The fact is that the hiss also manifests itself with the transparency mode, in a silent environment and disappears only by putting the mode on "off"
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Some AirPods Pro 3 Owners Complain About Static Noise
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The fact is that the hiss also manifests itself with the transparency mode, in a silent environment and disappears only by putting the mode on "off"
Thank you for this. When this sort of thing happens, you almost don't want to believe yourself, and it's chaos to pick up on reddit and read everything in there.
Here's my experience: I was happy with my Pros 2, I thought more battery and a little more ANC could be interesting, so I immediately ordered the 3. I also have had both in the "firmware beta" program, which I believe is not a crazy thing, because my OSes are all in the same betas too, nothing has crashed yet.
Yet my current Airpods have this problem that I believe is related to how ANC has been expanded:
- Mostly the left ear is affected
- I am like watching something on my bed, cover one side with a pillow, it immediately goes crazy and does this stupid hiss all of a sudden (hey Apple, that's a big no-no)
- Also of note, just because my Pros 2 are still working well: I notice a "waterfall sound effect" when I put them on, whereas my 2 are just silent.
Now I said this might be related to how ANC is being improved, because I believe it is being made into an explicit, always on computational calculus/prediction thing. Like, this system is now always aware of what sounded strange, does these detection loops, breaks down easily. Plus it is now anticipating noise by creating a "black noise" zone, which to me sounds like noise anyway, it seems like a problem to need that. My WH-1000XM4s do the same and to me that just says "we don't know what we're doing, so we just prevent noise all the time".
I now got my Airpods under repair inspection, but I invite all users to join this critique, because Apple rarely recognizes when something is off, though it has created a new problem here.
Here's my experience: I was happy with my Pros 2, I thought more battery and a little more ANC could be interesting, so I immediately ordered the 3. I also have had both in the "firmware beta" program, which I believe is not a crazy thing, because my OSes are all in the same betas too, nothing has crashed yet.
Yet my current Airpods have this problem that I believe is related to how ANC has been expanded:
- Mostly the left ear is affected
- I am like watching something on my bed, cover one side with a pillow, it immediately goes crazy and does this stupid hiss all of a sudden (hey Apple, that's a big no-no)
- Also of note, just because my Pros 2 are still working well: I notice a "waterfall sound effect" when I put them on, whereas my 2 are just silent.
Now I said this might be related to how ANC is being improved, because I believe it is being made into an explicit, always on computational calculus/prediction thing. Like, this system is now always aware of what sounded strange, does these detection loops, breaks down easily. Plus it is now anticipating noise by creating a "black noise" zone, which to me sounds like noise anyway, it seems like a problem to need that. My WH-1000XM4s do the same and to me that just says "we don't know what we're doing, so we just prevent noise all the time".
I now got my Airpods under repair inspection, but I invite all users to join this critique, because Apple rarely recognizes when something is off, though it has created a new problem here.
Mine cut out or make the sound go very very low and staticky when on a run and seems to happen in a certain area of my neighborhood.....it is as if there is some form of interference there. This used to happen my first gen pro's but not this bad.
Still got this problem with my original Apple AirPod Pros..... even after getting them sorted out supposedly under warranty - particularly noticed it on AVE trains in Spain last week (AVE travels at up to 350 k/ph) and, I think, on the plane to and from Spain too.
Not planning to upgrade the AirPods quite yet - hopefully by September next year they'll have fixed this!
Not planning to upgrade the AirPods quite yet - hopefully by September next year they'll have fixed this!
.... and high speed trains too. I was on an AVE train in Spain last week which have a top speed of 360 k/ph (with the original AirPod Pros) and had the same problem.
I did an internet search and it seems many outlets (including MSN for example) are quoting the following article:
AirPods Pro 3 ‘Bloodgate’ Grows as More Users Report Painful Ear Injuries From Its New Design
The pattern of identical wounds is now too consistent for users to write off as bad luck.
www.headphonesty.com
Happened to me twice.
The first time when I was hiking to the top of the mountain, it sounded like when the airpods exposed to rain, had to turn of noice cancellation and transparency mode.
It went away after a few hours.
The second time was when I was running, I thought it’s my sweat, perhaps it’s from condensation or something?
The first time when I was hiking to the top of the mountain, it sounded like when the airpods exposed to rain, had to turn of noice cancellation and transparency mode.
It went away after a few hours.
The second time was when I was running, I thought it’s my sweat, perhaps it’s from condensation or something?
With my APP3 I'm experiencing a whistling sound coming out of them but only right after I take them off. It's weird, after having them on for a while using ANC I take them off and right before popping them in the case this audible whistling sound comes out of them lol. I haven't taken them to Apple because it's never happened while in my ears, and as far as I can tell they are working just fine otherwise..... However I haven't been on a flight with them.
This is my uneducated suspicion as well. I wonder if the issue with the Pro 3 is related to the increased ANC, which is 2x what the APP2 does? The feedback idea mentioned in the article about flying is interesting but given how tricky it can be to get a good fit (hence Apple adding more sizes of tips in the box with the 3's) I would suspect the feedback would be a very common problem even on terra firma. It would be the kind of thing you would always hear when trying different tip sizes and you would know you had the right size when the feedback went away. But that isn't the case, so I vote that the jury is still out on why a problem happens off the ground.
Thanks for your feedback. So it’s not possible that some units are “defective” and others aren’t. If you replace three and all three have the same issue, it most likely means the problem is present across all units.
Also, many of the reports on Reddit mention that people have replaced their device and experienced the same issue again.
Those who say they don’t hear it probably did the test in a non-quiet environment, where the hiss gets masked — or perhaps they simply don’t perceive it due to hearing sensitivity differences.
I just wore them on two transatlantic flights for about 8h each with no concerns whatsoever. I decided to leave my Max at home so good are the APP3 in comparison. You can get a whistle noise when you take them in or out and cover the mics with your fingers while doing so.
“White noise” in absolute silence while ANC is on is normal.
“White noise” in absolute silence while ANC is on is normal.
Anyone experiencing this issue, try this - start a screen recording. The problem seems to go away. I chanced upon this while experiencing a bug so I initiated screen recording on the flight and boy did the ANC go back to APP2 levels in terms of clarity while still keeping the APP3 level isolation.
This experience leads me to believe that this behavior is entirely fixable.
This experience leads me to believe that this behavior is entirely fixable.
N.B. I use Air Pods Pro’s hearing aid feature, so I have the accessibility features all set up.
When I upgraded from my Pro 2’s, I had to re-do my hearing tests and “re-tune” the audio settings, especially those around the hearing aid features. It took some time, but I am fairly happy with the result now:
When I upgraded from my Pro 2’s, I had to re-do my hearing tests and “re-tune” the audio settings, especially those around the hearing aid features. It took some time, but I am fairly happy with the result now:
- Transparency: I have them pretty dialed in now for my primary use case of noisy situations like restaurants.
- Adaptive: they seem to overcorrect compared to my Pro 2’s - maybe I still need to tweak things a bit.
- Noice Cancelling: I do not use this mode much.
Oh good it's not just me. When I run in my Pro 3s and start to sweat, I get a periodic, ear-piercing chirp sound. I bought them because they are advertised as being more sweat-resistant than the Pro 2s. Hopefully it can be fixed in software so I don't have to lug them all the way to an Apple Store.
Yup I remember this same thing happening with my 1st gen APP too and since it was a known issue, they created a repair program to replace even individual buds free of charge, regardless of warranty/AppleCare status
I smell a similar thing happening here depending on the severity of this