So the RMA replacements came in, and while they didn't have the "scratchy" buzz, they still drive me insane. :angry2:
The fans have an incredibly annoying ticking/clicking quality that sounds like a jackhammer far away in the distance. The sound is a physical motor noise and not electrical.
Then I looked around for reviews and more info,(which I should have done beforehand) below are links to audio recordings from silentpcreview. Turn up your volume and you'll understand what I mean by jackhammer.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/files/sounds/cases/fractal-r2-baseline.mp3
Do note that this recording was made in the Define R2 case, which is made of steel and has a ton of bitumen to reduce vibrations/noise. So in a less silence-friendly case and a quiet room it's a LOT worse.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/files/sounds/cases/fractal-array-baseline-14cm-psu-14cm&psu.mp3
This one is of the 14cm fan and the PSU, slightly different jackhammer quality, also quieter than the previous 12cm fans.
I will give some credit to Fractal though, these fans actually move a decent amount of air with some static pressure for the rather low RPM they run at and only people in my situation would be able to hear the noise so clearly. (I have a fairly quiet room and my PC isn't very audible to begin with)
However, they pale in comparison the the Gelids in terms of noise/price.
On a side note, the fans that are being sold by NCIX are not the ones featured in the Linus Unboxing
Video or the ones you see on the Fractal Design
website. The rubber fan mounts are different from the ones in the video and pictures (the 120mm uses same ones as the Gelids and the 140mm uses the mounts that Nexus uses for closed corner fans) and the fan blades are different. (140mm is a standard 7 blade design instead of the portrayed 11 blade windmill design) So anybody that might be looking into these should be warned.
Also thanks to AKG and ST for the troubleshooting help.