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iteklog

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 22, 2008
154
62
NNJ/NYC
Purchased the aidpods as soon as they came out this past January. They worked fine until about 1 month ago, somehow the sound volume was much less than before. Also, the left air pod sound was much lower than the right one.

Haven't really seen that the sound volume degrades with time. Always clean the airpods with qtips, and never drop them or done any damage as far as i know. I did try to re-sync, reset bluetooth etc.

Anyway, just got back from the apple store. They replaced first my left airpod and then they noticed that the right one was also 'sound volume low'. Eventually, Apple replaced the pair and everything is fine with this 'new' pair.

Anyone had a similar issue or know anything about this?
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,494
I have had no issues with my AirPods since my Purchase last December. Perhaps it could be something to do with the iOS 11 update corresponding with AirPods.
 

Ralfi

macrumors 601
Dec 22, 2016
4,373
3,101
Australia
Purchased the aidpods as soon as they came out this past January. They worked fine until about 1 month ago, somehow the sound volume was much less than before. Also, the left air pod sound was much lower than the right one.

Haven't really seen that the sound volume degrades with time. Always clean the airpods with qtips, and never drop them or done any damage as far as i know. I did try to re-sync, reset bluetooth etc.

Anyway, just got back from the apple store. They replaced first my left airpod and then they noticed that the right one was also 'sound volume low'. Eventually, Apple replaced the pair and everything is fine with this 'new' pair.

Anyone had a similar issue or know anything about this?
No, but my left one dropped out for 3-4 seconds twice within 3 days I think it was. Hasn't done it for 3 days now, so I'm putting it down to ???... I'll keep an eye/ear on it.

Your issue may've been due to moisture sneaking in? Who knows. Good on Apple replacing them - it's this customer service we pay them for.
 

MasterRattler

macrumors member
Aug 27, 2012
54
13
No sound issue but I do have connectivity issues since IOS 11. At first I thought it was my 6s plus but I have the same issues on my X and IPad Pro 10.5. They just don’t automatically connect anymore every time.
 
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iteklog

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 22, 2008
154
62
NNJ/NYC
I have had no issues with my AirPods since my Purchase last December. Perhaps it could be something to do with the iOS 11 update corresponding with AirPods.

No sound issue but I do have connectivity issues since IOS 11. At first I thought it was my 6s plus but I have the same issues on my X and IPad Pro 10.5. They just don’t automatically connect anymore every time.

I dont think anything wrong with the os. On ios 10 i had same problem. At first, i thought it was my phone, then i got my iphone x and same thing. Then, i thought i was going deaf on my left ear but had my wife tried it and she noticed the same issue.
[doublepost=1509983073][/doublepost]
No, but my left one dropped out for 3-4 seconds twice within 3 days I think it was. Hasn't done it for 3 days now, so I'm putting it down to ???... I'll keep an eye/ear on it.

Your issue may've been due to moisture sneaking in? Who knows. Good on Apple replacing them - it's this customer service we pay them for.

mmm its possible, but yes Apple has the best customer service no doubt.
 

borgqueenx

macrumors 65816
Jul 16, 2010
1,357
258
I had exactly the same issue and let apple replace them. I think its earwax and other debree that gets stuck behind the wax filter, somehow. Its the only logical explanation?
 

Frank Black

macrumors newbie
Aug 10, 2015
6
0
Rochester, ny
So, i bought my airpods when they first launched, and of course just as the warranty ran out the volume started going down, a lot on the left (at least 50%) and about 25% on right. If i rotated them so the stems were parallel to the ground instead of perpendicular as they were designed to be worn, then magically i could hear them.

My first thought was maybe mu hearing was going, or maybe somehow my ear canals had stretched and the front facing grills were butting up to the wall of my ear canal. I quickly ruled this out by putting in my wired earpods that still sound fine. Since they both have the same form factor, i can ruled that.

So i researched on line and found some online info stating it was probably ear wax build up and dirt and to clean them off. So i did, with a tooth pick, i gently dug out some build up from the grills...yeah i know, gross. but that did nothing.

I saw a tutorial online about removing the screens and burning off dirt and wax from the screen, but i was not about to do that, because i know i would never get the screens back in as i tried this on one of my wired earpods.

Then I stumbled across a forum with a post where someone said they sucked on the front grill, and now magically the sound is back... I then read a few more responses, and there seemed to be an overwhelming majority of people shocked that it worked for them too. My first thought was that it was a bunch of pranksters trying to get people to destroy their expensive headphones. So i ignored it.

As a last attempt i called apple support who could find no record of volume loss as a com on problem and could not offer a solution, and told me that since my 1 year warranty had passed, then my only option was to replace the buds at something like $69 each! might as well buy new ones i thought...and said no way would i dump another 160 on headphones.

So at work today. i finally had it, decided i would try another brand of headphones, but before spending the money, i tried the sucking tip. at first i did not try too hard, and nothing happened... but then input just a touch more suction into it, until i could tell that air was pulling in through the screen on the side. Sceptically i put it in my ear and was shcocked! IT WORKED! i have full volume

So, i am not sure what it did, i did not pull away with a mouth full of wax. If anyone knows why this works then please let us know. I can only vouch for my experience, but if you are at a place where you are going tomgive up on your airpods, then give this a shot before you toss them, and only if your warranty is passed the 1 year mark.

I do not know why apple does not offer extended apple care on airpods, but if you can get extended warranty through a third party that might be the way to go. I am not sure if this fix will last, but 2 hours in and they sitll sound great
 

ducatiti

macrumors 6502a
May 18, 2011
932
153
I can’t try this since I returned my airpods but why won’t you try sucking with paper towel covered. This way you will see if you did indeed pulled earwax from the screen.

I almost threw up when I read the earwax in mount phrase above lol.
 

Frank Black

macrumors newbie
Aug 10, 2015
6
0
Rochester, ny
Ha! Yeah, sucking ear wax would be gross. Actually, I had cleaned the AirPod screen thoroughly with a toothpick, followed with a gentle brushing from an old toothbrush, then did a rub with a q tip that was damp with isopropyl alcohol (not soaking as I did not want fluid getting inside the bud).

I was pretty confident that it was clean. I did not see any thing come out after said sucking.

I have been trying to think of any thing that might have caused this issue, I almost wonder if perhaps the act of inserting the AirPods may have some how compressed the speaker diaphragm. Perhaps the sucking brought the speaker diaphragm back to its original position. It’s a mystery to me
 
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