VMK20: Right earcup crackles with ANC?
This is one of the most common VMK20 issues, and the good news is that most of the time it can be fixed without service. Sometimes not. Let’s go through what’s happening and what you can do before you send the headphones to Kajaani onto Jasse’s desk.
What causes the crackling?
The VMK20’s noise cancelling uses four microphones and an ADI chipset that calculates, in real time, the anti-noise for your environment. The crackling usually comes from two causes:
- Software glitch. The Bluetooth circuit and the ANC circuit are separate systems in the VMK20. Sometimes they get tangled with each other, and the ANC circuit starts producing interference noise. This is the easy case.
- A microphone or the ANC circuit has a physical fault. A couple of years in a pocket, backpack, and at the hot dog stand collect moisture and dust. The microphone diaphragm can get damaged, or there might be a cold solder joint in the circuit. This is the less easy case.
Because the crackling disappears when you switch noise cancelling off, the fault is specifically in the ANC system – not in the driver itself. That’s good to know already.
How to fix it
Try these in order:
- Factory reset with the AUX cable. Plug a 3.5 mm cable into the headphones and unplug it. This disconnects the Bluetooth circuit and forces the system to reset. Simple, but surprisingly effective.
- Update the firmware. Download the Valco app and check if there are firmware updates. With an old firmware version the ANC circuit may behave unpredictably.
- Check the fit of the earpads. Even if the pads are new, make sure they are seated properly. ANC microphones are sensitive to air leaks – if there’s a gap between the pad and your ear, the circuit tries to compensate for the leak and the result can sound like crackling.
- Try ANC in a quiet room. A small steady hiss in silence is normal. That’s just the ANC circuit’s own noise floor, and it disappears as soon as you start playing music. If you hear clear crackling, popping, or random clicking, then the problem is real.
- Turn ANC off completely and turn it back on. The ANC button is on the left earcup. Press it off, wait ten seconds, and press it back on. Remember that the VMK20’s ANC does not power off automatically with the headphones – it’s a separate system.
If that doesn’t help
If the crackling continues after the reset and update, it’s most likely a physical fault in the ANC microphone or circuit. At this point the headphones need to be sent in for service.
Send us:
- A photo of the headphones (so we can see the model and condition)
- Order number or time of purchase
- A short description of the fault (when it started, is it heard in both sides or only the right)
The address is info@valco.fi. We repair the device in Kajaani. If the warranty is valid, the repair is free. If the headphones are over 24 months old, the repair package costs a bit – but less than new headphones.
At Valco, headphones are not thrown away. That’s one more thing that sets us apart from the big guys whose service instruction is "buy a new pair".
