When turning ON and OFF your audio interface, do your speakers make a loud pop? Are you concerned that this pop may be damaging your reference monitor speakers?
In this article, I’ll explain how to prevent this loud pop to your speakers.. it’s really easy to fix!
Why the Speaker Pop Happens when Turning On / Off an Audio Interface
The problem is when your speakers are already on!
If your speaker is on, and you turn your audio interface ON or OFF, your audio interface will send this very harsh transient (pop) to your speakers.. and it sounds so bad, doesn’t it! (Especially if your speakers are expensive!)
You must understand that the process is REVERSED when turning OFF your audio system, compared to when you turn your stuff on!
To turn on your audio system without popping, turn your audio interface on FIRST, then turn on your speakers.
To turn off your audio system without popping, turn off your speakers first, THEN turn off your audio interface.
(Also.. this pop applies to headphones and earbuds, too!… so you can unplug your headphones/earbuds BEFORE turning off your audio interface)
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How to Prevent Speakers Popping When Turning On and Off Audio Interface:
Here’s a step-by-step list to prevent your speakers popping!
FOLLOW THESE STEPS IN ORDER:
Have everything turned off before starting step one.
1. Turn your audio interface on first! (If your speakers are on first that’s where you get the pop!)
2. Turn on your sub first before your speakers! (If you don’t have a subwoofer skip this step!)
3. Turn on your speakers.
Now when it comes time to turn everything off, you will want to:
1. Turn off your speakers first
2. Turn off your subwoofer
3. Turn off your audio interface.
If you follow turning on your speakers/audio equipment this way, you will avoid that horrible pop sound and protect your investment!
Conclusion.. Preventing Studio Speakers from Popping When Turning On and Off
I’d really like to see audio interface companies implement some sort of “soft start” when turning on an audio interface to prevent this loud pop.
It sounds so aggressive! But now you know how to fix it.
Simply turn on your audio interface FIRST, or turn off your audio interface LAST. If your speaker is already on, that’s when you’ll get the loud pop to your speakers (and headphones).
(This same type of popping happens when turning on and off phantom power toward microphones.. it turns on so aggressively.. but from my knowledge, there’s no way of preventing that.. except one time I read in a manual to turn down the input gain on your microphone all the way to 0 before turning on phantom power!)
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5 thoughts on “Why Do My Speakers Make A Pop When I Turn My Audio Interface On/Off”
Thanks for all ur mini tutorial/advice..really helpful…keep em coming=)
I know how it is when you can’t figure out that “thing” your trying to figure out lol — hope it helped!
me too thanks
But if you have an audio interface, which you can’t turn off, and using headphones, you can only avoid the pop by disconnecting the headphones. I’m not to keen on that either, since it wears on the connection. Crap!
I know! It’s like the audio interface companies don’t care about this situation at all; for both speakers and headphones.
One workaround would be to maybe get 2 male to female connectors which you can plug in and out to avoid wear and tear on your audio interface and headphone jack.. but that opens up more problems of intermittent connection if those splitters are faulty (which they often become over time).
Another angle to look at it is maybe it doesn’t matter and doesn’t cause damage.. but it sure sounds nasty, doesn’t it!