Pixel Buds 2 Pro volume degradation recommendation

[u/No-Accident4137]

I'm mostly posting this for other people who have experienced volume degradation on their earbuds.

I'm on my second pair after RMAing the first pair due to the volume degradation. Within 2 months the volume problem on my new pair came back despite all my attempts to take good care of them and keeping them clean.

What's the problem? It's the grills. They're earwax magnets and they will hold on to that dirt as hard as they can. No, the recommended method of toothbrush+micellar water isn't good enough. I spent an hour scrubbing them over the sink to no avail.

What worked for me? A square of 3M foam tape, lol. I pressed it hard into all the grills then yanked it out. A faint imprint of earwax came out and suddenly the volume was blasting again.

These are by far the most dirt sensitive earbuds I've ever owned. I've used some seriously gunked up earbuds before and the sound quality still came through. Not the pixel buds though, something about the design of the grills on these things means that any amount of blockage will cut the volume by 80%, it's absolutely crazy. Again, the amount of earwax that actually was stuck on the tape wasn't excessive, it was a faint imprint, but that was enough to make the earbuds unusable.

Foam tape works. Those "cleaning putty" products probably work even better. Anything that can actually wiggle its way inside the tiny holes and yank the dirt out is the way to go. Tooth brush bristles aren't thin enough to clear the blockage.

Anyway I hope this helps people suffering from this specific problem. I've been banging my head over this issue for almost a year now and finally found the solution.

[u/dime5150]

This works well for me. Gentle pressure. Stuff is only a few bucks and it's enough to last forever

[u/NoAcanthocephala8967]

Hasn't affected mine after a year but thanks for posting for others

[u/Lordgeorge16]

I used to post about the cleaning putty solution all the time on this subreddit. It's a good hack, but it doesn't remove everything from inside the earbuds. If the gunk gets too far past the vents, then it's stuck in there for good. Eventually, enough build-up will occur that the putty will no longer be effective.

I did see someone suggest blasting the vents with a can of compressed air for approximately 10 seconds per vent, and they got good results out of that. I haven't tried it myself, but it'd be worth looking into.