WH-1000XM3 Terrible call quality (background noise)

[mustafa.arif]

I have just bought these headphones and the audio quality on calls is terrible. People I speak with on the phone report that the microphone is dampening my voice, making it sound echo-ey, whilst at the same time picking up ambient noise. Indeed, most report that the ambient noise is clearer than my voice! I'm not tryign to make calls in a particularly noisy environment - just a regular office.

Any ideas?

[HullCity]

I wonder if interference from other Bluetooth sources is an issue?  My mic quality was poor in a quiet room, but there were other Bluetooth signals around.  Same room today and the fewer BT signals = better quality.

[Mrtomgreen]

I don't think this is the real issue.

I've switched last week to a competitor and there doesn't appear to be any call quality issues, '700' times better 🙂 very happy and a shame Sony couldn't keep me as a customer as i was more than pleased with the mdr-1000x's - until the headband finally perished / cracked and i was left with an earphone dangling by the wire!

[Steinki]

Yeah, Im also finished with Sony, feel like ive been tricked into buying
there fake "Best headphones". And the worslt part, they dont care it seems,
those headphones will be collecting dust, going to get Bose, everyone seems
happy about them at the office, and me going the alternitive route (sony),
didnt pay of . Will never forgive Sony for this.

[RoyBoy99]

I had this problem and there is a fix:  

1. Disconnect the headphones from Bluetooth.

2. Switch off the headphones.

3. Enter iPhone settings/Bluetooth/ and “forget’ the headphones.

4. Press and hold NC and Ambience buttons until the blue light flashes 4 times to perform a hard reset.

5. Pair the headphones with the iPhone once more.

This fix gives me a very satisfactory result at both ends of my conversations.

Works very well on Skype and FaceTime as well.

iPhone X

iOS 13.1.2

[david.bugeja]

Just got mine today, any feedback as to fixes or workarounds? Am I missing a setting? 

[marckean]

I have the exact same problem, a pair of Sony WH-XB900N and when they're paired to my iPhone, they work flawlessly (both speakers & mic), people can hear me perfectly on all calls, normal cell calls, Teams & Skype etc, I can also hear myself in realtime when I speak to know what I sound like to other people. However, when I pair these same headphones to my Surface devices (Surface Pro & Surface Go) with the latest Windows 10, the mic is horrible and people can't hear me properly, I sound distant to other people and I also can't hear myself in real-time when I speak like when I speak using my headphones through the iPhone. It's definitely not hardware, it's software/driver/firmware related. 

[JasonXLX]

Thanks for the tip.

I tried hard reset mine by pressing and holding both NC and Power buttons until they flashed blue. I gave it another try, but the noise still remained. The main disturbance came from mutual utterance. The voice got muffled when both ends were talking at the same time. However, the voice became crisp when it was switched into Ambient Sound mode. I've had this pair for almost a year. Tried every mode, indoors or outdoors. Not much improvement or specific fix for dismissing the mutual muffled voice for now. 

Any tips would be much appreciated.

iPhone X 

13.3

[RoyBoy99]

1. =Did you do step 3 on your iphone first?

[JasonXLX]

Yup! 

Followed the steps all the way.

[mapowel62]

Hi I am thinking of purchasing these as I have older Sony wired headphones but I am concerned about the call clarity ! Should I go for the Mx3’s or go for the Bose 700 ‘s as it is a lot of money to spend if the recipient of my calls cannot hear me!