AirPods

Settings –> your  AirPods

Listening Mode = Transparency

Hearing Health

• Hearing Protection
  • Loud Sound Reduction = ON
• Hearing Assistance
  • Hearing Aid = ON (Yes, take the Hearing Test)
  • Adjustments
    • Amplification = about 10% (trying softer rather than louder)
    • Balance = 50% Right ear vs. Left ear
    • Tone = 25% on the Darker side (again, trying to reduce the metallic loud impulse sounds)
    • Ambient Noise Reduction = 50% (When you’re in a noisy atmosphere, you can go to the Settings menu on your iPhone and change this as needed.
    • Conversation Boost = ON
    • Own Voice Amplification = 25% (Keep this low so you don’t feel like you’re shouting.)

Call Controls

• The factory settings are fine here

Camera Control

• Turn this OFF

Audio

• Personalized Volume = ON
• Conversation Awareness = ON
• Adaptive Audio = 50% (Adjust as needed for individual environments.)

Automatic Ear Detection

• Turn this ON.

AirPods Translation

• Though this is in beta testing, the AirPods can translate spoken French, Spanish, and other languages into English straight to your ears. I haven’t tested this feature yet.

Head Gestures

• Turn this OFF

Then, go back to the SETTINGS menu

Settings –> Sound & Haptics

• Volume Limit
  • Maximum = 50% (Default = 60%)
• Reduce Loud Sounds = ON
• Headphone Safety
  • Reduce Loud Audio = ON
  • Max audio = 80 decibels (“as loud as a noisy restaurant”)

Cleaning

• Every so often look at the silicone tips. If you see any earwax, take a Q-tip and gently clean it.

Conclusion:

Hope this helps. Most of these suggestions should work regardless of which “generation” of AirPods you have. It’s always important to safeguard our hearing!