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AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

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Re: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

#361

Airpods is one of the invention that you don’t know you need it but when you buy it, you know it’s good and it just works seamlessly It mentioned in the page that it’ll support high fidelity audio? Does this mean that they came up with new encoding for wireless transmission? Possibly something better than AAC?

The integration is everything

Re: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

#362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ctrl-F “lossless”, “24”, “ALAC” on the tech specs page. No results. I am no audiophile, and I don’t really care about lossless audio one way or the other, but it seems deceptive to plaster “Apple Lossless” all over the Apple Music app when no Apple headphones can play lossless audio. All the marketing talk about the audio improvements in the H2 chip seems designed to obscure this fact, and to compensate for the fact…

Judging a headphone by specific codec support just doesn't make sense. Support for acoustically transparent codecs is good enough. Nobody has every demonstrated an ability to reliably distinguish high bitrate mp3 or AAC from lossless. There are still benefits to lossless from a preservation perspective, but for actually listening to music it really doesn't matter.

And the main problem is in Bluetooth protocol. It barely handless lossless data even in non-BLE mode. Which drains the battery.

Re: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

#363
post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I had a similar issue and the process was super painless. It didn't require going into a store. They shipped you a box with a prepaid label where you put in your problematic AirPods. Then they shipped you a new pair for free. Turnaround time was fast.

This thread has been eye opening. I’ll check out online support and see if that’s better than in person. In person is a lot stingier now than it was 5 years back.

Also check out this comment if you've been having issues with noise during phone calls: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32758233

I didn't even realize this setting existed but turns out it makes a big difference!

Re: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

#364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost all earbuds just fall out of my ears for some reason, but Airpods Pro + memory foam tips allow me to run with them.

Interesting, which tips do you use if i may ask?

I’ve used Comply foam tips and can run and workout without issue. You can squish them down and then they expand to fill your ear. Better sound isolation too.

Re: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

#365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other than my phone I'm not sure there is another device I own that has given me more benefit per $ than airpods.

Thought experiment: what’s the highest price Apple could charge for them, after which you’d pass on the purchase?

I'd say under $500AUD I would still pay for them assuming they were the only product in their class. But at say $400 I'd opt to pick a competitors product.

Re: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

#366
post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve seen people minimize the usability of the AirPods. My dad who’s quite technology-averse, figured it out in 2 minutes while I helped him over FaceTime. The only reason he agreed to even try it was because the wired EarPods broke. Since then he just loves his AirPods.

This is Apple’s strength in general. Much easier for older folks to use.

I’ve never really unpacked this idea in my mind before, but if you stop for a second you can quickly appreciate how powerful this type of experience is.

Older folks do not like feeling left behind. if Apple is causing them to feel liberated from their state of techno exile, that’s going to create insane goodwill.

Re: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

#367
post #60

It's wild how much money Apple has made from Bluetooth headphones that don't suck. That's literally it. They're portable, pair easily and (somewhat) work with multiple devices. I have top of the line Bose Bluetooth headphones that still, in 2022, have issues with multiple devices. I can't count how many times I've started playing music on my iPhone only to realize that the headphones think my laptop is playing, so th…

Moreover, it's amazing how they've managed to make a bluetooth accessory that is intuitive to older folks. I never bothered buying my parents bluetooth devices because they'd always end up in the drawer from disuse. They use their Airpods daily and never ask me for help. A wonder.

I still remember the time I opened the box on a new Ipod, and there was no instruction booklet. The contrast with my previous device (a Sony minidisc player) was shocking.

Re: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

#368

Airpods is one of the invention that you don’t know you need it but when you buy it, you know it’s good and it just works seamlessly It mentioned in the page that it’ll support high fidelity audio? Does this mean that they came up with new encoding for wireless transmission? Possibly something better than AAC?

I’ve tried many many pairs of earbuds. Nothing comes close to the overall experience of AirPods.

Re: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

#369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a lot of alternatives noted for their performance. Jabra, Bose, Sony all have earned high marks from reviewers.

I’ve got the extremely well regarded Sony WH-1000XM4s. Getting them to switch between devices is an absolute pain in the ass compared to Apple’s fairly seamless handoff. The custom Bluetooth processor seems to be letting Apple solve a lot of pain points that every other Bluetooth headphone just makes you live with.

"Upgrading" to my Sony's was painful. Beforehand I had some cheap Chinese brand that had the best bluetooth experience of my life.

I could switch devices and the one I was using could connect up easy without having to do the whole disconnect from the other device first thing.

I suspect on connect it was also issuing a disconnect to the previous sender as well because I never had an issue of a device reconnecting overtop.

Multiple devices could be paired at the same time and it just latched on to whichever device tried to connect last.

Even apple doesn't do well at this. Apple also has all kinds of weird bugs and sound issues. They are still nice for walking around though so I won't be ditching them anytime soon.

Re: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)

#370

It's wild how much money Apple has made from Bluetooth headphones that don't suck. That's literally it. They're portable, pair easily and (somewhat) work with multiple devices. I have top of the line Bose Bluetooth headphones that still, in 2022, have issues with multiple devices. I can't count how many times I've started playing music on my iPhone only to realize that the headphones think my laptop is playing, so th…

Weird. I've got the QC35 (v1) and have no issues switching devices. I don't even have the Bose app on my phone.

I'm starting to think the Bose app is the problem. I don't have it installed either, and I also don't have issues with multiple devices..
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