We need to talk about AirPods Pro • Hacker News Board

Re: We need to talk about AirPods Pro

#11

Post by skrebbel » Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 7:34 PM UTC

JCharante wrote: post #6

I'm personally a fan of the conspiracy theory that because multiple ANC products have had their abilities reduced in firmware updates over the past couple years, research teams have been independently finding out that user's hearing are being damaged by highly effective ANC and have had to turn them down without admitting fault. Although I'm not even sure if that's how sound waves work, and recently there was Bose's…

Googled it so you don't have to: ANC in this case appears to stand for Active Noise Control, i.e. noise-cancelling headphones

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_noise_control

Re: We need to talk about AirPods Pro

#12

Post by russellbeattie » Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 7:35 PM UTC

JCharante wrote: post #6

I'm personally a fan of the conspiracy theory that because multiple ANC products have had their abilities reduced in firmware updates over the past couple years, research teams have been independently finding out that user's hearing are being damaged by highly effective ANC and have had to turn them down without admitting fault. Although I'm not even sure if that's how sound waves work, and recently there was Bose's…

The other option is that Bose, Sony or some other high-end audio company has a patent on whatever noise cancellation system was in place originally. A decision was made to avoid a legal battle (or a deal fell through at the last minute) and the feature was nerfed until Apple can strong arm the patent holder into a better deal.

Re: We need to talk about AirPods Pro

#13

Post by kylehotchkiss » Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 7:41 PM UTC

_bxg1 wrote: post #8

I got mine in December (I believe this means I had the "bad" firmware), but I still loved them immediately. However, about 1 month later I noticed that noise cancelling (and passthrough as well, which was even more annoying) wasn't really working on one side. I tried factory-resetting them, tried everything I could think of, and nothing helped. So I scheduled an Apple Store appointment. To Apple's credit, they replac…

Some credit cards offer extended warranties - maybe worth a look if the card you purchased with offers some sort of purchase protection. You'd need the receipt, of course.

Re: We need to talk about AirPods Pro

#14

Post by jmole » Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 7:43 PM UTC

russellbeattie wrote: post #12

JCharante wrote: post #6

I'm personally a fan of the conspiracy theory that because multiple ANC products have had their abilities reduced in firmware updates over the past couple years, research teams have been independently finding out that user's hearing are being damaged by highly effective ANC and have had to turn them down without admitting fault. Although I'm not even sure if that's how sound waves work, and recently there was Bose's…

The other option is that Bose, Sony or some other high-end audio company has a patent on whatever noise cancellation system was in place originally. A decision was made to avoid a legal battle (or a deal fell through at the last minute) and the feature was nerfed until Apple can strong arm the patent holder into a better deal.

this is exactly what happened.

Re: We need to talk about AirPods Pro

#15

Post by GraemeL » Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 7:46 PM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #9

Mine are on 2B588 and I think I bought them late enough that I never even had the original firmware to compare. I do know that when I first put them in I thought the power went out in my house (due the sudden lack of noise). I would like to know if I'm crazy or if these don't stay in ears well at all. Kind of the opposite of what you would expect from an earpod like this but I can get them to fall out in And before I…

I've had problems with pretty much every in-ear bud I've had up until I bought the AirPod Pro's. Not had a single time when I've felt they have even started to come loose.

I wear them with the stalks pointing forward at around 45 degrees.

Re: We need to talk about AirPods Pro

#16

Post by jiofih » Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 8:00 PM UTC

> I actually told myself I would need to be extra careful from now on crossing the road. The noise cancellation was so good, I thought I might be hit by a car.

Sounds like the author hasn’t ever used any other good ANC cans? Both the Bose and Sony pose the same hazard.

Re: We need to talk about AirPods Pro

#17

Post by jiofih » Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 8:01 PM UTC

jmole wrote: post #14

russellbeattie wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other option is that Bose, Sony or some other high-end audio company has a patent on whatever noise cancellation system was in place originally. A decision was made to avoid a legal battle (or a deal fell through at the last minute) and the feature was nerfed until Apple can strong arm the patent holder into a better deal.

this is exactly what happened.

source?

Re: We need to talk about AirPods Pro

#18

Post by _bxg1 » Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 8:05 PM UTC

kylehotchkiss wrote: post #13

_bxg1 wrote: post #8

I got mine in December (I believe this means I had the "bad" firmware), but I still loved them immediately. However, about 1 month later I noticed that noise cancelling (and passthrough as well, which was even more annoying) wasn't really working on one side. I tried factory-resetting them, tried everything I could think of, and nothing helped. So I scheduled an Apple Store appointment. To Apple's credit, they replac…

Some credit cards offer extended warranties - maybe worth a look if the card you purchased with offers some sort of purchase protection. You'd need the receipt, of course.

Alas, they were a gift :/

Re: We need to talk about AirPods Pro

#19

Post by Infinitesimus » Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 8:07 PM UTC

_bxg1 wrote: post #8

I got mine in December (I believe this means I had the "bad" firmware), but I still loved them immediately. However, about 1 month later I noticed that noise cancelling (and passthrough as well, which was even more annoying) wasn't really working on one side. I tried factory-resetting them, tried everything I could think of, and nothing helped. So I scheduled an Apple Store appointment. To Apple's credit, they replac…

Earwax varies across different races thanks to biology ( consistency, color ) so one possibility is that their test group didn't cover some for an extended wearing period m

Re: We need to talk about AirPods Pro

#20

Post by leetcrew » Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 8:34 PM UTC

JCharante wrote: post #6

I'm personally a fan of the conspiracy theory that because multiple ANC products have had their abilities reduced in firmware updates over the past couple years, research teams have been independently finding out that user's hearing are being damaged by highly effective ANC and have had to turn them down without admitting fault. Although I'm not even sure if that's how sound waves work, and recently there was Bose's…

why would people's hearing be damaged by highly effective ANC? it's more plausible that they would be harmed by a bad implementation where the second signal isn't perfectly out of phase.