AirPods are the best kind of earphones you’re likely to come across. They sit snugly inside your ears, letting you enjoy a call or a musical piece comfortably. Designed especially for iPhones and iPods, they aren’t attached to wires, taking convenience to the next level.
But even they aren’t immune to a problem common to all earphones: imbalance in sounds. You will often find that one AirPod is louder than the other, creating difficulties while listening and causing ear fatigue frequently.
But why does that happen, and what are some ways to fix it? Continue reading to find out.
Why shouldn’t you use pods with a sound imbalance?
It is vital to ensure a balance of sound between the two pods to avoid various health issues like ear fatigue. Also called ear tiredness, it occurs because of overexposure to the auditory stimulus.
Some of its symptoms are tiredness, fatigue, and sensitivity loss. If you use a single pod, you should immediately replace it with another pair of pods.
When you listen with a single earpiece, you often tend to increase the volume in one ear to compensate for the other missing one. Since a single ear has to handle the extra decibels, it impacts its hearing significantly.
You could try reducing the sound, which is equally bad since you would be straining your ear to listen to it.
What Causes The Imbalance?
From dust to audio balance settings, quite a few factors are responsible for the sound imbalance, but these are the most common.
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Dirt
Your earphones collect dust quite easily. Unless you clean them regularly, they cause various hardware problems and functional issues.
Dirt settling inside your earphones makes them harder to clean. Hence you must clean your AirPods every few days.
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Incorrect volume settings
If your volume settings aren’t what they should be, your pods aren’t going to have the same sound effects. For example, you should adjust your volume settings manually in transparency mode.
Additionally, you might want to check if you have adjusted the audio balance to the left or right side. An improper adjustment will result in an unequal sound distribution.
How To Know One Pod Is Louder?
To know if one pod is louder:
- Visit the AirPods apps on your phone.
- If you can’t find the app, go to your Bluetooth settings on the settings panel.
- Tap the “i” icon.
Use the slider under hearing to shift the volume balance left and right to know which earpiece has a problem.
You could even remove them one at a time to know which one has a lower volume.
Tips For Fixing It
Here are some tips you will find helpful in fixing this problem.
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Clean the pods thoroughly
Remove all dust and dirt with a lint-free, soft cloth (a lint-free cloth does not leave marks on the surface after you finish wiping).
If the dirt is stuck deeper into the surface, you can use a toothbrush or anti-static brush to clean it. However, avoid using solvents, abrasives, and aerosol sprays.
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Change the volume settings
As mentioned earlier in the article, you should adjust the volume settings manually in transparency mode. You must have the latest software version of iOS to do this.
Open Settings and tap on accessibility. Select the audio/visual option, tap on headphones, and then transparency mode.
Adjust the volume’s balance to the left and right using a slider.
It can be annoying when one AirPod is louder than the other. Using the correct settings, cleaning the AirPods, and knowing the reasons behind it will help you fix it quickly.
