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Headphones driving me crazy


Hey,
Just after I upgraded to Windows 10, I noticed my headphones were making a weird noise whenever sound was playing, and then the sound sticking around for about five seconds when the sound stopped playing.

Here's a sample:

This was quieter and more manageable before I upgraded to Windows 10, but now it's louder than ever.

The headphones in question are a pair of Valore "gaming headphones" that I picked up in Singapore. They're USB headphones and show up as just "USB PnP Sound Device".

I can confirm this is not from the power source as I have tested it on my laptop with and without the cord attached and no difference. This also happens on my MacBook.

Another thing that happens is when playing Fallout 4, other fullscreen games and some windowed games, the sound seems to completely cut out after exactly five minutes. This happens every time and the sound just *cuts out*, no interference or nothing. This basically makes Fallout 4 unplayable as this is my only computer that can run it.

PLEASE HELP!

Two things come to mind:
  1. Can you install an updated headphone driver from the manufacturer's website?
  2. Have you tried the other USB ports as sometimes a port can supply a noisy voltage signal?

I've tried all the ports, some are louder than others, but the sound cutoff effect stays in place.


Valore USB 2.0 Gaming Headset (HS0003)
Those are my headphones. Did you listen to the sound clip? It dosen't really sound like electromagnetic interference.
No drivers on their site as far as I can see. I've done a lot of extensive searching.
It mentions something about "vSound" but dosen't specify any drivers for it.

If I understood your first post it also happens on your MacBook so we can rule out a hardware problem on your Lenovo Z50-70 and probably also rule out software as your sound system will be different on both laptops. This leaves us with a faulty headphone. You did say that the sound was more manageable before, I wonder if Windows 10 sound settings are different and you have a different balance between say the system sounds and the speaker sounds. Open the volume mixer (right click on the speaker icon in the system tray) and see if this makes any difference.

The sound cut-off problem may or may not be related. Does this also happen for any games played on the MacBook when you are using the headphones?

Opened the sound mixer. No difference.

BTW: I don't play games on my MacBook, but the headphones are basically unusable on my macbook as the noise is both deafening and the headphones are extremely sensitive to the volume control.

Can you try with another set of headphones or borrow a pair from a friend?

Tried with them. Normal (non-USB) headphones work flawlessly. My USB speakers work fine with no bugs.
I've had this problem since I bought them, actually.

I don't want to sound cynical, but I think that you need to throw those headphones away and buy yourself a decent set of headphones.

I'd do that, but I'm kinda short of money and the headphones are almost brand new (but I'm not in Singapore any more, so I can't return them)
The headphones have a little control box with a "mute" button, two "volume" buttons and a "mic on/off" button. Also a red and a green LED to show operation. Strangely, whenever I press the "mic off" button, the intermittent buzzing sound changes to an unchanging buzzing sound with no noise in between. The buzzing sound stays the same volume even if the volume is 1% or 100%.

I think everything you have said confirms the headphones are faulty. The electronics in the headphone may be controlling mic pickup and it is reacting to external noises. With the mic off the noise just stays the same. Whatever it is the noise should not be there.

Headphones driving me crazy