I began APAP in January and it has been life changing. However, I feel plagued by noise issues from these machines and have summarised this experience below. Each of these machines was brand new when I got them directly from ResMed and the recordings sound most accurate when listened to on a mobile phone (PC speakers seem to dampen the noise):
- Machine #1 - Confirmed Faulty by Resmed - Whirring noise after ~550 hours of use = https://vocaroo.com/11YgLDaPz63K
- Machine #2 - Confirmed Faulty by ResMed - Pulsing whirring noise straight out of the box (zero hours) = https://vocaroo.com/1l0yDkZqOADp
- Machine #3 - Taken Back by ResMed - Whistling noise after ~450 hours of use = https://vocaroo.com/1mTft1uj7QIP
- Machine #4 - Confirmed Faulty by ResMed - High pitched noise straight out of the box (zero hours) = https://vocaroo.com/1fcRN01Hl34u
- Machine #5 - To be sent back to ResMed - Whistling and whirring-type noise after ~40 hours of use = https://vocaroo.com/18M59Mc6cuI6
The first 500 hours of Machine #1 was an absolute delight as that machine was virtually silent and my wife could sleep without ear plugs. However she is getting really frustrated with her sleep being disrupted by these noises so we visited ResMed together and met the most helpful and patient nurse you could meet. She let me try four or five new machines and each one either had a whistling noise on the in-breath or sounded like Darth Vader. We ended up going with an older reconditioned machine (Machine #5), however after just 5 days of using that machine the whistling and whirring-type noise started.
I'm getting really dejected by these noises; they occur with and without the humidifier attached and no matter how many times I check to make sure the hose is properly seated. I keep reading how people say these machines should be virtually silent, but I'd love to know what virtually silent actually sounds like from others who have these machines. Could anyone who has one of these machines and feels theirs is virtually silent record the sound theirs makes and post it up for comparison?
I'm conscious that different devices may record sounds differently. I recorded each of my sounds using an iPhone at a distance of at least 6 inches from the left side (air intake / filter side) of the machine if it helps at all with maybe holding your device in roughly the same position.