AirPods are Apple’s wireless headphones. They are greatly used by millions of people across the globe. Available in both standard and pro model types, these gadgets are designed for both convenience and great sound quality. I mean, they are excellent when it comes to listening music, videos or podcasts. They are also fashionable and easy to carry around. Generally, they are a great deal.
However, as it is said, nothing is 100% perfect. So are these Apple AirPods. Although full of positivity, they are also prone to damage and malfunctioning. Quality sound is one of the greatest affected parts of this unit. What are the end results? A muffled sound!
If you experience such an issue with your AirPods, worry not! This is because the issue is easy and simple to fix out. We are hereby guiding you step by step on different methods available to fix out AirPods with a muffled sound. We have also explained in detail the common causes of this issue. To understand better, follow us closely!
Why Do My AirPods Sound Muffled When I Talk
Perhaps your AirPods sound muffled when you talk. Are you wondering why? That could possibly mean that its speakers are dirty and clogged. It’s obvious that AirPods sit inside your ears that more often or not, have wax and other dirty particles. This can build up on your ear-Pods speakers thus distorting its sound quality. What’s more? It causes a muffled sound when you talk.
Also, AirPods muffled sound while talking can be caused by poor Bluetooth connection. Or perhaps, your AirPods need a reset. Below are different ways of fixing muffled sound in AirPods.
How To Fix Muffled Sound In AirPods
Since there are different causes of muffled sound in AirPods, we have explained and analyzed different remedies for you. All you need to do is read closely, understand and implement them. If one of the remedy fails to work, try out the next until your problem is fully solved out.
1. Cleaning your AirPods
Although not always visible, dirt and wax grim from your ears can lodge up your AirPods which in turn affect its sound quality. This results in a muffled sound. To avert this problem, it is advisable to properly clean your AirPods at least once after three months. It is imperative to note that the rate of washing them varies per individual. Some prefer washing once a week while others once after every month. This depends on how frequently you use your ear-Pods.
However, the rate of washing your AirPods is not as important as how well you wash them. You should keenly wash them to avoid some mechanical damage and still achieve their cleanliness. It is advisable to only use water and avoid some washing chemicals. You should also scrub gently to avoid breaking them. Below is a detailed guide on how to clean your AirPods;
Use cardlax ear-buds washer
Technology is making everything easier these days. Not left behind, is an automatic AirPods washer that leaves your AirPods clean and perfect. Since AirPods are so tiny and delicate, washing by hand can easily damage them. Therefore, if you don’t want to make your hands dirty, use this machine by just popping your AirPods in, set the machine to clean, and wait for few minutes. Thereafter, your AirPods will come out all clean and shiny.
Use water
In absence of the machine, you can still use clean water to wash your AirPods. Note that you should never keep them underwater. All you need to do is:
- Take a soft, clean piece of cloth or cotton and dampen it with clean water.
- Wipe your AirPods gently with the cloth.
- Take another soft, clean, and dry cloth and wipe off your AirPods.
- Give it some time to dry and later listen to your music.
2. Clean the speaker’s port
Sometimes, cleaning your AirPods only is never enough. For effective results, you need to go deeper and clean the speaker port. This will help you to unclog all the dirt or wax that has built up on the speakers. However, the process requires you to have a number of tools;
- Toothpick, paper towel, Q-tip, microfiber cloth, screen cleaner or rubbing alcohol, and compressed air which is optional.
Once your tools are ready, follow the follow the following steps.
- Take one end of your Q-tip and rub with your rubbing alcohol/ screen cleaner. Spray cleaner will soften the wax that has built up and dried inside the crevices for easy removal. Rubbing alcohol on the other hand helps to sanitize.
- Use your sprayed Q-tip and spread the cleaner over the speaker’s mesh grill. Remember to be as gentle as possible.
- Give it few minutes for the cleaner and alcohol to soften the wax and sanitize it.
- Take your toothpick and gently remove the softened dirt/wax.
- Use a paper towel to pick up and clean the wax from the toothpick for effective results.
- Use microfiber to correct possible leftover particles from the crevices.
