CRBN Headphones make popping or static noise

Because of the tight seal required by the earpads of the CRBN Electrostatic headphone, if you press down on the earcups while they’re on your head, air trapped in between your ear and the drivers moves the diaphragm back and forth along with the change in air pressure. If during these movements the diaphragm comes very close to the stator plate, it may cause the diaphragm to touch the plate, since the electrostatic force (what makes your headphones go) increases exponentially the closer they get to each other. When this happens, you might hear a “click” or "pop" in the earcup. This is a normal occurrence with your headphones and is not dangerous.

If you hear this click and things don't immediately go back to normal, it might mean the diaphragm has stuck to the stator plate. This can cause the left/right balance and response to become skewed. Additionally, some amplifiers may create a humming noise if the diaphragm is stuck to the stator. If this happens, just unplug the cable and touch the pins with either your hand, or the special conductive foam that came with your unit. This will release the attraction force and return your headphones functions to normal.

Our decision was to tension the diaphragm for the best possible bass response, but this may cause the above issues to appear from time-to-time. As long as you’re not pressing them on your head or moving them around during use, the issue should not present itself and things should remain stable.

There are few steps you can use to reduce the occurrence of this problem:

• Position headphones on the head first and only then plug it into the amplifier.
• If the headphones are plugged in and then positioned on the head, you should be gentle and try not to press down on the earcups.
• In case the diaphragm gets stuck, the best way to remedy this is to unplug the cable and discharge the diaphragm by using our conductive pad, which was shipped with the headphones, or simply touch the pins with your finger.
• The conductive foam pad is a very useful tool to keep headphones in better overall shape and prolong good working life. When not in use, we would suggest you unplug the headphones and attach the conductive pad back onto the connector. This will discharge diaphragm and minimize dust collection. The 580V bias connector is going to attract very fine dust particles from the air. We have mechanical filters which also serve as damping cloths for diaphragm resonance control. The cloth will filter most dust particles, but will not capture everything, so the safest approach is to disconnect headphones and short the plug pins after use.
• Storing your headphones in a closed container when not in use (or putting it back into the carrying case) is good practice to reduce headphones exposure to dust.

If you're still having trouble with your headphones after the above troubleshooting steps, please contact our support department by emailing support@audeze.com.