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AirPods Pro 3 experiencing unbalanced sound and delayed ANC/Transparency. 2nd time it's happened.

On my AirPods Pro 3, the sound is unbalanced, biasing the left after some time of listening. It happens quite rarely, but enough for me to notice (maybe like one or times a week). Additionally, sometimes when toggling between ANC and transparency, the activation is delayed. You can tell that the left side becomes noise cancelling or transparent faster than the right. For the sound imbalance, it's not because of debris or anything else because a) they're new (month old) and b) if I disconnect and reconnect bluetooth, the sound is balanced again.


This is the second time both of these issues (unbalanced sound and unbalanced ANC/transparency) have happened, as my previous pair I had replaced also had this issue.


The store worker said that if it happens again it may be due to the device I'm using it with which could be true as even though I paired them originally with my iPad Air M3, I use the AirPods 99% of the time on either a Windows laptop (Lenovo) or my Samsung S25 Ultra phone. Does anyone else have this, is this normal (hopefully not) and what should I do?

2 replies

Hi there


try this


1. Update Firmware via your iPad


AirPods cannot update their firmware when connected to Windows or Android.

  • Connect your AirPods to your iPad Air M3.
  • Place the AirPods in their charging case, plug the case into power, and leave the iPad nearby connected to Wi-Fi.
  • Leave them for 30 minutes to force any pending Apple stability patches to install.


2. Turn Off "Adaptive" Smart Features

The delayed ANC and volume shifting are frequently triggered by automated background processing. Turn these off on your iPad so the settings save directly to the AirPods' onboard memory:

  • Go to Settings > AirPods Pro 3.
  • Turn off Conversation Awareness.
  • Turn off Adaptive Audio (stick strictly to standard "Noise Cancellation" or "Transparency").
  • Go to Accessibility > Audio/Visual and ensure the Balance slider is dead center


Hi, thanks for the reply.


However, my AirPods are already on the latest firmware (9A348), I never use adaptive (I dont think you can at all with non-apple devices), and I don't have conversation awareness turned on. The audio balance is also centred.