Strange Noise While Using iOS Background Sounds with AirPods Pro 2

[reinem85]

Hello MacRumors community, something very strange happens to me listening to the background sounds offered by IOS on the iphone.

While studying or working I use these sounds to help me concentrate better because I am in a very noisy area. I use them with my Air Pods Pro2 with noise cancellation turned on, specifically today I am trying the fire sound.

I have been listening to this sound for 30 minutes and I have noticed that every 10 to 15 seconds I hear very faintly in the background of the “background sound” what seems to be like a “tum tum”, like 2 piano notes repeated. It repeats indefinitely. You have to be concentrating on the sound to hear it. My wife can't hear it and I seem to hear it more and more clearly.....
I have a 14 Pro Max and am on 18.1.1.

Can anyone confirm that this is real or maybe I am developing a hearing problem? Thanks.

 

[Andy_2341]

I have a 15 Pro on 18.1.1 and all I hear is a low, almost piano like, wind draft sound that repeats some in my left ear primarily. Not sure if that’s what you meant.

 

[rasg]

The rain sound works well for me. NO fire sound in my choices but I am using an older IOS. 17.7.1.

 

[reinem85]

I have a 15 Pro on 18.1.1 and all I hear is a low, almost piano like, wind draft sound that repeats some in my left ear primarily. Not sure if that’s what you meant.

It can be something like what you describe. What I hear is something similar to 2 piano notes in a row every 10 seconds. I only refer to the "fire" option of the background sounds. I find it even disturbing to hear this... tomorrow I will do more tests by switching between the different options.

Edit:
I just tried it without the AirPods P2, with the iPhone speakers and you can't hear it.

By making me doubt this test I took the headphones again and immediately I was already hearing the mysterious sound of 2 notes.

 

[Andy_2341]

The rain sound works well for me. NO fire sound in my choices but I am using an older IOS. 17.7.1.

Yeah, I noticed that too on my SE3 that is still on 17.7.1. Fire was added for iOS 18

 

[Andy_2341]

It can be something like what you describe. What I hear is something similar to 2 piano notes in a row every 10 seconds. I only refer to the "fire" option of the background sounds. I find it even disturbing to hear this... tomorrow I will do more tests by switching between the different options.

Edit:
I just tried it without the AirPods P2, with the iPhone speakers and you can't hear it.

By making me doubt this test I took the headphones again and immediately I was already hearing the mysterious sound of 2 notes.

That’s really odd. Maybe try disconnecting and resetting your Airpods?

 

[rasg]

Presumably the background sound is coming from an AAC or MPEG file. Maybe there is a fault in the file or the wrong one was used. In Background sounds when you click the edit button you can see the size of the sound files. You can also remove them. Shame you can’t add more sounds.

Can anybody on IOS 18.1 check for me please?

I mentioned that I use the rain sound and there are birds tweeting sporadically and I thought that was a bit odd. The thing is, if the bird sound is coming through the Airpods with the audiogram applied it means they are doing their job.

I doubt I would hear the bird sounds with NO audiogram applied as my high frequencies, especially in my left ear are not good at all.

If the notes are "disturbing" you, maybe you should choose a different sound?

I've just played a few other sounds for a couple of minutes to see if there are any spurious noises and there are not.

 

[reinem85]

Presumably the background sound is coming from an AAC or MPEG file. Maybe there is a fault in the file or the wrong one was used. In Background sounds when you click the edit button you can see the size of the sound files. You can also remove them. Shame you can’t add more sounds.

Can anybody on IOS 18.1 check for me please?

I mentioned that I use the rain sound and there are birds tweeting sporadically and I thought that was a bit odd. The thing is, if the bird sound is coming through the Airpods with the audiogram applied it means they are doing their job.

I doubt I would hear the bird sounds with NO audiogram applied as my high frequencies, especially in my left ear are not good at all.

If the notes are "disturbing" you, maybe you should choose a different sound?

I've just played a few other sounds for a couple of minutes to see if there are any spurious noises and there are not.

I just checked it and when you edit it doesn't see either the size of the file or allow you to delete them.

