Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
Will gave you $10 to spend on your first purchase on Drop! Sign Up to learn more.
Shyv
13
Jul 1, 2020
I just got mine today and I think my unit may be defective. When turning on the headphone, for the ~30 seconds, the left side has a clear coil whine sound. It stutters to a stop after about a minute but it's very clear and annoying when turning on the headphones. I've tried turning the headphones on and off several times and occurs every time. This coil whine is apparent before and after pairing to my phone. This coil whine will continue even when music is playing and lasts for about a minute. When I stop music, after about 15 seconds, there is a air-y popping sound out of both headphones like something is turning off. Then, when resuming the audio, the first 2 seconds of audio comes out extremely distorted and glitchy. I found about these issues within the first 15 minutes of using them.
(Edited)
ShyvI'm not sure you're hearing coil whine given the driver structure we're using, but whatever is causing that problem, it's not working correctly. Please contact support via your transactions page. All units are QC checked several times after final assembly, including verified audio measurements, so we're particularly interested in getting your unit back.
Shyv
13
Jul 1, 2020
WillHmm maybe not a coil whine, but some kind of high pitched electronic sound. But thanks for the suggestion and I've contacted support about this. Hopefully it's just this unit!
ShyvI'm getting low-level static/noise in the right cup, very noticeable during power-on/reconnect but always present on calls and noticeable with quiet musical passages. Does not seem to scale with volume and thus far the behavior is the same/similar with a Kann Cube and V50, will try a couple more BT devices. Edit: Yeah I think your use of whine for the start up issue is accurate, got the "pop" this last time, but only right cup.
(Edited)
ElectronicVicesHmm, two things you could be noticing: Because of intricacies of THX AAA, there's a warm-up period that lasts ~30 seconds and ends with some circuit noise (this is the the circuit cutting over from the chipset amp to the AAA once it's ready, more or less). If you're listening for it in a quiet room without music on, you can pick it out, but the alternatives created a clearly inconvenient experience (30 second power-up for Panda) so we chose this path. As far as the sounds on calls go, voice BT codec quality and GSM radio noise are going to be pretty noticeable vs Panda's noise floor.
WillGood info thanks Will, prior to your reply I did ask support to validate if the operation was within expectations. Sounds great wired, USB and BT is also fantastic when the music is playing. Thanks again for the swift response.
Shyv
13
Jul 2, 2020
WillI'm curious, now that you mention the warm-up period, that the 'coil-whine' noise may be within that warmup period. I'm assuming the noise is still not normal though? To describe the sound, it's some kind of electronic pitch that is mostly on with short pauses periodically before it completely disappears with a very low noise that cuts to silence. It seems to last 15-30 seconds, rather than the initial minute that I first assumed. Also the THX AAA amp turn off really quickly if nothing is playing? Since the popping/some kind of circuit breaking sound occurs after ~30 seconds. After testing it some more, after the 'pop' (its not really a pop but some kind of electrical signal being cut), resuming causes audio stuttering (not distortion/glitching like I first mentioned) for the first second the music starts playing.
ShyvNah, it shouldn't turn off super quickly, after a few minutes of no activity if I recall. I wouldn't describe the power up sound as a whine, but we're describing sounds so /shrug, seems within the margin of error for audio word interpretation. Main question is whether or not there's continued noise after that startup period during audio playback, should be nothing.
Shyv
13
Jul 2, 2020
WillI guess the best way to describe it is that it's just a relatively high pitched electronic sound. I've noticed this electrical sound on some wall warts/plugs if I'm close to them. My hearing range is pretty high (close to 19khz) so I'm sensitive to these sounds, which may be why others may not be able to hear it. There isn't any continued noise after the start-up period, but the issue of amp turning off quickly still applies.
ShyvThanks for the details, cool news is that we setup the firmware for external updates, so we can tweak timing on different functions as feedback trends emerge. If everyone feels like it goes off too early, we can change how long it sits for.
WillI'll add that the in-playback levels seem to have lessened during quiet passages and I certainly haven't taken them off so.... they sound damn good. Early impression would be like a PM3 that started doing squats... it's got that little bit extra down low but never offends.
itsjos
3
Jul 2, 2020
ShyvI'm having the same problem with my pair, also mostly in the left side. Unfortunately, the noise in mine is always there as long as music is playing and for about 10 seconds after. It doesn't fade out after the 'warm up period'. There's a lower frequency static that's always present with intermittent higher frequency buzzing.
itsjosFor me the issue is always the right, which makes a bit of sense given it appears to house the majority of the electronics which would be the most vulnerable to EMI/RFI. The startup/post reconnect sound is very different from anything I get during playback. Initially it(low level static/noise in right up) was more present, I'm about 8 hours into listening and IF I hear anything at this point it's a couple of seconds between tracks or after interacting with the controls.
(Edited)
flyin2flyout
91
Aug 2, 2020
itsjosI just received my set, and have noticed the same sizzling/buzzing/static on the left side. It does seem to subside during continuous music playback. This issue is not limited to my source device, as it's there whether I am using my phone, Macbook, or a Windows 10 machine. To me this issue is acceptable only if I think of these as just a wireless headphone with pretty good sound, and not as a replacement for wired HiFi headphones.
flyin2flyoutI ended up sending mine back, pending a replacement. The start-up whine I can deal with, the low level noise in the right cup detracted from low volume listening too much.
Noldir
82
Aug 17, 2020
WillJust wondering: is it normal that after 30 seconds after power down I hear a whine-and-pop that is best described as "capacitor discharge noise"?
PizzaForAll
16
Nov 19, 2020
WillIs the popping sound after 15 or 30s of silence normal? It is very audible and I find it very annoying when you use these headphones all day and pause your music frequently.
NoldirAmp is powering down, shouldn't whine but soft pop is expected behavior
PizzaForAllSoft pop from amp powering on/off, we're going to change the timing in future firmware but no updates expected until next year
RSH123
0
Nov 25, 2020
ShyvMe to
RSH123
0
Nov 25, 2020
RSH123I just got them as well
PRODUCTS YOU MAY LIKE
Trending Posts in Audiophile