The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem • Hacker News Board

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#201

Post by ants_everywhere » Wed, Oct 29, 2025, 12:31 AM UTC

afandian wrote: post #162

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…

Are you sure that the perceived reduction in noise corresponds to a reduction in damaging sound pressure levels? I know about destructive interference in theory, but was always curious about the perceptual vs real SPL. Whenever I’ve tried ANC (Bose) it’s always hurt my ears, even when quiet.

Active noise cancellation does not provide noise reduction and active noise cancellation headphones generally don't have official NRRs.

Closed headphones or foam ear plugs would be better than earbuds with ANC. People have tried to create informal amateur NRR ratings for many consumer headphones, but since it's your only pair of ears in my opinion it makes sense to go for officially rated hearing protection.

If you have sensitive ears you can tell ANC works by playing audio and that it's far from perfect. In very loud environments there's also the risk that a damaged earbud will squeal or feedback, disabling noise protection and exposing your ear to the full brunt of the loud noise.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#202

Post by austhrow743 » Wed, Oct 29, 2025, 12:39 AM UTC

falkensmaize wrote: post #139

thenobsta wrote: post #132

:( I recently lost my APP1 and was going to buy new airpods this week. I guess I'm going to look elsewhere until Apple improves their quality. I'm one of the few that are bothered by ANC, so I don't use it. But I also don't want to buy/support a subpar product release.

This is not an ad, just personal experience, but I went through two pairs of AirPod Pro 2s in the last couple of years and both developed problems outside of warranty. I bought a pair of Earfuns from Amazon and they’re honestly pretty great. 95% of the sound quality and functionality of AirPod pros for about 25% of the price.

>and functionality of AirPod pros

Is the automatic connection and switching between devices equivalent?

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#203

Post by kevinherron » Wed, Oct 29, 2025, 1:15 AM UTC

I flew to NYC and back last week and never experienced anything like this with mine shrug

The 3s have been an improvement on the 2s for me, especially in fit and feel in ear.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#204

Post by plandis » Wed, Oct 29, 2025, 1:29 AM UTC

I can reproduce this by covering one of the exterior mics used for ANC when there is a decent amount of background noise in the environment. It results in feedback that causes a high pitch ringing.

The AirPods Pro 2 don’t have this same issue. I can’t reproduce the same behavior regardless of how I cover the exterior on the pro 2s.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#205

Post by mikepurvis » Wed, Oct 29, 2025, 1:41 AM UTC

can16358p wrote: post #118

Fwirt wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I have an HD450 BT pair and they’re my first ones that have ANC— I’ve found it a game changer for long flights. The only bummer is that wearing cans interferes with a neck brace like trtl; on that basis alone I’d be interested in trying ones that were in-ear style.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#206

Post by kreativ_py » Wed, Oct 29, 2025, 1:47 AM UTC

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…

you need to stay up to date to protect against 0 click hacks in the wild

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#207

Post by jim180 » Wed, Oct 29, 2025, 1:58 AM UTC

pugworthy wrote: post #168

jim180 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, the left ear.

Does it matter which side of the plane you are on or how close to the wing (engines) you are? I could imagine an audio difference between left and right if you were sitting at a window near an engine.

I did sit on both sides (one flight was next to wing) - did had same issue both times.

One thing that was common- I was sitting in a window seat.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#208

Post by cozzyd » Wed, Oct 29, 2025, 2:06 AM UTC

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…

The acoustic importance mismatch may result in the wrong gain?

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#209

Post by userbinator » Wed, Oct 29, 2025, 2:49 AM UTC

temp0826 wrote: post #143

gwbas1c wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's an IEM?

"In-ear monitor", fancy buzzword for earbud afaict (I am definitely not a part of the audiophile scene and am not sure if there is actually a difference there, except maybe they insert very deep in the ear canal and have excellent isolation).

The term "earbud" usually implies an earphone with no seal, while "IEM" implies one that seals to the ear canal.

Re: The AirPods Pro 3 flight problem

#210

Post by userbinator » Wed, Oct 29, 2025, 2:55 AM UTC

spot5010 wrote: post #27

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…

An even wilder guess: the speed of sound varies with air density.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_sound#Altitude_variat...

If they were calibrated assuming a certain distance from the microphone that "hears" what the wearer's ear is hearing and the ear itself, then it's possible a change in air density could position the area of highest constructive interference at the eardrum instead of the intended destructive interference for some frequencies.