It is hard to say, Monroe. Your description of the characteristics of the noise the drive makes sounds normal (no pun intended
). The only question is whether the absolute levels of the noise are excessive. Without hearing, I'm not sure how anyone will be able to answer your question.
I will add that my Yamaha CRW-3200EZ is significantly noisier than my Memorex/LiteOn drive. And you are correct that Yamaha drives have a reputation for being audibly noisy. But the F1 is supposed to be improved in that regard.
Sorry.
cfitz