I bought my Fairphones XL a bit more than a year ago, and generally im pretty happy with them. But every once in a while, completely out of nowhere while listening, this incredible loud white noise cuts in. It’s so sudden and loud, all I can do is rip the headphones off my ears as soon quickly as possible and press the off button. It’s hard to overstate how loud and shocking this is, it leaves me every time with high adrenaline for minutes because it sounds like a plane comes crashing down on me.
What the heck is this? And how can it be fixed? It occurs so randomly, only once every few weeks, but it honestly makes me want to throw away my headphones and never use them again 
what do you hear? I sometimes (triggered by specific frequencies) get my bose headset stuck at making a very high pitched noise. Do you get that or something else by “white noise”?
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It sounds kind of like this, only even harsher/more grating and LOUD YouTube link pink noise. Like the loudest setting possible, and you can even hear it loud when the headphones are off the head.
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I never experienced this. If I understand you correctly, the noise keeps going until you turn the headphones off, it’s not just a short spike?
I experience some artifacts when NC is on and there are some sudden loud sounds around me. But it is not at all what you describe.
Does it happen in any mode or only in a specific mode like NC or ambient? I would find it even more surprising if it happened in passive mode.
It would probably not hurt to contactsupport about this.
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Thanks for your answer!
Yeah, it keeps going until I turn it off.
I think I’ve only experienced it with NC, just because that’s the default setting I use. But I’ll try to switch to NC off and see if it occurs there.
It seems to be a pretty rare problem, I couldn’t find anything googling it.
Hi,
I experienced the same thing whit my Fairbud XL’s. And as you describe, it whas while using NC.
The solution i found is quite intricate. I had to dissasemble the right earpeace down to the level that you are not suposed to. I had to kompletly remove the pcb’s and also remove a sticker that resembled a warranty sticker to get to the lock pin to the hinge on the earpeace.
The problem whas a manufacturing flaw where the NC cabel hade been pinched in the hinge mecanism of the earpeace.
It’s a risky proces to fix as you risk braking the cable to the earpeace and bricking it.
I sugest you contact customer suport and get a new right earpeace on your garante.
I hope this helps (sorry for bad English) / Max
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Wow! Nice job figuring out the problem!
I agree with your advice, though: As long as in warranty, you should not try to fix it yourself. After that, it’s certainly worth a shot!
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Yess, thanks.
Do you know if there is a database of photos and videos of repares for the future?
My Fairbud XL’s headband base has snapped so i could repete the procedure now when they’r dissasembled.
Thanks for your answer! Great that you could fix it yourself!
I’ve contacted customer support, so hopefully I’ll be able to get a replacement.
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It should be possible to post own guides on iFixIt. So far there’s nothing for the Fairbuds-XL but some guides for various Fairphones.
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