Hissing noise with new Microsoft Surface Earbuds

Anonymous
2020-05-14T14:59:04+00:00

I'm an early adopter - got them on the day of release.

There appears to be a glaring issue, and I wonder whether they're particular to only my pair.

Basically, whenever there is about to be sound played - such as unlocking of the phone, start of a phone call or music, white noise hissing appears, sometimes with a "pop" and then lasts about 2-3 seconds after the sound stops. Even if no sound is played, quick locking or unlocking of the phone results in a 3 second noticeable white noise hissing sound.

Please advise. Does anyone else experience this issue?

Surface | Surface Earbuds | Settings

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-05-25T15:27:11+00:00

    Same problem here.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-05-26T01:14:45+00:00

    Received response from Microsoft Customer Service:

    I hope this message finds you well. Finally, I received an update from best Microsoft Engineers. We confirmed that When audio is stopped you will hear 1-2 seconds of white noise followed by a low volume clicking noise.  This occurs as the amplifier built into Surface Earbuds turns off.  This does not effect the functionality of your Surface Earbuds and is expected. Replacement wont help either because this symptom will occur on all Earbuds.

    Best regards,

    Ricky

    So it looks like they are hissing by design! That is not acceptable for a brand new product - especially given that my 4 year old Bose SoundSport Wireless and the new Google Pixel Buds do not have this issue. Clearly it is possible to design headphones without a constant hiss from the amp.

    I am very disappointed and will be returning the product.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-05-26T13:08:12+00:00

    Received response from Microsoft Customer Service:

    I hope this message finds you well. Finally, I received an update from best Microsoft Engineers. We confirmed that When audio is stopped you will hear 1-2 seconds of white noise followed by a low volume clicking noise.  This occurs as the amplifier built into Surface Earbuds turns off.  This does not effect the functionality of your Surface Earbuds and is expected. Replacement wont help either because this symptom will occur on all Earbuds.

    Best regards,

    Ricky

    So it looks like they are hissing by design! That is not acceptable for a brand new product - especially given that my 4 year old Bose SoundSport Wireless and the new Google Pixel Buds do not have this issue. Clearly it is possible to design headphones without a constant hiss from the amp.

    I am very disappointed and will be returning the product.

    They seem to think its only when audio is started or stopped but listening at a low level the hiss is still audible. Surely that is not by design on headphones that are meant to be used when presenting to people (as shown in their advertising for this product). I hope we can get a better response than what you received from support. I will also reach out that way and link this thread.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-05-26T13:16:23+00:00

    For what its worth after updates to Surface Book 2, audio has improved drastically on my Teams calls (where I had most of my issues).  All other audio experiences (non-Teams and iOS) are solid.

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-05-26T19:02:27+00:00

    They seem to think its only when audio is started or stopped but listening at a low level the hiss is still audible. Surely that is not by design on headphones that are meant to be used when presenting to people (as shown in their advertising for this product). I hope we can get a better response than what you received from support. I will also reach out that way and link this thread.

    Yes, the hissing is constant, very audible when nothing is playing and then gets masked by music when it is playing. It seems hard to believe that MSFT engineers either did not hear the noise, or thought it was acceptable and let this product get RTM with glaring issues and limitations. None of the competing headsets have such issues.

    I noticed that my post was noticed by the media:

    https://www.phonearena.com/news/Microsoft-is-investigating-Surface-Earbuds-complaints_id124859

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