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AirPods Pro

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Re: AirPods Pro

#121

Post by willis936 »

pxhb wrote: post #17

The lack of sound isolation is my biggest gripe with my AirPods, so it is nice to see that it has been improved with the Pro version. In the past I have had nausea when using active noise cancelling headphone (especially when used without music), so I am curious to see if any of the reviews hints at this.

I have serious reservations about these. They make big claims yet miss some important, basic design choices. For instance: you will get zero bass with an open back design and the active noise cancellation operates at 200 Hz (presumably) so you can forget about cancelling annoying whines from server fans or turbojets. The dynamic EQ based on a microphone is an interesting choice. This could have really good results if they didn't fuck up on more basics. I just hope they don't neglect phase response and do some time alignment.

Re: AirPods Pro

#122

Post by Gwypaas »

x0x0 wrote: post #87
freeqaz wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that I can't use them for phone calls because the other person always complains that my mic is terrible. Is this because of using an Android device? They also don't stay in my ears for the life of me, so exercising at the gym I have to use over-the-ear headphones. I think this impacts the sound for me, as well, since they sound better when I hold them in my ear versus when I let go. Any recommendations for wha…

I've had good success with Jabra 65t on Android. Probably 1k hours of calls and no complaints except in very high wind. Oh, btw, the connection is very dependent on your Android phone. Bluetooth is in year ~20 of widespread alpha testing and Android implementations vary. I initially had an HTC; it had bluetooth issues. I'm now on a Google-made phone and it's seamless. Anecdotally, Samsungs work well too.

Have a Huawei P20 pro with the 65t Elite Active. I have to reset the Bluetooth, forcing a reconnect everytime I connect them but after that they work seamlessly. They have quite a bit of delay on my device though. Music, calls and pods are amazing. Videos not so much.

I wonder if a complete reset would fix it, got them last Christmas and the pairing process was horribly buggy back then and don't feel like risking it again....

Re: AirPods Pro

#123

Post by mikestew »

andrepd wrote: post #89
ed312 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever needed to be on a phone call while doing something else with your hands? Running with music and not having cords whip around your neck is pretty nice too.

>over any wireless earplug

Not OP, but let me try:

Have you ever needed to be on a phone call after you took the call on the phone, but would like to switch headset, but because Bluetooth still sucks it doesn't even show the headset in the list, so you have to power down the headset, restart in pairing mode...

Yeah, I've done that plenty of times using a Bluetooth headset. You will never do that using an iPhone and AirPods. You'll just push the button, and it will switch without drama. And it will work that way tomorrow, too. That's why I've paid eye-watering sums for headsets with W1/H1 chips in them.

Re: AirPods Pro

#124

Post by willis936 »

whalesalad wrote: post #55
xoa wrote: post #47

I have no problem with the AirPods being highly integrated, nor did I inherently think dropping the 3.5mm jack was an issue. Working wireless is a lot better. But I do really wish Apple would make the W1 chips and associated stack generally available to 3rd parties, that's what really got lost in the transition and they were wrong to keep vertical. Their strategy has surely sold more AirPods, but they will never be a…

Can you elaborate a bit on the reasons for this? I don't disagree... but what capabilities are lacking in regular hardware that this chip provides? I ask because initially the Sony WH-1000XM3 over-ears I use at home when working in my office (or on a plane) were initially using the lower quality SBC standard and with some kung fu I was able to get them working with higher quality AAC on my Mac.

W1 is the only way to stream lossless quality audio in iOS.

Re: AirPods Pro

#125

Post by ta1234567890 »

Waterluvian wrote: post #46
webwielder2 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why spend $100 on a nice dinner, we'll just have to eat again in 8 hours.

This is such a bad frame of mind if you're someone who owns more than a dorm room of stuff. I used to feel like this about stuff. "Oh it's just $100 and we use it every day, totally okay to replace every few years." But it adds up when you start having to replace 100 different "it's pretty cheap given how often we use it" items in a year. And it's not just the cost. It's also the time you commit to being a consumer.…

> I want to buy something once and not have to think about it for a long time.

A thousand times this ^ And ideally for everything: phone, computer, headphones, clothes, etc.

Personally, I own one pair of pants that I know will last about 2 years before I need to replace them, then just buy exactly the same pair again. Same with t-shirts, except I own about 10 of the same and replace 2 or 3 once a year (each one will last 2-3 years).

Re: AirPods Pro

#126

Post by baxtr »

diffeomorphism wrote: post #113
whalesalad wrote: post #8

I really struggled to take the plunge on the original AirPods and it has been one of my top 10 purchases ever in my life without a doubt. I stood there holding the little $200 box in my hand and really danced back and forth in my mind about whether or not they would really be necessary. If they broke, I would go buy a new pair immediately. For what they are, the sound is amazing. I can't really do a phone call anymor…

You don't really mention why? Why are they better than wireless earbuds by Sennheiser, Amazon, Google etc?

For me the answer is quite clear: they simply work. Apple like. Did I test all the others you mentioned? No. Probably because I used to have several Bluetooth headset. They hardly ever worked. For me, I had to have high trust in the HW company to ever test a Bluetooth headset again.

Re: AirPods Pro

#127

Post by RandallBrown »

vowelless wrote: post #4

I started getting severe ear issues with my normal AirPods. Due to a lack of cushioning, my ear canals started getting damaged. It got very painful eventually (swimmers ear levels of pain). I stopped using them and went back to my Bose in ear headphones (that never gave me problems). These new AirPods seem to have cushioning. I might consider them.

The new shape of these makes me not want them. I seem to have the exact same ears as whoever Apple has modeled their earbuds for and they're super comfortable.

Every other in-ear headphone I've tried has been super painful and falls out at the slightest bump.

Re: AirPods Pro

#128

Post by guptaneil »

This is the first time I’ve seen an AR experience launched from the browser. I expected to be kicked to the App Store to download Apple’s shopping app when I clicked See it in AR, but instead the AirPods instantly showed up on my desk (without prompting for camera access even). When did this capability get added?

Edit: looks like this is powered by Apple and Pixar’s USDZ file format for sharing compressed 3D models. I’m guessing it overlays the model over the built-in camera app, so Safari never asks for permission to use my camera.

Re: AirPods Pro

#129

Post by Longhanks »

graeme wrote: post #117
smachiz wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not quite right. What the anti-noise does is generate an inverse wave to cancel out some (as much as possible) of the waveform of the noise. It's not just playing white noise louder than the external noise. The result is that your ear drum receives a smaller waveform to vibrate to. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_noise_control

Thanks! So it actually destroys the sound and it has no effect? Or does it have an effect on your hearing, but you don’t perceive it?

Based on my knowledge of physics, the wave is eliminated and not in any way perceivable.

Re: AirPods Pro

#130

Post by ssully »

danepowell wrote: post #74

You've been able to get pretty decent Bluetooth in-ear headphones for $20-40 on Amazon for a few years now, can anyone comment on whether AirPods are really 10x better to justify the price? I just have a hard time believing that's possible, but I've never tried them.

I tried switching to Bluetooth headphones around 2014 to terrible success. The entire pairing process seemed more complicated then necessary. This on it's own isn't great, and it was always a recurring pain if I wanted to repair it with a different device, but I kind of got used to it. My biggest issue was just reconnecting to an already paired device was incredibly unreliable. Every so often it just wouldn't pair to a device, and I would either have to just wait (30 mins or so), or redo the pairing process (and sometimes that didn't even work!).

Needless to say, I gave up after 2 months or so and went back to wired headphones. I've use Airpods now for about a year now, mainly at work or when I walk my dogs, and have had zero issues.

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