Induction Cooktop - Static or Buzzing When Wearing Headphones or Ear Buds

If you use headphones or earbuds while cooking with your Induction burners, it's possible you could hear static, humming, buzzing, or other noises in your device. This happens when the induction electromagnetic energy causes interference with sound waves. To reduce this possibility, turn off any Active Noise Cancellation features for your personal listening device.

Why This Interference Can Happen

How induction cooking works, combined with certain noise reducing technology in personal listening devices, can cause audio issues when using your burners and device at the same time.

How Induction Works

Induction burners work by passing an electric current through a coil of metal under the glass cooktop surface. This creates an electromagnetic field that penetrates the metal of compatible cookware. (This is why you need to use cookware that can hold a magnet on the bottom of the pan). The electromagnetic field induces a current in the cookware, which generates heat directly IN the cookware. This heats the cookware itself, preventing heat loss and keeping the surrounding area cool. The process generates vibrations in the cookware, can create audible and inaudible (higher frequency) sounds.

Active Noise Cancellation and Induction

The audible and inaudible sounds created by induction burners when they're in use, can create additional noises within headphones or earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC).

ANC systems detect the sound waves they produce. It can then produce its own sound wave, one of equal amplitude but inverted to the original wave. This creates an interference where the two waves cancel each other out, producing a single, much flatter (and therefore quieter) sound wave. The resulting wave is 'played' alongside whatever you're listening to, and because the whole process completes extremely quickly, the original, noisy sound that's happening around you never reaches your ear.  ANC can also amplify higher frequency sounds when the system is not able to keep up with the sound.

What's the Solution?

Operation of the induction burners is going to cause noise from the pan that can be magnified as static or buzzing sounds in your listening device if it has Active Noise Cancellation enabled. Listening to music, podcasts, audiobooks always makes cooking more fun! If you prefer to use your headphones or earbuds, while cooking on your induction range or cooktop, we recommend turning off the Active Noise Cancellation.