Why Do AirPods Sounds Bad on Discord? Solved

By / Audio Advice, AirPods, Discord
Why Do AirPods Sound Bad on Discord? | integraudio.com

AirPods and Discord issues are common and that makes the AirPods sound bad.

Though they are useful when it comes to holding private meetings, and connecting with other Bluetooth-enabled devices and apps like Netflix and YouTube, you may not get quality sound while on discord. The sound could either be horrible or totally missing. 

Your AirPods may sound bad on discord because you haven’t installed proper drivers, too high or too low audio bitrates, headset and mouthpiece issues, Discord voice server outage, incorrect discord audio setting, or an out-of-date discord app. Additionally, you could get muffled sounds from your AirPods when they are dirty.

Discord may still be a relatively new social media platform. Interestingly, it is attracting a massive user base. With over 150 million monthly active users, you could reasonably say it has disrupted traditional social media.

Many users go to discord for gaming, calls, and chat. If you are a gamer, you prefer to chat with your gaming partners and audience with hands-free headphones. That’s when you would prefer AirPods; after all, they are the best wireless earbuds currently on the market.

However, the joyous anticipation could be short-lived as you would notice that your prestigious AirPods aren’t working as well. Not to worry, this article will dive into some of the reasons your AirPods are performing poorly on discord and give you some remedies.

Contents show

How to Properly Connect Your AirPods and Discord

You could either have Discord on the PC or your mobile phone. First, when using your PC to access Discord, follow these steps to connect AirPods and Discord properly.

  1. Go to your PC settings.
  2. Navigate to the main menu and then select devices.
  3. On the setting panel, click on Bluetooth and other devices.
  4. Ensure the Bluetooth toggle switch is ON.
  5. Add Bluetooth and other devices.
  6. Insert your AirPods inside the charging case and keep the lid open.
  7. Press a button that is at the charging case back side till you see a blinking white light.
  8. Your AirPods should now be visible on the add device window.
  9. Pair your AirPods and your PC and connect.
  10. Open Discord and join any voice channel to check on the audio.

If you are using the Discord App on your iPhone, you must have your AirPods paired. You only need to open the discord app and join a voice channel to check the audio quality. After properly connecting your AirPods and checking that you are not muted, you could face two problems; either there is no audio, or the audio quality is very poor. This is how to fix the
two scenarios.

How To Fix Discord’s Poor Audio quality?

You will need to apply these tips to your Discord app to get a quality audio stream from discord.

  1. Check the audio quality bitrate on your Discord app.
  2. Turn on noise suppression.
  3. Calibrate advanced voice processing setting.
  4. Enable push to talk.
  5. Change Discord Attenuation setting.

Adjusting audio quality bitrate

Audio bitrates will indicate the quality of your audio. A higher bitrate will mean better quality audio, and a lower bitrate, the poorer the audio quality. Higher bitrates consume more internet bandwidth.

This information would be critical to a gamer or a streamer who wants a seamless audio connection without buffering and distorted voice sound.

Discord sets its bitrate at 64 kbps. If you have noticed a bad audio output or input, you will need to adjust the bitrate up or down until you get the best bitrate for your AirPods. Here are the steps for changing the bitrate.

  1. On your discord app, open your discord server.
  2. Locate the channel with the audio issues.
  3. Select the setting icon and edit your channel settings.
  4. Use the slider to adjust the server audio bitrate.
  5. Keep adjusting the bitrate till you find the right one for your AirPods.
  6. Your AirPods should now have quality audio.

Turning on Noise Suppression

This is a feature on discord that dampens the noises in your surrounding like a fan’s noise. Turning the noise suppression setting could help improve the audio quality of your AirPods
while on Discord.

How you can enable the noise suppression feature on your discord?

  1. Launch Discord.
  2. Locate and click the setting icon next to the headphone icon.
  3. From the side pane, select Voice & Audio.
  4. Go to the advanced section and switch on Noise Suppression.

Adjusting the Advanced Voice Processing Settings

Being a disruptive social media designed for streamers and gamers, of course, the developers had to throw in an advanced audio feature. Activating the advanced voice processing can quickly make AirPods rival professional microphones and headphones.

Follow these steps to activate the advanced voice processing setting.

  1. On your Discord, Click on the setting icon next to your avatar.
  2. Select Voice & Video.
  3. Scroll to Voice Processing.
  4. Enable Echo Cancellation, Advance Voice Activity, and Automatic Gain Control.
  5. The audio quality of your AirPods should now be superb.

