Response Button Not Registering During a Test

What's happening

The subject's response button is a simple circuit: press it, and the audiometer registers a response light and logs the answer. When presses stop registering, a handheld controller won't stay powered on, or you get static that comes and goes as cords are moved, the fault is almost always in the response cord, its connector, or the port it plugs into — not the audiometer itself. These are worth isolating with a quick functional check before you assume the unit needs service.

Try these in order

1. Reseat the response cord. Unplug it fully from the Response jack on the audiometer — it's next to the headphone jacks — and plug it back in firmly. A loose connection here is the most common cause of intermittent presses.
2. Watch the yellow Response light while you do this. Plugging or unplugging the cord should make it flash briefly. If it doesn't react at all, that points to the cord or the jack rather than the switch itself.
3. Press the button and confirm the light responds. A press should turn the yellow Response light on. If the light doesn't come on, the switch, its cord, or the connector is faulty.
4. If you have a spare response cord, swap it in. This is the fastest way to tell whether the problem is the cord or something further down the line. If the swap fixes it, the old cord needs to be replaced.
5. Check the controller's power connection separately if it won't stay on. A handheld that powers up briefly and then drops out usually has the same root cause — a failing cord or connector — rather than a battery or internal fault. Reseat and, if possible, swap the cord the same way as above.
6. Note when static shows up. If interference comes and goes specifically when a cord is moved or flexed, that's a worn or intermittent cord, not a software or calibration issue. Treat it the same as a failing response cord — swap it if you have one, and note the pattern if you don't.

If the signal runs through a booth patch panel

If your booth has a patch panel between the response switch and the audiometer, add these checks before assuming the switch itself is bad:

1. Confirm the ports are matched. The cable outside the booth and the cable inside must connect through the same port position on both faces of the panel. A cord landing on the wrong outside port while the inside stays put will look exactly like a dead response circuit.
2. Swap to a different matched port pair. Move the response cable to another port on both sides of the wall, keeping the pair matched, and test again. A single dirty or worn port is a common cause of an otherwise healthy response switch failing to register.
3. Bypass the panel to isolate it. Connect the response cord directly, outside the panel, if you're able to. If it works direct but not through the panel on any port pair, the panel or booth wiring is the fault.

Test with a functional check

Before sending anything in, confirm the fault with a functional check: press the response button manually while the check is running and watch that both the on-screen response and the yellow Response light track each press. If presses aren't registering during a functional check with a known-good cord plugged in directly at the audiometer, that isolates the problem to the audiometer's response circuit rather than the cord or the booth wiring — and that's a call to us.

When to call us

• The Response light doesn't flash on plug/unplug or turn on with a button press, even after reseating and swapping the cord.
• A handheld controller keeps dropping power after you've reseated and swapped its cord.
• Static or dropouts persist after checking a direct connection and, if applicable, bypassing the patch panel.
• You need a functional check confirmed or want a loaner while the unit is looked at.