Tests / 05 — Driver rattle
Driver rattle test
A pure tone sweeps slowly between 20 and 90 Hz — the range where a damaged or dirty driver gives itself away. A healthy driver plays a clean, smooth hum. Anything extra is a finding.
Start at moderate volume. Run one pass, then raise the volume one step and repeat. Rattle often only appears above a certain excursion — but there’s no need to go anywhere near painful levels.
20–90 Hz
slow continuous sweep
Listen to one ear at a time. You’re listening past the tone for anything gritty riding on top of it.
What rattle sounds like
- Buzzing — like a phone vibrating on a desk, riding on top of the tone at certain frequencies.
- Crackling / crinkling — paper-like noise, often a wrinkled or damaged diaphragm.
- A faint “zzz” in one ear only — classic hair-on-the-driver or debris in the grille.
- Popping at the sweep’s lowest point — the voice coil hitting its limit; at moderate volume on a new pair, that’s a defect.
If you hear something
- Swap ears and repeat — rattle in both ears at the same frequency usually means your volume is simply too high, or the tone is exciting something on your desk.
- On earbuds: clean the mesh and re-seat the tip. A whisker of debris causes most one-sided buzzes.
- On over-ears: press the pads lightly while sweeping. If the buzz changes, it may be a loose grille or housing, not the driver.
- Persistent one-sided rattle at moderate volume on a new pair is a warranty return. Don’t talk yourself out of it — it will not heal.
Why 20–90 Hz
Driver excursion is largest at low frequencies, so mechanical faults — rubbing coils, loose glue, debris — express themselves loudest there. Above ~100 Hz the cone barely moves and a damaged driver can sound deceptively fine.