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? 

[meetingminute]

I have received my new WF-1000XM4. I thought i was the only one experiencing it until I searched online and there are so many ppl are experiencing the same issue. I am on the latest 1.3.3 firmware, using it on Samsung Note8, Tab 7 FE, and Win 10 desktop.

Listening to music is fine. I first noticed in a teams call. The voice comes with a metal pinging sound. When I clench my teeth with noise canceling, I can also hear the metal pinging sound.

[HannahEd01]

Hey, try resetting the headphones: https://helpguide.sony.net/mdr/wf1000xm4/v1/en/contents/TP1000428696.html

[Ozmica]

This probably won't help as the issue is widespread and I'm pretty sure everyone already tried the soft or hard factory reset. There seem to be only 2 solutions for this. Either return or replace it under warranty or make sure the Sony DEV team gets this issue under their radar and releases a firmware update that can fix this. Until now, no firmware update release notes mention this or address this issue. But this is only possible if the issue is not faulty hardware.

[Saadatthedank]

Bought earphones 2 days ago, thought I was the only on because I have jaw issues which causes a snap on the left side from time to time. I can hear the ping (almost like a metal spring that recoils) every time my jaw snaps, when there's high pitched noises or I clack my teeth. So far no fix (latest firmware, hard and soft reset)

[helloafsal]

I have purchased Sony we-1000xm4 yesterday from Amazon. I also noticed the same sound coming out of my earbuds when noise cancellation is on. More on right ear bud. It’s very annoying and going to return the product

[meetingminute]

Update: I ordered a second pair on amazon, and it had that metal echo when the noise cancelling on. Condition is same as the first pair.

Hope the next pair will be fine. very disappointed.

[HannahEd01]

Hey guys, try updating software, reset, initialize, then contact Sony if the issue remains.

[MrBojangles]

I have the exact same issue in both earbuds. It's actually been getting worse over the last month. Sony customer support have fobbed me off for over a month with automated emails asking me to be patient whilst the engineers look into it. There's clearly a manufacturing problem with these relatively expensive earbuds so why haven't we been offered replacements or repairs yet? 

[Rokannon]

Apparently they decided to pretend that the issue does not exists. You can find people reporting about the problem here, on Reddit and in Amazon reviews. It's a subtle problem and I may assume that some users don't even notice it.

I myself had two pairs of these buds (both faulty) and it was the worst customer experience I ever had in my life. I tried all possible and impossible settings, tried resetting everything even remotely related to audio, tried different devices and so on. It was horrible time.

I ended up ordering AKG N400NC which are cheaper but supposedly have better build quality (I am yet to see). As for Sony I am going to stay away from it for some time for now. My perception of this brand has changed due to these issues. I assume you may feel the same.

[HannahEd01]

@Rokannon, did the Sony support tell you the issue doesn't exist? Are you serious?