No. The slow turn-on and turn-off characteristics of tubes and limited current capability means there's no muting relayóîwhich is the same for pretty much every tube OTL headphone amp out there. While there is DC on the output at turn-on and turn-off, it is on the order of 100mV into 32-ohm headphones. If you are concerned about this, unplug your headphones before turning the amp off, and wait 30 seconds or so after you turn Valhalla 2 on to plug in.