When listening to your favorite tracks on headphones, you expect a smooth music-listening experience. So, it’s quite understandable why anyone would get frustrated when the music keeps cutting out. And when it happens to you, you may ask, “why do my headphones keep cutting out?”
Your headphones keep cutting out for having a frayed cable, device incompatibility, low battery, interference between other wireless devices, and increased distance from the source. It could also happen due to malfunctioning audio or device drivers.
So, what should you do when your headphones keep cutting out? You don’t necessarily have to discard your old headphones and buy new ones. Instead, you can follow simple steps to get the headphones to work normally again. Stick around to learn more.
Why Does My Wired Headphones Keep Cutting Out
So, if you have wired headphones, there are two possible reasons why the audio is cutting out. They are:
- Frayed cable
- Malfunctioning headphone drivers or audio drivers
Here are the steps you can take if your wired headphones keep cutting out:
1. Replace the Wire of the Headphones
Are you using wired headphones that let you swap out the wire? In that case, you should purchase a new cable. But how do you know that the wire of the headphone is why the pair of headphones is cutting out?
Take a closer look at the wire. Do you notice any fraying or any signs of damage on the cable? If so, the wire is why your headphone is cutting out.
To ensure the same does not happen to the new wire, take proper precautions while handling it. Do not pack the headphone with the wire in cramped spaces. Also, make sure that you are not putting too much stress on the jack plug. It’s quite fragile.
2. Update the Audio Driver of Your System
The audio driver in your system helps the operating system communicate with the headphone. As it plays quite a crucial role, you should keep it updated.
In fact, if you do not update it, there can be different audio-related issues, such as headphones cutting out.
However, the process of updating the audio driver differs slightly for Windows and Mac.. Here are the steps you need to follow to update the audio driver on Windows:
- Head over to the device manager
- Check for audio drivers
- Select the headphone icon and update the audio driver
- Restart your PC
Alternatively, you can download the audio driver from here and then install it manually.
Not using a Windows PC? These are the steps you need to follow to update the audio driver on Mac:
- Download the latest audio driver for your Mac
- Look for Audio Midi Setup App and open it
- Head to the Audio Devices window
- Select the headphone that you are using
- Click Configure Select
Why Do My Wireless Headphones Keep Cutting Out
Wondering why do my Bluetooth headphones keep cutting out? Well, like the problem with wired headphones, there could be a couple reasons behind the audio cutout issue. For example, Bluetooth headphones can cut out for –
- High distance from the audio source
- Low battery
- Wireless interference
- Device incompatibility
Want to know what you can do to fix the audio cutout issue of your Bluetooth headphones? Here are the steps:
1. Check the Battery Level
First and foremost, you should check the battery level of your Bluetooth headphones. You should be able to see the percentage on the connected device without any apps, regardless of whether you are in Windows, Android, Mac, or iOS.
If you notice that the battery level is too low, you should get the Bluetooth headphone charged up.
2. Move Your Wireless Headphones Closer to the Source
You can categorize Bluetooth devices into three different categories. They are basically called Bluetooth class. And the range for each Bluetooth class is different. For example, Bluetooth Class 1 has a range of 40 to 100 meters, Class 2 has 10 to 30 meters, and Class 3 has 5 to 10 meters.
Wondering what Bluetooth class is your wireless headphones? It is either in Class 2 or Class 3. Class 1 Bluetooth radios are not generally used for consumer products. Instead, they are reserved for industrial applications.
Nonetheless, when your Bluetooth headphones keep cutting out, you should try and move them closer to the source. It’s better to have a direct line of sight with the source. Through that, you can ensure the best connection stability and strength.
3. Take Care of Signal Interference
Are your headphones still cutting out? In that case, you are dealing with interference. Here, you need to check two things. The first one is cross-body interference, and the second is wireless interference.
For cross-body interference, check whether the signal of the wireless headphones improves when you move your phone from one pocket to another. Generally, the Bluetooth chip of headphones will be behind the battery.
And the battery can be on either side of your headphone. But, for example, if you have kept the phone in the left pocket and your headphone Bluetooth chipset is on the right, there will be cross-body signal interference.
Secondly, check whether there are too many wireless devices around. In case you didn’t know, most WiFi routers and Bluetooth utilizes the same signal strength. And 2.4GHz WiFi signals and Bluetooth signals can interfere with each other.
So, when your headphones keep cutting out, you need to move a bit away from wireless devices. If possible, turn off the devices that are causing the interference.
4. Check for Device Incompatibility
These days, most wireless headphones come with Bluetooth 4.0 or above. And the great part is that all Bluetooth versions have backward compatibility. That means they can work with lower Bluetooth protocols.
However, like wireless accessories, phone manufacturers’ Bluetooth chipsets have advanced. Most of the flagships these days come with Bluetooth 5.0 or higher.
And when you try to make a lower-end Bluetooth accessory work with a high-end Bluetooth device, there can be some sync issues. You can check the Bluetooth version of your device by going through the spec sheet.
Here, you need to ensure that your Bluetooth headphone has a higher or the same version of Bluetooth as the source. By ensuring that, you can eliminate the headphone cutout issue. Make an upgrade if you have to.
Why Does My Headphones Keep Cutting Out – Summary
So, if you are still wondering why do my headphones keep cutting out, you need to do the following:
- Check the wire of the headphone and replace it
- Upgrade the audio drivers of your system
- Charge the headphone if it is wireless
- Reduce the distance between the source and the headphone
- Move to a location with low interferences
- Check the Bluetooth versions and make an upgrade if you need to
That’s pretty much it. Hopefully, this in-depth guide has helped you to get a trouble-free music-listening experience. Do let us know if you have any questions on the topic. We will try our level best to reply promptly.
Meet Abid Ahsan, the trusted luminary behind BitsFromByte. With a degree in Computer Science and over a decade of experience, Abid’s authoritative expertise shines through his in-depth guides, meticulous reviews, and timely news coverage on software, operating systems, consumer tech products, phones, PCs, and laptops. His dedication to accuracy, transparency, and unbiased reporting makes it easy for our readers to stay informed in this rapidly evolving tech landscape.