Noise in your audio monitors

One of the most common issues I get asked about is clicking and other noise in audio monitors that you cannot hear in playback. With the proliferation of editing systems in places that don't have in-house technical support, there are many possible sources for noise. These include unbalanced inputs and outputs, unshielded wiring, unshielded speakers, among many.

But when the noise is only in the speakers and isn't repeatable when you play the audio back, It's almost always from a cell phone. In my experience it has always been from a cell phone. The interaction of speakers and phones can differ a lot, so just because you used a phone many times without hearing noise doesn't mean that's not where it's coming from. So, if you don't like hearing intermittent pops and clicks, turn the phones off. All the way off. And you should probably turn off those mobile tablets too.