AirPods 3 hissing and coil whine

[Sykorajakku]

As many others, today I received new AirPods 3. I am experiencing constant hissing sound on both AirPods while not playing anything, happens regardless of connected device. Right AirPod also produces coil whine, quite dissapointed. Is anyone experiencing similar issues out of the box?

I think it's something which was happening already with AirPods Pro, I can compare with AirPods 2019 and AirPods Max, both completely silent while not connected to any device. I returned mine, also I would recommend testing yours at some quite place, I can experience it at home, noise of street eliminates it. Also coil whine on right AirPod is something what you can hear while calling or listening to a podcast, there are no problems while listening to music.

 

[Pawełek]

Yep, I can hear it in both earbuds. Faint buzz/hiss. I wonder if this is issue that every unit suffers from.

 

[DSTOFEL]

As many others, today I received new AirPods 3. I am experiencing constant hissing sound on both AirPods while not playing anything, happens regardless of connected device. Right AirPod also produces coil whine, quite dissapointed. Is anyone experiencing similar issues out of the box?

I think it's something which was happening already with AirPods Pro, I can compare with AirPods 2019 and AirPods Max, both completely silent while not connected to any device. I returned mine, also I would recommend testing yours at some quite place, I can experience it at home, noise of street eliminates it. Also coil whine on right AirPod is something what you can hear while calling or listening to a podcast, there are no problems while listening to music.

I’m picking mine (AP3’s) up at the Apple Store this afternoon. I’m Eager to give them a try. I’ve had the AP2’s since 2019 and love them. If the 3’s are a good fit….and the hissing noise you’re hearing is at least drowned out by the constant ringing in my ears anyway ?……I’ll keep them as they seem to be a nice upgrade.

Nice to know that you can actually return AirPods after you’ve tried them. I didn’t know if those were returnable like other Apple products.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Wow. If mine come and are making any noise at all when they are in my ears with nothing playing, they are going back immediately

 

[k1im]

Okk… I’m not crazy. I can hear it too.

I will see how it goes but leaning towards the return. Definitely unpleasant surprise as it’s my first AirPods

 

[Pawełek]

It's making this sound even when not connected to any source and no matter music is playing or not. I can hear it while listening to music on low volume.

 

[overfedexed]

If the 3’s are a good fit….and the hissing noise you’re hearing is at least drowned out by the constant ringing in my ears anyway ?……I’ll keep them as they seem to be a nice upgrade.

Now that’s funny and it’s me too!

 

[MrGimper]

Nothing like that on mine

 

[AlexJ092]

I can hear a faint noise which sounds like a radio trying to find the correct channel (don’t know how else to explain it)…. Other than that issue I am enjoying my new AirPods ?

 

[MrGimper]

I can hear a faint noise which sounds like a radio trying to find the correct channel (don’t know how else to explain it)…. Other than that issue I am enjoying my new AirPods ?

That’s coil whine.

 

[Pawełek]

I will try to replace my pair tommorow and will report if second pair has this issue too. Maybe some people are more sensitive to this hiss.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Just got mine and they're good. Not a peep connected or disconnected from a source.

 

[gregpod9]

Mine hisses and has coil whine. I just shipped them back to Apple. I'm going to wait to see if a software update can fix those two issues before I buy them again.

 

[DSTOFEL]

Mine hisses and has coil whine. I just shipped them back to Apple. I'm going to wait to see if a software update can fix those two issues before I buy them again.

I’ve found that age and a little tinnitus work wonders for canceling out unwanted hisses and/or coil whine. At 61 all I hear when nothing is playing on my AP3’s is a nice ringing sound. ?

 

[bnekic]

No hiss or “coil whine” here, they are a big improvement in sound quality vs the previous gen.

 

[tim34567]

Oh my god, I just opened mine up and the hiss and whine on them is insane. I've never owned a pair of AirPods so I don't know what to compare them with but I honestly would classify these as defective. Do previous versions of AirPods have this? There is a constant low volume sound almost like a processor running or something, and then once every minute or two a high pitched very noticeable whine sound, that lasts for a few seconds and then stops.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Do previous versions of AirPods have this?

Nope
Not a whisper of noise

 

[tim34567]

Nope
Not a whisper of noise

Ok, well frustrating that mine are like this but I will absolutely return them tomorrow. Just tried resetting them and no change. Hopefully the next pair are ok.

 

[cent1047]

My right pair Airpods has the same issue as well. At first i thought it might be some weird side effects from feature, so i went ahead and tried the following:

1. Turning on and off for spatial audio
2. Turning on and off for find my airpods (in case if... U1 chip was the culprit lel)
3. Turning on and off for Optimized Battery charging
4. Changing microphone options
5. switch to different device (Macbook)
6. Changing music apps
7. FaceTime calls

But nothing worked. I think this is very similar to the Airpods Pros issue. I'm a bit annoyed to be honest haha. Just a thought, can we make this a poll so that we can get editor's awareness? I really want Apple to resolve this issue ASAP...

 

[tim34567]

I tried some of those steps too and nothing helped. It is a little worse in the right rather than the left. It occurs even when they are not connected to any device. I don’t think I have sensitive hearing and I hate returning things, it takes a lot for me to actually bother and return something, but I honestly couldn’t even listen for more than 20 mins with these, it’s that distracting. I’m curious how widespread it is too…

 

[antsh]

Same issue here, right AirPod has a slight hissing noise. Going to grab another pair at the store tomorrow to compare.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I am really sensitive to noises and - mine are perfect I guess? No noise at all.

My AirPods Pros had issues where when I jogged it would crackle on every downward momentum as I pressed away from the ground. If I touched the right AirPod it would crackle and pop like crazy - when inserting they would squeal sometimes and whine really loudly. A replacement pair fixed this for awhile before issues returned. I ended up giving them away for free.

This is why I prefer and use AirPods 2 until I got my 3s today.

So far my AirPods 3 are perfect but my hearing is far from perfect. Definitely a sound boost from the 2s.

 

[Mygoodgomez]

Same happening to me. Right earbud has a very faint static noise that is audible when music/sound is playing and when not.

 

[Pawełek]

At this point I only hope my replacement won't be worse.

 

[henrikhelmers]

Thanks to my colleague who pointed out to me that my new toy had a flaw ?. I can hear in a very faint hiss in my right AirPod too, when not playing any audio. It's not the end of the world (I put them in my ears to listen to audio, not silence), but now that I know I am mildly displeased.