Sony WF-1000XM4 metallic echo / pinging / bell / sound issue

[Ozmica]

I bought these earbuds 10 days ago and I noticed immediately this weird sound issue. The issue is already common for many people and it seems that it affects sometimes the left and sometimes the right earbud. 

In my case, I can hear a ringing or pinging noise coming from my left earbud whenever I'm in a call and someone is speaking, including me. It follows the higher notes of the voice and kinda sounds like an echo but a similar sound to the notification sound you have when you tap on the earbud to either change the NC on or off or to play or pause the music. What I noticed is that the issue can be reproduced also if I snap the left part of the teeth quickly.

If I turn off the NC, then I can't reproduce the issue when snapping my teeth but it still can be reproduced if someone talks in a voice call. Also, I can just listen to a podcast, and no matter if NC is on or off, the pinging is there. It just seems that if NC is off that the issue is less obvious. But again this is in my case, other people have the same issue but reproduce it a bit differently. These are the Reddit posts I found that reference the same issue:


https://www.reddit.com/r/sony/comments/obsdne/wf1000xm4_faint_pinging_noise_during_voice_calls/
https://www.reddit.com/r/sony/comments/ot5vqf/wf1000xm4_anyone_not_having_metal_sound/
https://www.reddit.com/r/sony/comments/oa0oy3/sony_wf1000xm4_hollow_ringingpinging_in_left_ear/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyHeadphones/comments/o1ah8m/tinnymetallic_noise_when_listening_to_speech...

Can anyone confirm if this is a design flaw with the hardware or some weird issue with the ANC and microphones that can be resolved with a future update? 

[IamNic]

Hello @Ozmica,

did you update to the latest firmware already? From what I have read on both r/Sony and r/SonyHeadphones it seems that this resolved the issue.

Can you confirm that?

- Nic

[Ozmica]

Hi @IamNic 

Yes, I'm using the latest firmware update 1.2.6 but the issue was present prior to 1.2.6 and on the 1.2.6 version unfortunatelly. 

[Rokannon]

Hello,

I can confirm having this issue with two pairs of these buds. I also know another person who suffered same problem with his pair. What is more frustrating is that Sony and certifed service centers refuse to acknowledge this problem.

I am writing this comment to raise awareness of this issue.

Regards,

Vladimir

[HannahEd01]

Hi guys, do you, by any chance, experience this issue with a specific app? Like Amazon Music App (Ver.10.9.x)?

[Rokannon]

Hi,

This issue is not related to specific application, OS or any other software thing.

Regards,

Vladimir

[laterpap]

I have the same issue, although using the newest firmware version 1.2.6.

I can hear the pinging clearly on this Chess Website at the making a move sound.

This is also the case when ANC is off and it is mainly coming from my left earbud.

[Ydaani]

Bought a pair on Black Friday and am having the same issue. A light ping punctuating the words of people talking on videos or podcasts. Music not so much. If I clack my teeth or tap the ear buds the pinging is clear and distinct and very distracting/irritating.

So am I correct that this doesn't occur with every pair? I like the headphones otherwise and will exchange mine for another pair if so. If the ping is a  standard problem then it's just too annoying. I'll have to return and try a different brand. 

[Tim2101]

I had the exact same problem.  Went back to the store and got a replacement, but those had the same problem.  Went back again, got a replacement again, and those don’t have the problem.  

[HannahEd01]

Hey Ydaani, I don't think this is normal, and from the comment from Tim2101 it doesn't seem like it at all.