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The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

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Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#111

Post by jamies888888 »

I had to return my AirPods Pro 3. I upgraded from AirPods 4 with ANC and they were worse in every department I could see. I assume battery life is better, but I've never ran out of battery anyway.

I've never much got on with in-ear rubber tips, and these were no different to any I've tried, despite reviews stating they were super comfortable.

My left ear is also worse to get it fitting right than my right ear. I have tried every size provided, none seem right. A grimace in the gym is enough to unseat even the most secure fit/seal, in either ear.

My main gripes specifically with AirPods Pro 3, which I've not seen in any other review;

- Because the rubber tips vary in size, the case has to accommodate the largest. This means if you're using small tips, there's a lot of spare room, which means the AirPods can easily be mis-seated, breaking the charge connection.

- The case is substantially bigger than AirPods 4 with ANC. I would say ~40%.

- The volume swipe on the stalk action is very tricky to trigger.

- Any stalk action is a bad idea when it's so easy to unseat them. I skip songs with a double press regularly, and nearly every time I had to push in and rotate after.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#112

Post by drcongo »

js2 wrote: post #65
drcongo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

None of the Apple tips work for me, they all leak outside noise and slip out of my ears. I've tried nearly every 3rd party tip on the market, the AZLA ones are the best but with caveats. The Xelastic tips [0] provide the best comfort, noise cancellation and stay in your ears perfectly, but they wear out and become too soft quickly - like every two to three months. The Max tips [1] are durable, stay in properly, and a…

The only thing that works for me is DIY tips. I buy Comply 600 Core Series (size medium), tear the comply foam off the plastic tube, then place the foam around the Apple silicone tips (size large). None of the Apple tips on their own seal correctly, nor do any of the numerous third-party tips that I've tried, including hybrid silicone/foam tips. I get about 6 months out of the foam and they fit in the charging case m…

I tried that one too but they'd squeeze themselves out as the Apple tips' silicon is the smoothest substance known to humanity.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#113

Post by bobbylarrybobby »

laborcontract wrote: post #86
el_benhameen wrote: post #62

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 batt…

Seems odd to call it a fit issue when the solution is to make the fit worse by dislodging them from your ear. If it's a fit issue then improving the fit should make it go away!

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#114

Post by bobbylarrybobby »

aunty_helen wrote: post #53
seemaze wrote: post #43

I frequently use my AirPods Pro when working in my shop. Previously the APP2 did a great job of reducing loud tool noise and I could mostly still listen to music or podcasts at reasonable levels. With the APP3, they are largely the same except with the louder tools (circular saw, cordless grinder) they produce a horrific feedback instead of canceling the noise. So much so that I switched back to my APP2 (which do not…

I feel a bit the same. I rushed out to upgrade for the better noise cancelling, apparently better mic quality and live translation feature. All three have been a miss. Noise cancelling is much the same and seems to leak higher pitch noises more. Mic is more or less still bad and the live translation only works in doors in a quiet room. And I resent the upgrade to 26 and all of the bugs like phantom notifications. The…

Apple has done some really shady marketing about live translation because it's also supported on the AirPods Pro 2. It's clear they don't want people to know that to drive the upgrade to the 3s.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#115

Post by ofcrpls »

Fwirt wrote: post #95

Something interesting occurs to me. Many of the anecdotes about the squealing on flights says the noise goes away when yawning. Yawning lifts the soft palate and equalizes ambient pressure behind the eardrum in the sinuses. Air pressure is lower in a pressurized airplane cabin than on the ground and is usually more dynamic as well. I wonder if an air pressure gradient forms in the ear canal when in the air that exace…

I discovered another way to remove this problem - Initiate a screen recording and it's gone. I was doing this to report a TestFlight app bug on a flight I was experiencing and wow did the ANC improve so much.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#116

Post by HelloMcFly »

jamies888888 wrote: post #111

I had to return my AirPods Pro 3. I upgraded from AirPods 4 with ANC and they were worse in every department I could see. I assume battery life is better, but I've never ran out of battery anyway. I've never much got on with in-ear rubber tips, and these were no different to any I've tried, despite reviews stating they were super comfortable. My left ear is also worse to get it fitting right than my right ear. I have…

> This means if you're using small tips, there's a lot of spare room, which means the AirPods can easily be mis-seated, breaking the charge connection.

I've used many headphones - probably upwards of 10 pairs cross 5 brands - in my day with rubber tips that can accommodate multiple sizes. This has never been a problem for me with any brand. I've switched to open ear headphones (over-ear for flights) since last year so my knowledge base is aging.

Is the magnetic action in Apple's case not strong enough, maybe?

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#117

Post by el_benhameen »

laborcontract wrote: post #86
el_benhameen wrote: post #62

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 batt…

I’ve tried with every set of tips except for the xs, same thumping with all of them. Zero issues running almost daily with the second gens for several years. I think it’s more than fit—either oversensitive ANC or something with the composition of the tips themselves. Oddly enough, it’s not present in both ears every time. Sometimes both, sometimes just one, rarely neither. I’ve stopped gathering data because I switched to a different set of headphones.

I’ll grant you that the ANC in the third gen is fantastic. I just felt like the second gen fit themselves into my routine, whereas I have to fiddle and futz with the third gen to get them just-so so that they don’t inhibit my routine.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#118

Post by can16358p »

Fwirt wrote: post #83
el_benhameen wrote: post #62

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. Howev…

Just curious, which Sennheisers did you give up on in favor of APP3?

I have over-the-ear Momentum 3 and love it, but if APP3 provides better sound quality and better ANC I might consider switching as Momentum 3, while I love it, is bulky, heavy, and started to wear off and break down.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#119

Post by spot5010 »

em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #92
em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, tha…

But you said "phase is 180 degrees" which is 1π, while Barkhausen instead says integer multiple of 2π.

Found an article which talks about the phase margin, referencing 80 degrees (pi). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_margin

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#120

Post by laborcontract »

aunty_helen wrote: post #53
seemaze wrote: post #43

I frequently use my AirPods Pro when working in my shop. Previously the APP2 did a great job of reducing loud tool noise and I could mostly still listen to music or podcasts at reasonable levels. With the APP3, they are largely the same except with the louder tools (circular saw, cordless grinder) they produce a horrific feedback instead of canceling the noise. So much so that I switched back to my APP2 (which do not…

I feel a bit the same. I rushed out to upgrade for the better noise cancelling, apparently better mic quality and live translation feature. All three have been a miss. Noise cancelling is much the same and seems to leak higher pitch noises more. Mic is more or less still bad and the live translation only works in doors in a quiet room. And I resent the upgrade to 26 and all of the bugs like phantom notifications. The…

Seems like you should try and get a replacement
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