WH-1000XM3 Terrible call quality (background noise)

[mustafa.arif]

I have just bought these headphones and the audio quality on calls is terrible. People I speak with on the phone report that the microphone is dampening my voice, making it sound echo-ey, whilst at the same time picking up ambient noise. Indeed, most report that the ambient noise is clearer than my voice! I'm not tryign to make calls in a particularly noisy environment - just a regular office.

Any ideas?

[nkeating]

Yeah. I think there is only one set of mics and they are used for nc and voice. If I am correct this is going to be an issue. Only way I think it can be solved is if the headphones turn off NC when a call comes in. Not sure how that will work for other voice apps like WhatsApp, Google Meet, Skype and FaceTime audio. Will also be some significant difference to the way voice is treated on Android and iOS.

[stormyuk]

Yeh that makes sense really as the microphone is primarily focused for the noise cancelling of which it does a great job.

[PoochaLondon]

It seems strange at the price of these headphones that my old Plantronics Legend headset can so easily out outperform the WH-1000XM3 for call quality. I think that the Legend has four mics but it easily beats these headphones. Surely the WH-1000XM3 has more than two mics?

[Mrtomgreen]

Can someone confirm? I took mine back for a refund so can't verify but I'm sure there were 3 mics at the bottom of the cup and one at the top? My conclusion was that I thought there were 4 mics each side, split into two 'banks' - i.e. the 3 on the bottom operated together, and the one on the top operated independently.

When I had ambient sound on or was experiencing the awful background noise / echo issue when on a call, I was tapping around on the cups and only one mic bank (can't remember if it was the one on the top, or the 3 at the bottom) was picking up the tapping (I think it was the one on the top.)

This gave me hope that firmware would fix this as the capabilities seemed to be there.

Can anyone verify this or did I imagine it all??!

[Dudemanguy123]

I had terrible mic problems. Noone could hear me clearly. I removed the Sony headphones software from my phone and it works fine now. Just Bluetooth connected Eureka beautifully.

[downy8]

I can confirm that removing the headphone app has definitely made it much better......

thanks.....

Rob.....

[TNTstudio]

I talk to people through the headset microphone they hear a loud echo and a very loud noise

[Steinki]

Just the same, when reviews give it so good grades, but so many have problems, trust towards sony is what stays in my mind.  The headset is fine, the headphone is just crap.  cant use in car, cant use outside, and even indoor, it sucks.

Buying Sony product will be on pause for me and everyone i advice for now.

[ryocityboy88]

I believe since I’ve removed the Sony app from my IPhoneX, the phone’s own wireless connection has shown some improvement on audio calls. And have not had many complaints from people on calls. Perhaps give it a try too, the audio on the earphones still are better than the Bose ones. 

[stormyuk]

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@ryocityboy88 wrote:

I believe since I’ve removed the Sony app from my IPhoneX, the phone’s own wireless connection has shown some improvement on audio calls. And have not had many complaints from people on calls. Perhaps give it a try too, the audio on the earphones still are better than the Bose ones. 

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I assume this disables the noise cancelling function of the headset when listening to music?