Question about headphone crackle

So I decided to dip my toes in the headphone water for the first time, and started with a fairly cheap pair of Tate & Bauer Electrostatz cans. While I wasn't expecting much from them in terms of blowing my mind sound-wise, what I wasn't expecting was for them to crackle at higher volumes. I'm not talking about a hard driving amp, I'm talking through an iPod where even my $15 ear buds don't crackle at max volume.

Bad quality, defect, something to be wary of when using ostensibly "nicer (more sensitive?)" stuff?

Again, wasn't expecting greatness, but I couldn't find any reviews or mentions of this product that mentioned any sort of crackle, so I didn't see that coming at all.

 

Return them for a new pair. The ones you have are defective.

 

Yeah, swap them. And if it happens again, the design is poor, return them permanently.