input, I might try the silicone spray just to see what happens because the XS is unusable as is. Maybe I just need to put some time into them. The ATH rarely does it and I don’t know of any other headphone that does it either but I’ve kind of pigeon holed myself into the Elex and the ATH refine so I’m just going off memory. I refuse to return products unless they are completely unusable, ex: an aquarium with a shattered panel or for warranty something like a PSU that pops. I just don’t like to RMA or return for some reason, it was my choice even if it was a bad one. Headphones that I absolutely dislike are given away to someone that might enjoy them even if I don’t.
I’m kind of an odd situation because I have 3 monitors at my desk and am often looking from one side to the other, plus I have TMJ so my jaw is frequently moving out of location and readjusting and clenching. So I’m hyper aware of it.
Now that I actually took the time to figure out exactly where the noise is on the XS I won’t try a capra strap because it’s on the pivot between the cups and where they attach to the fork.
