As the title mentions, my Fairbuds XL (2023) have been faulty for a while, developing a hissing/crackling noise in my right ear when the Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) is on (not ambient or ANC-off) and only when the right earpiece is moving. If the headphones are laying still, the noise is not there. It seems to be related to the AND and a cable or something given that it only happens when the right ear moves, but I hope to hear of others that have experienced a similar issue and found a solution. Thanks a lot!
Hi MDE, thanks for the message! I have indeed checked other audio modes, in which the problem does not occur. Besides, I have opened up the right ear and removed the flat cable connected to the ANC, and if I do this, the problem also stops while other functionalities (like listening to the music) continues. This way I am 100% sure the problem is related to the connection from flat cable to ANC in the right ear. I have contacted Fairphone a while ago but unfortunately have not heard anything yet. I will be patient
Hi @JasperSTV just to confirm I understand, when you say:
I have opened up the right ear and removed the flat cable connected to the ANC, and if I do this, the problem also stops while other functionalities (like listening to the music) continues.
Do you mean that you disconnected the flat speaker-to-speaker USB-C cable from the right speaker? I ask because I tried to do that to see how it would affect my ANC, and the headphones do not turn on when the cable is disconnected.
If we confirm that we did the same thing and are indeed experiencing different behaviours, I wonder if this could be related to your issues.
Another thing that might be worth testing is flipping the cable so that the USB-C port that now connects to the right speaker instead connects to the left speaker. I would assume that if the audio issues continue in the right speaker it is a speaker problem, but if the issues “move” to the left speaker, it might be a problem with the cable.
Hi Diogurt, thanks for your elaborate message! I want to specify that I do not mean the speaker-to-speaker USB-C cables of the headphones, but rather the flat cable that connects to the ANC inside the right earpiece. I really mean inside the right ear on the Printed Circuit Board, the top-right flat cable connects to the ANC. When I flip this off the problem stops.
I have also tried flipping the cables, but to no avail. I am afraid the right earpiece is broken to a point where I cannot repair it, as I cannot follow the cable much deeper into the inside of the right ear piece without breaking everything. I will go on without ANC for now but might buy a new spare piece in the future.
