Headphones making a clicking noise
A clicking noise in your headphones is annoying. There you are, listening to your favorite song, and suddenly the right cup starts making a little snapping sound like someone's clicking a pen next to your ear. Don't worry, this is usually easy to fix, and your headphones probably aren't broken.
What causes the clicking?
The most common causes are surprisingly mundane:
- The volume buttons are being pressed. If the headphones get pushed against a pillow, your collar, or your hand, the button might register repeated presses. That sounds like clicking.
- The Bluetooth connection is cutting out. Your phone's in the wrong pocket, or something's interfering with the connection. Bluetooth is radio technology, and radio technology can be as moody as an overtired toddler.
- The headphone is trying to connect to another device. If you've previously paired the headphones with, say, your work laptop, they might keep trying to switch connections back and forth. That produces clicking.
- A software bug. Sometimes the headphone's firmware just ties itself in a knot. Electronics are electronics.
How to fix it
Try these in order. Most of the time the problem is solved by the first or second step.
- Check the buttons. Make sure nothing is pressing on the volume or function buttons. Take the headphones off, hold them in your hand, and listen. If the clicking stops, the culprit was probably your collar or an earring's edge.
- Reset the headphone. VMK20 and VMK25 (v1): plug the AUX cable in and pull it out. VMK25.2: hold Vol+ and Vol- together for about 3 seconds. VMK15: hold Vol+ and Vol- together for about 5 seconds. On earbuds: reset the NL25 by holding the button inside the case for 5 seconds with the lid open, and the NL21 by holding the touch panels for 5 seconds with the charging cable connected.
- Restart your phone. Sounds dumb, but it works surprisingly often. The Bluetooth stack collects junk like a sauna floor collects sand at a summer cottage.
- Unpair and pair again. Go to your phone's Bluetooth settings, forget the headphone, and pair it from scratch. This also shows you if the headphone is connected to some other device.
- Test with the AUX cable. If your headphones have an AUX port, try a wired connection. If the clicking disappears, the problem is with the Bluetooth connection. If it continues even with the cable, it could be a physical fault.
- Update the firmware. If your model is the VMK25.2 or VMK15, check the Valco Updater app (Android) for an update. There are no updates for other models, so move on to the next step.
If nothing helps
If the clicking continues after all of the above, contact us at info@valco.fi. Please include:
- Order number or purchase receipt
- Headphone model
- A short description of when the clicking started and in what situation it occurs
- A photo or short video, if possible
We have our own repair shop in Kajaani, where Hannes and the rest of the crew fix things up. At Valco, headphones don't get thrown in the trash, they get repaired. During the warranty period (24 months), it's handled free of charge if it's a manufacturing defect.
And if the clicking turned out to be because the dog got hold of your headphones, well, there's a fix for that too. The repair package costs less than a new pair, and the dog gets to walk free.
