About fractalbrain

Ah ha! I also experienced this and I think I have a possible "fix." I'd been using my sleepbuds in phone free mode and got good at taking them out at almost exactly the same time. I didn't notice anything amiss (other than some other issues) when going to sleep. However, when I'd wake up at night, I'd perceive a weird distant variable soft tone sound....thing. kind of like very distant singing..ish :-). Since the sleepbuds are presumably doing almost exactly the same thing, and that I can hear some of the 18-21kHz electrical sounds, I figured it was my brain interpreting some weird harmonics. Anyway, my "fix" was to take one sreepbud out, wait a second, then take the other out. In otherwords, I offset their loops by about 1 second. Since then, I haven't been able to perceive any strange sounds! I thought that was pretty cool, slightly disrupted, but certainly interesting. ... View more

From experience, if you are in the U.S., the warranty exchange process is really fast. Are you using your sleepbuds in phone-free mode and taking them out of the charging case at exactly the same time? If so, in the off chance you are doing that, try taking them out a second apart. If you are using them as normal, perhaps try in phone free mode and take each sreepbud out with a second offset. I got good at taking my sleepbuds out at very close to the same time. However, I sometimes noticed some weird and very quiet variable tonal (distant singing, humming, just tones) sounds. My theory, (note that I'm able to hear the 18kHz electronic sounds) is that I started perceiving harmonics. Since I figured each sreepbud was pretty much doing exactly the same thing it a loop, that "randomly" offsetting them would disrupt any perceived interactions. Note:. I totally just picked one second because it was easy and I figured any loop was probably longer than a second. ... View more

Update: Ok, I got the replacement sleepbuds and it's about the same, if not worse.   I went into a really quite room, recorded the sounds (15kHz to ~23kHz) from the sleepbud front and back, then created a spectrogram (see screenshots below).  Sounds at those frequencies are highly directional, so I really had to be careful about mic placement.  Interestingly, the left and right sleepbuds had a different spectrogram.  I perceive more of the high pitch sound in the left sleepbud, regardless of which ear it is in. I can hear up to about 19kHz-20kHz, so I'm pretty sure I'm hearing those sounds.  I particually hear the sharp changes in frequency.  Also, that frequency range in much higher than what the sleepbuds output as a noise masking sound.  It can be hard to hear the sounds, but what I can hear is a bit like having a really, really, really thin needle stuck through my brain (uhh, metaphorically speaking). I hear less of the high pitch sounds if I really shove them into my ear canal, so I'm wondering if either doing so (a) cuts out sound coming from the rear of the sleepbud, and/or (b) changes the sound attenuation in my ear canal.   My "workaround" at the moment is to (a) try minimizing sleepbud microcontroller/RF activity by using them soley in phone free mode (I think that reduces frequency changes) and (b) trying to ignore the sound. Right sleepbud. Bottom is with ear orifice facing mic. Upper is battery side facing mic. Top is noise from initiating the screenshot. Background noise is "black" (no bands). Left sleepbud. Bottom is orifice facing mic. Upper is battery side facing mic. Wideband top and mid is me initiating the screenshot. Background noise is "black". ... View more

@Tony_G I don't want to spread mis-information.  Can you please validate/cross-check/in-validate/etc. my above comments about a new "fixed" batch that exists?  Thanks! -ej ... View more

Hi everyone!   I'm on my 4th RMA (I think...I started losing track) due to high pitch noises.  The noises appear to start after 1-2 months and are between 15-20kHz (that's the maximum my phones mic can detect).  Last I checked, the frequencies were a bit different between the left and right ear (maybe because I sleep on one side more than another?).   All that said, I'm pretty sure no one else in my extended family, aside from my son and brother, would be able to hear noises that high.   I started noticing noises again a few days ago.  This time I tried storing the sleepbuds in dessicant (in case h2o infiltration was causing problems).  My theory was that maaaaybe humidity is "getting into" the filtering "part" (MEMS failure in capacitors, oscillator, inductor???) of the circuit and that I should try storing everything for a long time in heated dry environment.  Maybe apply a vacuum? I found out.....nothing.  That's because the non-distracted part of my brain kicked in and told me to call Bose before I started getting ever so slightly distracted :-). The guy I spoke to implied it was a manufacturing issue and they now have a new batch that should be fixed.  They'll try to send me a new pair from that batch. ... View more