topic Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear in Portable Audio

Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

Mathew.B — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 16:39:54 GMT

These headphones have been working fine until about a week ago when upon powering up, the right ear cup blasted a high pitched whine when placed on my ear which lasted about 10 seconds. Once it had finished, the headphones worked normally.
Now every time they are powered off and then powered on again the feedback whine returns for 10 seconds or so before fading out (and again allowing normal usage).
I have had to resort to putting them on and quickly moving the right cup to the side so that I'm not deafened by the high pitched sound and then once it has finished whatever it is doing putting it back and using the headphones.
Only other info I have is that prior to the whining noise there is a brief second or two of a light popping sound.

My best guess is that it is something to do with the noise cancelling function, but I'm by no means any expert!

Has anyone else had the same problem?

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

Mathew.B — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 16:53:00 GMT

Well after a bit more digging around I found out that you can reset the headphones!

I did a factory reset (turn off headphones while unplugged and hold power and CUSTOM buttons for around 7 seconds until the blue light flashes 4 times)
Once I did, the problem has appeared to gone away (for now 😄 )

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

Mathew.B — Sat, 17 Jul 2021 15:54:31 GMT

Unfortunately that didn't last, the whining noise returned after a couple of uses.
The whining period seems to be lasting longer every time now too.

It goes away as soon as I disable Noise Cancelling, so I figure it is definitely related.

I guess I will have to investigate a return 😞

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

jesmith7574 — Sun, 14 Nov 2021 22:15:08 GMT

Matthew B - I have exactly the same problem. I have had to switch off the noise-cancelling, because the only thing it was cancelling was what I was listening to.

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 14:20:47 GMT

Did you try to reset the unit and check if this will help?

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

jesmith7574 — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 15:07:05 GMT

I will try. Thanks.

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 13:41:55 GMT

Thank you

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

ArthurWellesley — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 23:10:08 GMT

I've also had the same issue. How long did you own the headphones for before it started to happen? I've had mine about 12 months. I'll be returning them to the retailer under the consumer rights act as a year is an unreasonably short length of time for £300 headphones to last.

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

Mathew.B — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 20:18:38 GMT

I ended up doing a return via Sony after being put through to them while trying to get a replacement from Amazon.

It took about a week or so (but there was some delay on my end getting the right proof of purchase together) and as they were unable to repair, they sent out a brand new pair of headphones.

Sony were very good throughout the process, no fuss or problems at all.

So far, they are working fine, hopefully they'll continue to do so!

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

Mathew.B — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 20:21:43 GMT

@ArthurWellesley I'd had mine about 6 months or so when the problem occurred.

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 16:20:47 GMT

Hey @Mathew.B,

Glad you got it sorted in the end. Hopefully our friends in the thread manage to do the same.

Cheers.

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

HaithamE — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 22:33:34 GMT

Hello !

i have bought mine yesterday and got same issue also.

found that happens when i have ambient sound on, but it doesn't go away for me

who should I call for an exchange ?

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

HaithamE — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 10:10:23 GMT

Hey @Mathew.B

I am having issues like yours and I bought it 2 days ago.

I can see you exchanged it with new one, do you experience the same issue ? Or Should I ask directly for a refund?

thanks

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

jesmith7574 — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 12:00:56 GMT

I don't think that there is much point in getting a replacement, as it looks pretty conclusive that there is an inherant fault in the design, and we now need Sony to come up with some guidance.

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

HannahEd01 — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 16:40:59 GMT

Hey HaithamE, try the steps on the thread, it looks like the issue can be resolved.

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

HaithamE — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 18:05:36 GMT

Hey @HannahEd01

trust me , I tried resetting & factory resetting. I like the headphone and this issue is just too depressing to have on such an expensive headphone.

The noise goes louder whenever the battery is closer to 50% , havent tried less as i couldn't even use it after .

cheers

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

HannahEd01 — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 15:16:12 GMT

Hey HaithamE, try contacting Sony for further assistance, the contact details: https://services.sony.co.uk/supportmvc/en/contact?cpint=spt-footer_contact

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

evansad — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 13:42:28 GMT

The problem occurs on my left earcup in exactly the same way. It is a loud feedback whining high pitch noise.

Can be resolved by turning off or reducing the noise cancellation which defeats the purpose of the headphones.

Suddenly started after 11 months of use and occurs intermittently.

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

HannahEd01 — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:16:24 GMT

Hey evansad, have you tried any of the troubleshooting steps? Rest, initialize, software update?

Re: Sony WH-1000XM4 feedback noise in right ear

CrisCros — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 16:37:11 GMT

I just fixed this issue on my WH-1000XM4s! I'd already gone through all the troubleshooting steps described above with a Sony CSR over the phone who ultimately recommended I send them in to get repaired. Luckily I found this Reddit thread and found that the loud feedback was being caused by earwax collecting on one of the internal components.

To get to the component I needed to clean (a short, metallic cylinder), all I had to do was remove the earpad/foam and then a small grey, rubber cap covering it. After that, I used Q-Tips and >90% isopropyl alcohol to clean the rubber cap and contact points on the cylinder. Put everything back together and everything's working great again!