The AirPods Pro 2 have received high praise since their release last month. But there have also been some complaints. Many AirPods Pro 2 users are currently complaining on Reddit and other online forums about an annoying audio drifting issue that occurs even when Apple's features like Spatial Audio and dynamic head tracking are disabled.
Audio drifting is an issue with headphones where the sound shifts between the two sides of the earbuds. The sound moves back and forth between the earbuds and can also become out of sync with videos. In this case, the sound no longer matches the mouth of the person speaking in the video. With the AirPods Pro 2, affected users report that the sound jumps back and forth and the volume randomly increases or decreases. One user explains on Reddit:
This is my second pair of AirPods Pro 2 and the audio still seems to drift all over the place, sometimes the volume of a song will compress and then randomly increase again. No, it's not the head tracking or spatial audio, I have those turned off.
AirPods Pro 2: A firmware update could solve the problem
Another AirPods Pro 2 user notices the problem particularly frequently in the YouTube app:
I had a similar problem with my APP2. I use spatial audio and watch YouTube and on almost all videos the AirPods come out of sync after an ad starts playing. It's like one is slightly behind the other. It sounds like the people's voices in the videos are right by my ears instead of in the center of my head like they should be. The only way to combat this is to turn spatial audio off and back on to get the AirPods back in sync. Pretty annoying.
All of these users say they have disabled Apple's Spatial Audio and Dynamic Head Tracking. Spatial Audio with Dynamic Head Tracking is designed to follow your head as you move it, giving the impression that the music or video is always in the center and "coming from all around you." Apple has not yet confirmed the audio transmission issue with the AirPods Pro 2. It is unclear whether this is a software or hardware error. It does not seem to be a widespread problem. In fact, it is currently assumed that Apple will solve the problem with a firmware update. (Image: Apple)
