WF-1000XM3 drop outs during playback with iPhone

[Stoobloo]

This 'may' be an Apple issue with their iOS 14, but I wondered if anyone else had noticed that during playback there's quite often a 'drop out' of audio for a second at the most, not a connection drop but whatever your listening to goes silent for a second, playback continues so you 'miss' what was playing at the moment of the drop out.

During half an hour it will usually do this 2-6 times.

I have tried prioritising stable connection, audio quality and enabling and disabling DSEE HX to no avail.

Any ideas?

[Joe_Dohn]

@Alerick With the latest software version installed?

[daleknowles]

Not sure if you're addressing this me, but I have the latest version of the App installed and also the latest earphone firmware: 3.1.2 from yesterday.

[Stoobloo]

Since installing the latest firmware update I have used them for 5-6 hours over the weekend and things are looking better so far.

I did have them set to 'Prioritise sound quality' and did have a few dropouts during a couple of hours of use. Since chanignt them to 'Prioritise stable connection I've had 4 hours of rock solid stability with no drop outs at all. I'll see how things go this week...

[daleknowles]

That's good to hear.  Would you mind confirming what phone you're connecting the earphones to please?

[Stoobloo]

Of course, an iPhone 12 Pro with latest iOS.

[daleknowles]

Well that's even more of a mystery then, unless there's something slightly different in my Pro Max version!

[Stoobloo]

That’s a shame. At this stage for me at least it is definitely improved. It didn’t drop out at all in four hours (on two different occasions). It previously would drop out a few times an hour at least.

[Joe_Dohn]

@daleknowles

Have you tried restarting your phone, updating to the latest version, etc.?

@Stoobloo

Glad to hear things have improved for you! ^^

[daleknowles]

@Joe_Dohn this thread software doesn't lend itself very well to the task really and being able to see the conversation properly.  I've done everything from latest software (iPhone and earbuds), factory reset of the earbuds, removing the Headphone app, reinstalling the Headphone app and changing the setting to priority on connection.  Having just been for a walk, I have to say there is a marked improvement since last week, although curiously  nothing has changed in the set up since my comments on Friday.  It's certainly more listenable, but frustrating still not as good as about a year ago and still not as a good as my WH-1000MX3s.

[Joe_Dohn]

Honestly, I'm inclined to think that your specific headphones have an issue, not the software or the general model.

Do you happen to have a friend or family member with the same headphones or yet another phone to test?

If you've been through all of that, maybe reach out to the Sony support reps as it may need repairing.

Hope this helps!

- JD