DamienF, there was already the good and the bad one on the first post!
By the way, I have this same problem on DC3217IYE. I have another unit too so I can compare A to B and the difference is apparent. Nice soft noise vs. annoying sharp and loud noise. What happens on my defective device is if I turn the unit 90 degrees or 180 degrees on a table, the irritating noise diminishes a lot (not completely). So at the normal angle gravity pulls the bearings out place or something like that. Does anyone else have the same effect when rotating the device?
I would love it if I can just add oil there or something in order not to have to send my unit for repairs, which takes too much time. Anyone tried opening the device and fixing this by self?