 

[rasg]

I just checked it and when you edit it doesn't see either the size of the file or allow you to delete them.

It does in 17.7.1.

 

[smithk75]

I was literally searching Google about this just now found this post and had to create an account to reply here. I use the “balanced noise” option and am hearing those same two notes as well. It’s driving me mad!

 

[reinem85]

I had completely forgotten about this problem, but today while using my Mac I remembered this strange thing again, the same thing happens, to be precise, every 12 seconds I hear the 2 consecutive tones. I am very intrigued by this and even more so now that I am not the only one hearing it.

 

[tonmischa]

Professional sound guy here.
Listening to the background noise "Fire" with AirPods Pro 2. I think I can hear your two tones. They are coming from the right ear, right?

My suspicion:
If you listen to a (always repeating) sound like this your brain tries to make sense of what the ears are hearing. If the sound is a little ambiguous your brain might "add" some information to make sense of it. So while your brain might think "piano", my brain actually thinks of a big empty metallic drum, that is vibrating ever so slightly.
(after listening to it for another 5 minutes it could also be a small airplane flying by in the far, far distance.)

I personally believe that this is similar to the effect of repeating a word for fifty times until it looses all meaning and is just a garbled up mess of sound.

My personal advice:
Don't worry about your ears (or your brain), just choose another sound.

 

[reinem85]

Professional sound guy here.
Listening to the background noise "Fire" with AirPods Pro 2. I think I can hear your two tones. They are coming from the right ear, right?

My suspicion:
If you listen to a (always repeating) sound like this your brain tries to make sense of what the ears are hearing. If the sound is a little ambiguous your brain might "add" some information to make sense of it. So while your brain might think "piano", my brain actually thinks of a big empty metallic drum, that is vibrating ever so slightly.
(after listening to it for another 5 minutes it could also be a small airplane flying by in the far, far distance.)

I personally believe that this is similar to the effect of repeating a word for fifty times until it looses all meaning and is just a garbled up mess of sound.

My personal advice:
Don't worry about your ears (or your brain), just choose another sound.

First of all, thank you for taking the time to try to reproduce this strange behavior of background sounds.

I don't intend to artificially lengthen this thread, I just find it very interesting and I'm curious about what could actually be happening.

In fact, I only hear it in my right ear and at a 12-second cadence.

It's been almost a month since I used this sound in my study sessions, neither on the Mac nor on the iPhone, to avoid this annoying behavior. I usually listen to the Elden Ring soundtrack or other background sounds, but lately they make me sleepy. I keep looking for ambient sounds to study that don't make me sleepy.

After reading your answer, I put on the APP2 with the iPhone (yesterday it was with the Mac), turned up the volume and listened carefully (without studying) to this sound for 15 minutes.

I don't hear the 2 tones I mentioned earlier now, which is more disconcerting, but I am noticing the excellent quality and fidelity of the burning wood, and there is also a slight whistling of wind in the background. It doesn't sound like your typical YouTube video of ambient sounds that loops every minute and a half or so, but rather a long recording of burning wood.

There is one moment where you can hear what sounds like a high-pressure water hose just being turned on or an inflatable mattress losing pressure at high speed.

I turned on the Mac and I can hear the “thump thump” sound crystal clear (I don’t even have to concentrate on it) every 12 seconds or so.

I could almost say that it’s not the same recording of “fire” because I can’t hear the hose sounds and the crackling of the sparks is very different. This is getting more interesting every day oh my god. Has anyone from Apple read this thread? Who knows…
The Mac is on 15.1.1 (I haven’t upgraded to 15.2 yet) and the iPhone is on 18.2.

I find your theory about what the brain can fill in to make sense of repetitive sounds very interesting.

Are you on 18.2 on your iPhone? Thanks

 

[tonmischa]

I find your theory about what the brain can fill in to make sense of repetitive sounds very interesting.

Are you on 18.2 on your iPhone? Thanks

I am on 18.2.

Look at this clip, It is a good example of what the power of suggestion can do to your brain's perception of sound. (In this case lyrics.)