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The noise occurs for me about ten seconds after I put the AirPods back in their case, and is preceded by a static sound at about the same volume level. Each AirPod earpiece gets its own static and beep sound.
 
Thanks for solving this mystery! I would hear it at night or early morning and just now in my office. A tough google, indeed. Amazed you were able to isolate it and record it.
 
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After many tries, I FINALLY managed to get a recording of it! See attachment.

I did some noise removal and amplified the volume a lot, but it's still pretty quiet. This was made with an iPhone basically touching the AirPods case, which should give an idea of how quiet it is in reality.

Interestingly, I knew it was coming because I took out only one AirPod for a call, and the one left in the case chimed when I put it back down, and indeed when I put the other one away it chimed about 10 seconds later.


Pretty sure that's a completely different sound (it's also not the kind of "disappointing plunk" sound AirPods make into your ear when their battery is dying). Also much louder.
I have spent MONTHS trying to figure out what was making this sound - it's been driving me insane!

I finally pinpointed it tonight as my airpods pro case when they were on charge on my bedside table with no other electronic device nearby, and found this thread after searching online.

This recording is the exact same sound I hear, and it's quite frustrating not knowing what causes it or how to stop it - it's woken me up a few times at night.

Had to create an account to say thanks for confirming the source!
 
I have spent MONTHS trying to figure out what was making this sound - it's been driving me insane!

I finally pinpointed it tonight as my airpods pro case when they were on charge on my bedside table with no other electronic device nearby, and found this thread after searching online.

This recording is the exact same sound I hear, and it's quite frustrating not knowing what causes it or how to stop it - it's woken me up a few times at night.

Had to create an account to say thanks for confirming the source!
If this is waking you up at night, I take that to mean that it happens at times when you didn't just put the AirPods back in the case?

That's interesting since I have only ever heard it within 15 seconds of putting the AirPods away, and it seems to do so 100% consistently at most once per week. That is, once a week has passed since the last calibration, the next time the case is closed with each AirPod in it that AirPod will do a calibration. They don't technically need to be taken out of the case to trigger it, but it's only ever when the lid has been opened then closed, and it appears to wait longer than a week if you don't use the AirPods at all for that long.

It won't recalibrate if the case is moving, so perhaps if it skips the calibration for that reason eventually it will do it on its own after some period of stability.

Also, if this sound is waking you up, you must be an incredibly light sleeper--it's so quiet I can barely hear it unless my ear is practically touching the case.

For that recording the microphone was maybe 1cm away from the case, and even then I had to crank the volume WAY up on the recording, plus denoise it, to make it reasonably audible.
 
If this is waking you up at night, I take that to mean that it happens at times when you didn't just put the AirPods back in the case?

That's interesting since I have only ever heard it within 15 seconds of putting the AirPods away, and it seems to do so 100% consistently at most once per week. That is, once a week has passed since the last calibration, the next time the case is closed with each AirPod in it that AirPod will do a calibration. They don't technically need to be taken out of the case to trigger it, but it's only ever when the lid has been opened then closed, and it appears to wait longer than a week if you don't use the AirPods at all for that long.

It won't recalibrate if the case is moving, so perhaps if it skips the calibration for that reason eventually it will do it on its own after some period of stability.

Also, if this sound is waking you up, you must be an incredibly light sleeper--it's so quiet I can barely hear it unless my ear is practically touching the case.

For that recording the microphone was maybe 1cm away from the case, and even then I had to crank the volume WAY up on the recording, plus denoise it, to make it reasonably audible.
I haven't been able to pinpoint exactly when it happens for me, although now I know the source I can try and do that.

To be fair it's only woken me up a couple of times (both times while I was ill so I was already not sleeping well). However, mine definitely make the sound more than weekly - I hear it most days (usually in my office while I'm working), but I don't think it's ever happened more than once on the same day.

It does sound like yours is quieter than what I'm experiencing though? For me it is quiet, but definitely clearly audible in a quiet room - I don't need to be right up next to it.
 
After many tries, I FINALLY managed to get a recording of it! See attachment.

I did some noise removal and amplified the volume a lot, but it's still pretty quiet. This was made with an iPhone basically touching the AirPods case, which should give an idea of how quiet it is in reality.

Interestingly, I knew it was coming because I took out only one AirPod for a call, and the one left in the case chimed when I put it back down, and indeed when I put the other one away it chimed about 10 seconds later.


Pretty sure that's a completely different sound (it's also not the kind of "disappointing plunk" sound AirPods make into your ear when their battery is dying). Also much louder.
I’ve been hearing this sound around my house for months and had no idea what it was. Thank you for helping me figure out WHAT it is, even if we don’t know WHY.
 
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