Airpod Pro 2 really disappointing sound quality......

I had the original Airpod Pro's for years, and have been through a couple of pairs. Finally decided to get the 2's after my last OG pair fizzled out. Super excited I started using them in the gym, and realized the sound quality is Absolutely horrendous. Using version 5A377 on IOS 16.4.1. I even went through the little audio customizer test, and I still get 0 improvement.

My notes on the specifics -

• Every piece of audio that plays sounds super muffled.
• You cannot tell the difference between Noise Cancellation and Transparency (The Noise Cancellation doesn't even sound like it's fully working, but at the same when I have Transparency on, I can't even hear the person next to me with the volume on the lowest setting) A little difficult to explain the exact feel on that.
• The Airpod controls are super delayed, and will sometimes even pause my music at random without even touching it.
• I've' gotten comments from people I talk to on the phone/ FaceTime the mic sounds terrible, and is super staticy.

What am I supposed to do?

• Exchange these, and just hope for the best?
• Get an Apple nerd to take a look?
• Give up, and buy the old gen that didn't have this issue?