- Though optional, use compressed air to collect tiny dust particles left behind for thorough cleaning.
- Rest your unit on the table with the speaker facing downwards to thoroughly dry it.
- After, your unit is ready for use.
3. Clean charging case
Putting your clean AirPods in a dirty case means zero work. Therefore, to effectively fix muffled sound in AirPods, you should also clean its charging case. To do this;
- Spray your screen screener on your Q-tip and spread it all over the dirty charging case.
- Use a toothpick and pluck out all the built-up dirt/wax
- With a microfiber, wipe out reminder particles.
- Use your compressed air to get tiny leftover particles.
4. Stable Bluetooth connection
What if I have done all the necessary cleaning but still can’t fix muffed sounds on my AirPods? Although cleaning your AirPods should be a regular activity, there are other alternative remedies to fix muffled sounds in AirPods. Among them, is ensuring that you have a stable Bluetooth connection. It is imperative to note that AirPods use Bluetooth to connect and tap sound from your device. Therefore, poor Bluetooth connection will obviously interfere with the sound quality of your AirPods. What next? A muffled sound! To fix this, always ensure you have a stable Bluetooth connection. How do you do this? Below are two reliable ways of fixing unstable Bluetooth connections from your device.
Disable nearby Bluetooth devices
Use of Bluetooth is on the rise as many devices are now using advanced wireless audio connections. Therefore, owning more than one Bluetooth-enabled device on one premise is a norm. However, note that it’s not possible to connect more than one Bluetooth device at the same time. This calls you to disable one, for the other to connect effectively.
The same applies to AirPods. For them to connect effectively, you should disconnect or turn off any other nearby Bluetooth devices. Although not a sure bet, this might help to fix muffled sound from your AirPods. If this fails, try another method below.
Toggle Bluetooth off and back on
Similar to WiFi, Bluetooth also lies under wireless radio frequency types of connection. Therefore, experiencing connection hiccups is normal. This in return causes a muffled sound in your AirPods. To fix this, you should toggle your Bluetooth off and on through the following steps:
- From your device, open ” control center” or ” menu bar”
- open Bluetooth
- turn it off
- Wait for around 10 secs
- Turn it on again.
5. Reset your AirPods
Sometimes, all that your AirPod needs to get a quality sound is resetting it. Note that resetting your AirPods is not only effective in fixing the quality of its sound, but also fixing its battery. However, resetting your AirPod comes with a cost. This is because after resetting, you have to pair it back with your Mac/ iPhone or device which is a process;
- Press and hold your AirPods set up button for 15 seconds.
- On your AirPods case, check out white LED flashing. Later, it should flash amber then back to white again. This shows that you have successfully reset your AirPods.
- After, repair your AirPods with the iPhone, iPad, Mac, or any preferred device.
- Play music from your device
- Listen to the music with your AirPods to determine whether the muffled sound is fixed.
6. Check your IOS device for updates
This is another reliable remedy to fix out muffled sounds from your AirPods. When you experience problems with Bluetooth connection, chances are: your device lacks advanced IOS updates.
Apple releases relevant updates to their IOS operating system after certain duration. The most current is IOS 13 that was released in 2019 September. Therefore, using an older version in your device might interfere with your connection. This calls you to update your IOS through the following process:
- From your iPhone, open ” setting”
- Tap ” general” then ” about”
- On your about page, you will see a version number on the right.
- If the IOS version number is outdated, you will receive a notification on the settings alerting you to update it.
- Tap ‘’update’’ and wait for it to finish
- If you experience troubleshooting, call Apple customer care for assistance.
In case it is impossible to update, get rid of that ancient device and buy a newer model.
What To Do If My AirPods Are Still Muffled
After trying all the methods above, it’s possible to find out that your AirPods still have a muffled sound. What next? This calls you to visit any of the nearest Apple stores. After the visit, a specialist will look at your AirPods to detect any possible problems. If the defect is not as big, he will fix it for you. Perhaps it’s impossible to fix! You will get a replacement either for free or at a low cost.
Final Say
If you notice a muffled sound in your AirPods, don’t despair. Instead, try out the remedies mentioned above and you will be good to go. All the best!
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