Buzzing in headphones.

[Shay]

I've been having this problem with buzzing sounds and other distortion when wearing headphones. I do not hear the unwanted noise when using my laptop's speakers. It also only seems to be a problem when listening to classical or meditation types of music. I have no problem when listening to "normal" music. It doesn't happen with every single piece of meditation music I try to listen to, but just with certain tracks. The problem isn't just on mp3 tracks, but on youtube and other websites. I have also experienced problems with distortion listening to this kind of music on my MP3 player, but to a lesser extent I think.

At first I thought it was just that my headphones were getting old and wearing out. I'm not sure how long I've had them, but a few years at least I think and the cord has come loose a bit from the plug leaving a bit of wiring exposed, so I assumed this was the problem.

Eventually I decided to get some new headphones. I bought two pairs because I was sick of having to transfer one set of headphones between my laptop and my MP3 player. I purchased Sony MDR ZX300 headphones and Koss KSC75 headphones(same model as my old headphones).

I experienced the same problem with both of those new pairs of headphones. With the new Koss headphones the problem seemed to be about the same as with my old worn out ones and the problem was even worse with the new Sony headphones.

I also had additional problems with the Sony headphones. For some reason I would hear a low buzzing/hissing noise when they were plugged into my laptop even when no audio was playing(tried it on my mother's desktop and experienced same thing). I think for some reason the headphones were picking up the sound of the computer fans or something like that. I also found them very painful to wear so I'm going to return them.

Anyway my sister seems to think the problem is that the headphones can't handle the frequency of the music that I'm having problems with, but I'm a bit doubtful about that since both models of headphones have pretty good frequency ranges for inexpensive headphones. The Koss headphones have a frequency range of 15 hertz to 25 thousand hertz. The Sony headphones have a frequency range of 10 hertz to 24 thousand hertz. I've read that the minimum range you'd want for a good pair of headphones is 20 hertz to 20 thousand hertz and both pairs of headphones exceed that range.

So does anyone have any ideas on what could be causing the problem I'm having? Let me know if you need more information. Thanks.

[Blah!?]

I have this problem too sometimes, but it might not be for the same reason.

I have a USB port very close to my headphone jack. Whenever I have anything more complicated than a flash drive plugged into that USB port, I get a little bit of feedback on my headphones. I asked one of my friends about it and he thinks the headphone jack and that particular USB port share a ground, which is why they get a little bit of overlap.

As far as only hearing the feedback with certain audio tracks is probably more a matter of whether you notice it or not. Even if I'm getting really bad feedback, I often won't notice it at all if I have pretty regular, moderately loud sound going through my headphones, such as the music I usually listen to or game audio. I can't say for sure, but I'd say it's more likely that you're just more able to hear the feedback with a quieter audio track.

Also, unfortunately it's possible that even if you don't have a USB port setup similar to mine, your headphone jack could share a ground with something else inside your computer that can't be turned off. I'd say the fact that you don't get feedback when using the onboard speakers points to this even more. If you do have a USB port near your headphone jack, try unplugging whatever you have in there and see if the feedback stops.

[Shay]

I do in fact have a couple of USB ports right next to the headphone jack, unfortunately this happens whether there is anything plugged into them or not. I have a couple of USB ports on the other side of my laptop as well and I use those more frequently.

I did notice the same sort of problem to a lesser extent on my mother's desktop computer. Again the headphone jack is right next to some USB ports but nothing is plugged into them. Also on my MP3 player, where I have also experienced this problem to some extent, the headphone jack is right next to where the USB cord connects to the player, but obviously it's not plugged in when I'm listening to it.

If this is in fact what's causing the problem then I guess it wouldn't pay to try to experiment with more expensive headphones, not that I could afford to anyway.

I have considered the possibility that I just didn't notice the feedback on louder tracks, though I've tried to strain my ears to see if I could hear any feedback with those tracks and I couldn't. I know just because I couldn't hear it even when I was really trying doesn't mean it wasn't there though. It's just really frustrating because I obviously listen to classical and meditation music in order to relax and annoying buzzing sounds aren't really conducive to relaxation.

Thanks for the suggestions even if it turns out I can't do anything about it. If anyone else has any other ideas about this, I'd love to hear them.

[Mountain Sneezer]

Do you hear the buzz in both ears? Not that it really makes a difference, just kind of curious. The frequency thing is fine. Human hearing is only 20hz-20khz anyways so that is not an issue. Um for the computer, it could be a bad sound card. If you can hear it with other headphones than that could possibly be it. The buzzing, is it lower frequency. I guess it could be a ground loop which is what Blah-San suggested. Also can be called a 60 cycle hum or 60 hz hum. I am not entirely sure how to fix it, although I know with pro audio you can lift the ground which can fix it. Have you tried using google to see if you could find any answers? Sorry if this didn't help. Kinda bizarre that it happened with the new headphones too.

[The Dead One]

You could simply be one of these people who can hear the electrical current running through your headphones like I can. I think this is likely since I know you're on the autistic spectrum, and I learned that my sensitivity to certain sounds was because of my being autistic.

If this is the case there's not really much you can do about it short of trying to damage your hearing, and I'm sure you'll agree that actively trying to do that would be absolutely stupid.

[Shay]

@sexymansneeze

A lot of the time the buzz is in both ears, but sometimes I only hear it in one ear or the other. I would think that it was just my computer if not for the fact that I've had the problem on one other computer and my mp3 player. As for the sound card, well I'm pretty sure it was replaced last August. I had some USB ports that were damaged and the way my laptop is configured, that meant replacing the entire motherboard, which I assume meant replacing everything else that's typically attached to motherboards such as various cards and the processor. Really glad I got that extended warranty. In any case I was experiencing the issue both before and after I had the motherboard replaced.

The buzzing does seem to be lower frequency. I did try to google for solutions. On various pages the suggestions were mostly things like disabling the microphone, or to try enabling/disabling various audio enhancements. None of that had any effect on the issue I was having.

@The Dead One

Hmm I hadn't thought of that. This certainly isn't an issue that I've been experiencing my entire life, but I started developing sound sensitivity in general over the past few years and it's gotten worse over time. I will have to try asking a family member to listen to the specific music I'm having issues with while wearing my headphones to see if they can hear the buzzing feedback as well.

Yes I agree that it would be very stupid to try to damage my hearing, though sometimes I wish they made such a thing as a reverse hearing aid.