AirPods Microphone Sound Muffled? We’ve Found a Fix!

It is often found that when you connect your AirPods to your Mac or iPhone, they sound muffled and distorted.

We know this issue is faced pretty often by the users, and obviously, you got yourself the elite device not only to make it sound like a cheap knockoff earphone. So we have analyzed why you hear the AirPods sound muffled or even sometimes the AirPods microphone is muffled too.

Why does my AirPods Microphone Sound Muffled?

The main reason why your AirPods sound muffled is dirt in the speakers’ grilles. It happens as the earbuds are placed in the Anotherl, which accumulates earwax and dust to form sturdy dirt on AirPods speakers.

One more reason is that your AirPods start making muffled sounds when you pair them with your Mac. The issue is that your AirPods have joined the 8-16kHz codec (SCO). So, why does this happen? Let’s discover the reason behind the muffled AirPods mic or sound!

Your Mac and its attachments are precoded to use an 8-16kHz codec as their default sound output. When you connect your AirPods to them, your AirPods emit the same poor-quality audio, and hence you end, up hearing AirPods sound muffled.

So what codec do my AirPods follow? Well, normally your AirPods are meant to follow an AAC codec which gives the optimal output and hence gives unbelievabgetquality.

So when you connect them withcannotrough Bluetooth, you end up getting poor quality sound because Bluetooth is unable to process premium quality input and output streams simultaneously.

How to Fix Muffled AirPods Mic – 6 Ways Explained!

What to do when AirPods microphone not working? This issue keeps recurring and without a doubt, we have come up with a verified solution for the problem and will pass on the baton to you. Here we will note down the ways you can get your AirPods’ sound quality back to the elite.

Note: All the below-listed fixes are applicable to all models that include AirPods, AirPods 2, AirPods 3, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max too!

1. Toggle Bluetooth Off and On

You have surely tried this already but if you haven’t, let this be the point you realize that toggling the Bluetooth off and back on again is a simple but quite effective spell.

Even NASA knew toggling the switch off and back on will work to reconnect its satellite far away in space, then this is a much closer call and surely worth a go. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to do so.

Step 1: Navigate to the System Preferences of your Mac from the above task window.

Step 2: Click on Bluetooth settings and then click on Turn Bluetooth Off entirely and wait for about 10-15 seconds.

Step 3: Then go ahead and turn it ON back again

Check once again if you are still getting muffled sound in AirPods or even if the AirPods microphone is muffled. You will not have to reconnect your AirPods as it has been connected previously.

2. Clean your AirPods Thoroughly

Cleaning your AirPods should be a regular habit and we suggest that you take out the time once or twice in 1-2 months to clean your device thoroughly in and out.

You have exposed your AirPods to all kinds of dust and dirt while using them all day every day and hence they tend to get dirty.

Now, this product like any other electronic item will start losing its integrity with the dust and dirt hurting the quality too. So you should always make sure that you have cleaned each and every part of your AirPods.

You can always go ahead and remove the earbuds and take a good Microfiber cloth to clean the parts. Here’s the cleaning kit which we recommend you to go for.

Remember that never put water on your AirPods or even if your device was all fine before, and if you do so, you will get muffled noises because of water penetration.

Once you have cleaned your AirPods, go ahead and have a good cleaning of the case too, so that you know you have done the most you could in cleaning. This way you have a greater chance to make sure you get your good AirPods without all the sound and microphone muffled issues.

Here’s a video that gives you a glimpse of how to clean your AirPods with a cleaning kit easily.

3. Disconnect Other Bluetooth Devices

In today’s world, we have an undying need to multitask endlessly. This habit gets us to connect multiple Bluetooth devices at the same time and due to its limited capabilities, we could assume that this could be causing you trouble.

You will have to initially disconnect all devices individually as most of the time your devices are set to connect to your Mac automatically every time you turn Bluetooth on. Here is a step-by-step guide for you to follow when you want to remove any connected Bluetooth device.

Step 1: Go to the Control Centre of your Mac and open it.

Step 2: Follow it up by going into Bluetooth and clicking “Bluetooth Preferences.”

Step 3: Now go ahead and select the devices other than your AirPods and select disconnect (X symbol).

This way you can disconnect all your other devices leaving your AirPods and allowing your Bluetooth to give optimal output to your sound and microphone quality. There is not much hope but there are chances that you can get the issue of your AirPods sound muffled quality resolved.

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4. Switch the Microphone Input

Typically when you connect your AirPods to any device through Bluetooth, the automatic choice for the microphone is the AirPods Microphone. For you to make this work, you have to change this setting to Mac’s built-in microphone. There is a very easy way for you to do this and we will give you a step-by-step guide to follow.

Step 1: Open “System Settings” on your Mac and head over to the “Sound” option.

Step 2: In sound, clin the “Input” option available on the t,op center of the settings screen.

Step 3: Now click on your Mac’s built-in option and wait for 10-15 seconds for the setting to change and voila you have successfully restored the integrity of your AirPods. Now check if you are still facing the issue of your AirPods microphone being muffled.

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5. Update your macOS

Often you will find that because your Mac is not kept up to date and hence you are facing this issue where you end up getting poor quality output not only in sound but at other outputs too. So for avoiding such issues, keep your Mac updated and download all available software updates. If you have skipped the update then let us show from where you can get it back.

Step 1: Go to the top right of your screen and click on the Apple icon.

Step 2: From there click on “About This Mac.”

Step 3: The pop-up on the screen will show which software is currently installed on your Mac and on that itself you will find “Software Update,” so click on it.

Step 4: Wait for your Mac to process your request and it will show if your Mac has an available update or if your Mac is up to date. If there is an available update then make sure you download it and install and once that is done then check if the problem still persists.

6. Ensure Stable Bluetooth Connection

Most of us take it for granted but it is very important for the device’s Bluetooth connection to be stable so that your AirPods microphone muffled issue can be solved.

We often forget that Bluetooth has its limitations and you either step away from the range or tend to connect more devices and hence the quality deteriorates resulting in muffled AirPods.

For you to have the best quality of sound and microphone, you will have to ensure that your Bluetooth connection is stable and proper. In short, the AirPods must be in the range of Bluetooth as per Mac’s capability, and if you’re unable to find your lost AirPods, here’s how you can find them.

This way you can make sure that you have tackled an issue regarding AirPods mic sound muffled if it was due to instability of Bluetooth connection.

Did This Fix the AirPods Muffled Issue?

We have all encountered AirPods sound muffled on Mac issue once or more while streaming our most loved music and hence we thought it’s time we found a once and for all solution for this pesky little issue.

These methods have been tried and tested so they are worth a go and the same is applicable for AirPods Pro if the sound or microphone is muffled. If none of them get the job done and you have recently bought your AirPods, you always have a choice of replacement which you should take without a second thought.

Let us know on Twitter by tagging us with regards to which method helped you out and if you are stuck somewhere then write to us so we can get back to you and give you proper guidance.