WH-1000XM3 rustling sound on noise cancelling mode

[edmondtam]

Hi,

I have a 6-month-old WH-1000XM3 which has been recently making a soft but audible rustling sound when noise cancelling is on. The firmware is the latest 4.2.2 version, and this problem happens while it is connected via Bluetooth to my Android Samsung Galaxy S8 and my Windows 10 laptop.

At times, I am able to get rid of this noise by switching the device on and off, although most of the time it just comes back within a few minutes. Similarly, cycling through noise cancelling - ambient noise on - ambient noise off - noise cancelling can get rid of this noise, but soon the noise will come back.

I have a few questions:

• Are others facing the same issue, and if so have you been able to resolve the problem?
• I would like to repair the headphones, but I'm actually afraid this problem cannot be effectively reproduced - any suggestions?
• Can I repair the headphones while not in the UK (where my product is registered)?

Many thanks for all the help!

Best,

Edmond

[Win32_BIOS]

just a quick notify that the 4.5.2 firmware is available.

been using it for almost 3 minutes now, fingers crossed.

edit: less than 24 hours on 4.5.2, and the rustling noise is back.

[edmondtam]

I'm really sad...

The noise cancelling has actually gotten worse now, even though the rustling happens less frequently now.

A new problem is hearing a high pitched noise cancelling sound, and it doesn't block out sound as nicely as before. Music's also gotten noticeably worse, haven't had a good vibe with the headphones since upgrading.

Any thoughts on how to downgrade the firmware? I hear 2.0 was the best but I never tried.

[ericsson1969]

Hi, sorry to hear that. Firmware downgrade won´t be helpful. In case your headphones are still under the warranty, let them have repaired. The reason is that the issue with headphones is in some electronic part, (it is not a matter of firmware) as it was in my case. Luckily, my headphones were exchanged due to the lack of guaranteed time for repair (Covid-19 era). So I was delivered with brand new headphones. Unfortunately, there must be some internal failure in connection with this "electronic part", because when I use my headphones for a longer time (an hour or so) there is white noise in my left cup. In my case, my headphones are still under warranty so if the situation gets worse, I will have them repaired again.
I hope you have the possibility to have them repaired, I guess the price won´t be as high as the price of a new set.

[Win32_BIOS]

Ended up returning mine back in august, and upgraded to the XM4 the month after.

No problem so far.

I've seen some people on the internet having the same issue with the XM4, and some suggests that the problem is the same noise cancelling chip (QN1) in both XM3 and XM4.

I guess the only solution to this is to return and gamble that the replacement doesn't produce the error.