Enabling Push to Talk

When streaming, you could do other activities like typing, eating, or side-talking someone in the room. You don’t want your viewers or gaming partners hearing these noises. You don’t want your AirPods picking these unwanted sounds while talking to your viewers.

Well, to cut off unwanted sounds, follow these steps:

  1. Open discord on the PC.
  2. Navigate to Voice & Video.
  3. Locate Input Mode and select Push to Talk.
  4. Click on Record Key bind.
  5. Press any key on your keyboard you want to dedicate for Push to talk functionality.
  6. Finish setting up, and you’re set to go.

Changing Discord’s attenuation Setting

This smart discord feature will improve your gaming and streaming experiences. It lowers the audio output from other applications whenever someone speaks. Enabling it will make AirPods pick audio very clearly unvetted by other applications.

You could also ask your friends and viewers to activate the setting from their side. How to enable this smart setting.

  1. On your discord, locate the setting icon next to your avatar.
  2. Navigate to Voice & Video.
  3. Look for Attenuation.
  4. The default setting is 0%. You can move the bar to a percentage of your liking.

Why Do AirPods Sounds Bad on Discord? Solved - 2024 Update

How to Fix Discord Audio Not Working on your AirPods?

  1. Set the AirPods be a default device for your audio.
  2. Unmute the sound mixer for Discord volume.
  3. Check the sound output and input settings on discord.
  4. Try the legacy Audio Subsystem on Discord.
  5. Change the Discord server region.
  6. Change to Stereo mode.
  7. Update the Discord App.

Putting your AirPods audio into Default

Sometimes, your PC could not detect your AirPods due to software glitches or bugs. Putting AirPods into the default audio setting can help solve the issue.

Below are the steps to take:

  1. From the taskbar, locate the speaker icon.
  2. Open speaker setting.
  3. Go to the sound adjustment panel.
  4. Right-click the space below playback & recording.
  5. Select and view disabled devices.
  6. Locate your AirPods from the disabled devices and set them as a default audio output
    device.
  7. Your audio on discord should be good to go.

Unmuting Sound Mixer

You may not be getting sound on your AirPods because Discord is on mute on your computer. Follow these steps to check and unmute discord audio.

  1. Locate your Sound mixer from your windows setting.
  2. Locate App Volume & device preferences.
  3.  Navigate to discord.
  4. Turn on the volume of the software.
  5. Your AirPods should now work on discord.

Configuring Discord’s sound input/output setting

Even after setting your AirPods device audio into default, you should get the sound input/output on discord as it will have to know which device to transmit. Below are the steps to follow.

  1. On discord, find user setting gear.
  2. Under the app setting, click on voice and the video.
  3. Scroll to output/input.
  4. Select AirPods from the panel drop-down.
  5. Save changes and test audio.

Using legacy Audio On your Discord

Sometimes, your AirPods could not be compatible with your audio subsystem on Discord. If that’s the case, you ought to switch to Legacy Audio. You can follow these steps to enable the legacy audio.

  1. Locate setting gear on Discord.
  2. Under setting, click on audio and video.
  3. Scroll down till you locate Audio Subsystem.
  4. From the panel drop-down, select legacy.
  5. Save and exit.
  6. Reboot Discord.
  7. Your AirPods should now be working.

Change Discord server’s location.

There are some jurisdictions  where a discord server could be banned. If this is the case, you will need to alter the location. Follow the following instructions to change the region of your discord.

  1. Open server settings on discord.
  2. Click on the overview.
  3. Find and select the server region.
  4. From the panel drop-down, you can choose your preferred location.
  5. Restart the discord app.
  6. Your AirPods should now function.

Changing to Stereo Mode

Whenever you notice your AirPods sound bad when connected to a PC, check if you’re using the stereo mode. This will improve the audio on your AirPods while on discord. Below is a
guide to changing from AG audio to stereo mode

  1. Locate and click the speaker icon on your taskbar.
  2. Expand the playback device list.
  3. Select stereo.

Updating Your Discord

Discord regularly updates its app. Updating to the latest release might fix your poor discord voice quality.

  1. Get to Google Play Store or App Store.
  2. Search and select Discord.
  3. Update the app.

Final Thoughts

At this point, you should have known the reasons behind the bad quality sound when your AirPods are on discord and how to fix it. If you are experiencing the same problems, check the issue with your AirPods, and apply the recommended solution as I have discussed in this article.

Don`t copy text!
Scroll to Top