Why do AirPods Pro 2 make a quiet chime (recording now in thread) a little while after being put away? [MERGED]

[grist44]

I hear this sound for a few days now and it’s always when the battery of the case is low.

 

[DHPersonal]

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.

 

[Terbetinan]

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.

 

[Koolwaterstof]

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!

 

[Makosuke]

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.

 

[Koolwaterstof]

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.

 

[jafca09]

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.

 

[liudasbar123]

"To help ensure that your AirPods microphones and speakers are operating at their best (for example, to help provide high-quality hearing test results), your AirPods may periodically play a quiet chime when they’re in their charging case."

Use hearing health features with AirPods Pro 2

Your AirPods Pro 2 support your hearing health with Hearing Protection, on by default, and a Hearing Aid feature.

support.apple.com

 

[tonmischa]

Got my APP2 on Black Friday. I'm a professional sound guy, so the first thing I tried was the "hearing test".
iPhone told me: "hearing test cannot be performed because the AirPods are not calibrated yet. Put them in the case and try again in a few minutes."
I put them back in the case, I heard the very soft 3-tone chime (after 20 seconds or so), waited another minute, took them out.
Then I was allowed to do the hearing test.

So I agree: The soft 3-tone chime is very likely a self-calibration.

 

[Makosuke]

"To help ensure that your AirPods microphones and speakers are operating at their best (for example, to help provide high-quality hearing test results), your AirPods may periodically play a quiet chime when they’re in their charging case."

Interesting! So it is documented now; I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the case when I started noticing this.

Seems likely the calibration was added at some point in prep for the hearing aid features, but in any case it’s nice to have actual Apple documentation as confirmation. Thanks to liudasbar123 for noticing!

 

[Smart88]

Holy **** I thought I was going crazy just hearing noises like a lunatic. How the hell did you capture that chime?

For a long time I kept thinking a phone or something is hidden in my house vents making this noise:

 

[farmaceut]

Hey,
I recently noticed that my AirPods Pro case randomly makes a sound (kind of like a bird?) while the green light blinks. The AirPods still connect to all my devices without any issues. Is this a sign of a problem; what should I do?
Thanks

 

[Monoggler]

This started happening to me two days ago. If I open the case after my AirPods Pro 2 have not been used for awhile it will start chirping. It is the same sound that would be made if I tried to ping them from the Find Me App

You're referring to a different chirping than Makosuke is. This is much quieter coming from inside the case. I think its an internal calibration test like he mentioned.

 

[roguester]

I hear the sound after I put the airpods back in the case. It's a different sound than the regular sound too.

 

[Night Spring]

"To help ensure that your AirPods microphones and speakers are operating at their best (for example, to help provide high-quality hearing test results), your AirPods may periodically play a quiet chime when they’re in their charging case."

Use hearing health features with AirPods Pro 2

Your AirPods Pro 2 support your hearing health with Hearing Protection, on by default, and a Hearing Aid feature.

support.apple.com

 

[roguester]

"To help ensure that your AirPods microphones and speakers are operating at their best (for example, to help provide high-quality hearing test results), your AirPods may periodically play a quiet chime when they’re in their charging case."

Use hearing health features with AirPods Pro 2

Your AirPods Pro 2 support your hearing health with Hearing Protection, on by default, and a Hearing Aid feature.

support.apple.com

I remember reading about this, thanks for that!