# Beats headphones have constant static

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beats-headphones-have-constant-static/718614>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 27, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beats-headphones-have-constant-static/718614 "2015-04-27T03:18:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beats-headphones-have-constant-static/718614/1 "2015-04-27T03:18:10Z")

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Is this normal? I don’t remember it from my cheaper over-the-ear headphones in past years. If it’s unavoidable, the owner can live with it. Just wondering if there’s anything to be done for it.

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beats-headphones-have-constant-static/718614/2 "2015-04-28T04:00:14Z")

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From what I’ve read, Beats have “active noise-canceling,” which produces some white noise when there’s nothing playing.

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**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beats-headphones-have-constant-static/718614/3 "2015-04-29T14:52:27Z")

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I don’t think static should be acceptable in any headphones. I would be asking the manufacturer or store for replacement considering how expensive those things are.

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**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beats-headphones-have-constant-static/718614/4 "2015-04-29T15:13:59Z")

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> [@Nametag](#):
>
> From what I’ve read, Beats have “active noise-canceling,” which produces some white noise when there’s nothing playing.

Some models have active noise canceling and some don’t.

I have some bose noise canceling headphones and there is a small amount of hiss when no music is being played and the noise canceling is turned on. I would imagine that the Beats headphones would allow you to turn off the noise cancellation so you can see if it comes from that.