AirPods 3 hissing and coil whine

[MrGimper]

I watched a video on YouTube earlier of an AP3 unboxing and I noticed that it said “assembled in Vietnam” on the back, and mine say “assembled in china”. I know Apple are assembling in both but is there a correlation between assembly location and coil whine. I have no weird sounds. Purely speculation of course, but you never know.

 

[Jeanno]

I watched a video on YouTube earlier of an AP3 unboxing and I noticed that it said “assembled in Vietnam” on the back, and mine say “assembled in china”. I know Apple are assembling in both but is there a correlation between assembly location and coil whine. I have no weird sounds. Purely speculation of course, but you never know.

Mine assembled in vietnam, has this hissing problem.

 

[jackbrucesimpson]

Having the same problem - when I'm not playing audio I can hear a kind of static hissing sound. I'm going to go to the Apple store tomorrow to try to sort it out.

 

[Deacon-Blues]

Mine were made in Vietnam, and I have no hiss or coil whine. I am extremely particular about my earphones. These are meant to be a stocking stuffer and when I heard about people having the problem I told my wife I was opening them and using them for a bit to make sure there were no problems. I used them for about two hours and then I had to pack them up and they disappeared, never to be seen again until Christmas.

 

[cent1047]

So i dropped by to apple store 2 days ago and they exchanged a new airpods 3 for me. It turns out that it has the same issue on the right pair of the airpods. For the past few days i've been skeptical about my hearing so i tried different ways like comparing AirPods 3 with my first gen Airpod, tried to put my right pair to my left ear to make sure that im not crazy, and vice versa. Well, i'm not crazy at least, but i'll need to drive back to apple store again to get it swapped again.. (well i did not notice this issue in the apple store because my place is more quieter than the apple store)

 

[Vincent_8798]

I watched a video on YouTube earlier of an AP3 unboxing and I noticed that it said “assembled in Vietnam” on the back, and mine say “assembled in china”. I know Apple are assembling in both but is there a correlation between assembly location and coil whine. I have no weird sounds. Purely speculation of course, but you never know.

The box of my AirPods 3 says "made in China", and I have the coil whine problem, and it's awful.

I think the issue is related to how they assembled the headphones.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Just to add a data point, mine were Made in Vietnam and have not a whisper of coil whine or hiss or anything.

I **hate** stuff like that and would tolerate absolutely none of it.

 

[Macintosh1984]

Hissing and coil whine generated stands out well because of high volume or not?

I mean, when there is the defect do you feel it immediately or do you have to have a particular hearing to hear it?

 

[Dman9]

I also heard the hiss and coil whining. Found out that I’m not alone. I was hoping to find a video or post on how it sounds for everyone else, but seems its too early. Most youtube review videos are talking about the fit and sound.
I can easily hear the noise when i click a video on youtube, while its loading and spinning to load the ad (which shouldnt have any noise), there is a whining sound that is very obvious.

 

[Macintosh1984]

I am a bit paranoid, I honestly do not hear anything, I repeat, it is really evident when there is this problem, is it really easy to hear?

 

[one more]

I am a bit paranoid, I honestly do not hear anything, I repeat, it is really evident when there is this problem, is it really easy to hear?

If you cannot hear anything abnormal, why worry? Enjoy your AirPods 3! ?

 

[Jeanno]

Hissing and coil whine generated stands out well because of high volume or not?

I mean, when there is the defect do you feel it immediately or do you have to have a particular hearing to hear it?

It hisses when it is idling.

 

[ivantheipodder]

I am a bit paranoid, I honestly do not hear anything, I repeat, it is really evident when there is this problem, is it really easy to hear?

Mine hisses when it’s connected to a device but not playing anything.

 

[Malnoth]

I am experiencing the same issue with coil whine. Made in Vietnam.

 

[topbin]

Picked mine up today nervous about this - but zero evidence of any of the things you guys have been flagging fortunately.

Mine are in the 'Assembled in China' bucket too.

 

[rsnhakan]

Mine both are hissing. But it's not really noticeable. I didn't know it before I read this topic.

 

[cent1047]

I just wanted to let people know today I dropped by to Apple Store and swapped my AirPods. So far my 4th AirPods 3 has no issue - will still monitor it this week.

P/S: You can take the problematic pair and wear it on the opposite side (right pair with left ear). If there's a problem with the pair, you will notice it when you wear it on the opposite pair of ear.

 

[nesanenso]

Just subscribed to the forums for this. Purchased Airpods 3 at an Apple Store on Friday Oct. 29th. Returned them because of a noticeable coil whine in the right earbud when idling (no sound). They were assembled in China. Ordered some online from the Apple Store, received them on Nov. 5. Assembled in Vietnam. Coil whine in right earbud is still present, but a lot quieter, I will keep them. No noticeable whine during calls. All devices running latest OS releases (iPhone 13 mini iOS 15.1, MBP 16 2019 macOS 12.0.1). I think it all comes down to the quality of the power management chips supplied for the AP3.

I'm 35-40 years old and still have very good hearing. I consider myself an audiophile, studied in sound mixing/mastering and can't tolerate in-ear earphones for a long period of time. AP3 offer an excellent compromise in terms of sound, convenience and comfort.

 

[carlodrift]

Same problem here with my AirPods 3 received today. Any news?

 

[Farmroad423]

Back to my time, we do baking the headphone lol
Use some white noise videos on youtube, and let it play 24 hours

 

[alemacmax]

Same issue in the right one, not improvements, so far, made in china. Return looks to be the option and then wait.

 

[henrikhelmers]

I think it’s useful to not mix “coil whine” and “noise”.

I notice that mine make a faint noise when idling in a quiet room. A bit like putting your ear to a seashell. But when playing audio, it stops (not just masking, it goes away).

This makes it likely that it can be worked around/resolved in firmware. I would expect it to be a side effect of audio processing.

 

[jeff282]

My first pair were pretty bad. My second pair are much better but still a faint static. Wondering if this new firmware will address. Anyone got them to update to 4B66 yet?

 

[Shadowbech]

I picked up one last night and no hissing or coil wine over here.

 

[rsnhakan]

I’m returning mine hissing and coil whine is still present after new sw.