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The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

basicappleguy.com

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Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#81
post #70

Anecdotal, one of my colleagues was sounding surprisingly clear on one of the calls, and I had to ask him what is he using. Turns out whose were AirPods Pro 3, so my first impression with their microphone is quite amazing. Comparable to "studio mics from MBP" from a generation or two ago. He shared noise cancellation is also great.

It might also be because newer Bluetooth codecs being used. I think Apple doesn't publish a lot of documentation about it (or it isn't obvious, at least...)

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#82
post #70

Anecdotal, one of my colleagues was sounding surprisingly clear on one of the calls, and I had to ask him what is he using. Turns out whose were AirPods Pro 3, so my first impression with their microphone is quite amazing. Comparable to "studio mics from MBP" from a generation or two ago. He shared noise cancellation is also great.

Probably Airpods Pro 3 then and not Airpods 3. The latter have no noise cancellation.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#83

I have this happen outside of flights. Cupping your finger over the ANC mic is enough to trigger it. The new tips (that’s my guess, at least) also transmit vibrations into your ears much more than the old tips or third party memory foam tips. This results in a popping noise when walking or moving around, and a horrible thumping sound when running with them in. I think the latter is partially caused by the “reduce lou…

I have been able to trigger it when fumbling around with adjusting the fit. If I run my finger over the top of the body I can get a brief squeal out of them. Happened just a few seconds ago. I also have noticed on multiple occasions that if I take them both out of my ears and cup them in the same hand, they squeal audibly enough to hear faintly from a couple feet away. The skin contact sensor is very sensitive.

However, unlike a lot of other commenters in this thread, I feel like the APP3 are a huge leap forward from the APP2 and have had zero regrets with the upgrade (other than the forced iOS 26 upgrade, but I feel like that's inevitable anyway.) They stay in much better, the fit is more comfortable, the battery life is better, the ANC probably drops background noise another 10db subjectively, and most of all, the sound quality is absolutely stellar. I have owned several midrange headphones and a portable DAC and I find myself preferring the AirPods over them. I haven't worn my Sennheisers since I got the APP3.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#84

Interesting. I have roughly 50,000 flight miles on the new AirPods Pro 3, and while I do prefer them to the 2s, I too have some annoyances with the left AirPod. In my case it never feels like it fits my ear canal quite right, to the point that I thought I might want different size tips - after trying all the tips, that's not it. The seal is in fact good, but the different feel is noticeable. The noise cancellation al…

I feel like I'm in-between sizes or something. The medium Apple eartips are more comfortable but tend to sit farther out of my ear canal and feel like they're working their way out. The small eartips stay in more securely, but sit uncomfortably far into my ear canal and lose seal when talking or putting my head in certain positions. I eventually settled on the mediums and have become accustomed to the feeling of them "falling out" even when they're not.

But yes, odd to hear that other people also have issues with the left ear fit, because they must be identical shapes. I wonder if human physiology averages to the left ear being smaller or something. Although I feel like the right ear falls out more easily if I switch to the small tips...

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#85

A wild guess as to what is happening. I haven’t actually tested this hypothesis so I could be completely wrong. In feedback systems, the gain is a function of frequency, and typically decreases when going from low frequency to high frequency. This is often accompanied by a phase delay. So if the overall gain of the system is high enough, there will be some high frequency where the gain is 1, and the phase is 180 degr…

Sounds like you are stating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkhausen_stability_criterion (1921):

"if A is the gain of the amplifying element in the circuit and β(jω) is the transfer function of the feedback path, so βA is the loop gain around the feedback loop of the circuit, the circuit will sustain steady-state oscillations only at frequencies for which:

1: The loop gain is equal to unity in absolute magnitude, that is, |βA|=1, and 2: the phase shift around the loop is zero or an integer multiple of 2π: ∠βA=2πn,n∈{0,1,2,…}"

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#86

I have this happen outside of flights. Cupping your finger over the ANC mic is enough to trigger it. The new tips (that’s my guess, at least) also transmit vibrations into your ears much more than the old tips or third party memory foam tips. This results in a popping noise when walking or moving around, and a horrible thumping sound when running with them in. I think the latter is partially caused by the “reduce lou…

The horrible thumping is purely a fit issue. The solution to the thumping when running is to either size down the tips or to slightly dislodge the tips from your ear.

It’s not ideal, I’ll grant you that.

While we may have some overlap in issues, I would say that the Airpods Pro 3 are incredible. I’ve ditched my Airpods Max entirely. The noise cancellation works too well, the sleep detection is a godsend, and the battery life is so good. I use my airpods to sleep. before, i’d always wake up to dead airpods. now, they have like 70% batteries when i wake up, because the sleep detection kicks in.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#87

A wild guess as to what is happening. I haven’t actually tested this hypothesis so I could be completely wrong. In feedback systems, the gain is a function of frequency, and typically decreases when going from low frequency to high frequency. This is often accompanied by a phase delay. So if the overall gain of the system is high enough, there will be some high frequency where the gain is 1, and the phase is 180 degr…

I just had a thought, it's possible to completely disable ANC in settings, turning them into "dumb" bluetooth headphones. (Enable "Off Listening Mode" in Airpods Settings and the option will become available in Control Center.) If some of us who are able to replicate this effect consistently could try turning ANC off and seeing if the effect still occurs, that would narrow it down to being feedback related from Transparency/ANC or being something external like back EMF.

I just tested this myself and the two ways that I am able to get consistent squealing (stroking the upper body when in-ear and cupping them in the hand) both fail to replicate when ANC is off. So this does point to a feedback issue.

My other thought is that the APP3 may have microphones located next to the drivers in the ear canal, both for measuring fit, and for the new "own voice amplification" feature that appears in hearing control center if you enable Hearing Assistance. Maybe vibration is leaking through the body to the inner microphone.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#88
Just one data point, but I was on a flight this weekend and AirPods Pro 3 worked fine for me with ANC. No feedback or other noises, just a slight bit of wind noise when the overhead air duct was directed straight at my head (so I angled the duct slightly away from me).
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