AirPods 4 — Distortion/Crackling on Bass

Hello

I recently purchased a pair of AirPods 4 ANC, and immediately noticed distortion and crackling sounds on bass frequencies in certain songs.

To make sure it wasn’t just my unit, I went back to the store where I bought them. We tested three more brand-new pairs (one was unpacked right in front of me), and all of them produced the exact same distortion at the exact same spots in music tracks.

The issue happens:

with both Noise Cancellation on and off, at medium to high volume levels,

and is especially noticeable between 40–120 Hz (bass frequencies).

This seems to be a widespread problem, not an isolated defect. Replacement doesn’t help because every unit has the same issue.

I’d like to ask:

Is Apple aware of this issue with AirPods 4?

Will there be a firmware update or a replacement program, similar to what happened with AirPods Pro (1st gen crackling issue)?

Please confirm that this has been reported to engineering.

Thank you.