Objectives. Our study aimed to examine not only the incidence but also the impact of noise from two types of total hip replacement articulations: ceramic-on-ceramic and ceramic-on-polyethylene. . Methods . We performed a case-controlled study comparing subjective and objective questionnaire scores of patients receiving a ceramic-on-ceramic or a ceramic-on-polyethylene total hip replacement by a single surgeon. Results. There was a threefold higher incidence of noise from patients in the ceramic-on-ceramic group compared with the control group. The impact of this noise was significant for patients both subjectively and objectively. Conclusions. This study reports a high patient impact of noise from ceramic-on-ceramic total hip replacements. This has led to a change in practice by the principal author. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2014;3:183–6