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AirPods Pro

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281–290 of 391 posts

Re: AirPods Pro

#281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have serious reservations about these. They make big claims yet miss some important, basic design choices. For instance: you will get zero bass with an open back design and the active noise cancellation operates at 200 Hz (presumably) so you can forget about cancelling annoying whines from server fans or turbojets. The dynamic EQ based on a microphone is an interesting choice. This could have really good results if…

The dynamic EQ based on a microphone is an interesting choice. I don't even know if the two are related, not being sound/audio/whatever expert, but I'm continually amazed that I can blast music on a HomePod, speak in a conversational tone or quieter (of course I've tested), and Siri still hears me. Whatever dark wizardry makes that work would come in handy here, yes? Or is your argument more that, dark magic or not,…

It’s all DSP tricks. They can take you pretty far down in receiving signals with bad SNR, but they have limits. The issues here are physics limitations. IEMs are not like subwoofers. They’re more like if your head was inside the enclosure. Porting the enclosure kills some useful resonances. Small drivers need these resonances to make low frequencies because the diameter is simply not large enough.

If you want the quick n dirties about this stuff you can check out IEM design guidelines. They're pretty shoddy and not rigorous, but serve as a decent diving off point.

https://www.sonion.com/wp-content/uploads/Documentation_Desi...

https://www.digikey.com/en/supplier-centers/k/knowles

Re: AirPods Pro

#282
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had good success with Jabra 65t on Android. Probably 1k hours of calls and no complaints except in very high wind. Oh, btw, the connection is very dependent on your Android phone. Bluetooth is in year ~20 of widespread alpha testing and Android implementations vary. I initially had an HTC; it had bluetooth issues. I'm now on a Google-made phone and it's seamless. Anecdotally, Samsungs work well too.

Have a Huawei P20 pro with the 65t Elite Active. I have to reset the Bluetooth, forcing a reconnect everytime I connect them but after that they work seamlessly. They have quite a bit of delay on my device though. Music, calls and pods are amazing. Videos not so much. I wonder if a complete reset would fix it, got them last Christmas and the pairing process was horribly buggy back then and don't feel like risking it…

My guess is it is unfortunately the bluetooth stack on the phone. I also have a pixel3a and it's great.

Re: AirPods Pro

#283
post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No physical buttons on them, but each pod can be programmed to do things based on taps. For instance, my right pod will skip to the next song with a double-tap. My left pod activates Siri. I left my airpods at home today (what a coincidence) so I cannot visit that menu to let you know whether or not mute is one of the possibilities for the tap gestures.

Play/Pause is an option, and serves that purpose

ty both!

Re: AirPods Pro

#284
post #17

The lack of sound isolation is my biggest gripe with my AirPods, so it is nice to see that it has been improved with the Pro version. In the past I have had nausea when using active noise cancelling headphone (especially when used without music), so I am curious to see if any of the reviews hints at this.

> I am curious to see if any of the reviews hints at this.

I think it's probably too individual to go by a review, even if it's addressed. This is the kind of thing the return policy is for, though I realize the convenience of this might not be good enough depending on where you live.

Re: AirPods Pro

#285
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are already spending that much on the power beats pro, sennheiser momentum true wireless, and sony wf-1000xm3. It's only $50 more than the AirPods with wireless charging case. These would be a day one purchase for me if I didn't already have the over-the-ear Sony WH-1000xm3 headphones for 90% of my listening and a recently purchased set of AirPods for the other 10%.

How do you like the WH-1000xm3’s? I think they’re a really dumb pair of headphones considering the fact that they automatically connect to either my phone or laptop at random and I have to reconnect them by holding the power button for 5 seconds every time to switch between laptop and phone. Despite this, the sound quality is pretty good... but it still doesn’t justify how relatively dumb these pair of headphones are…

I like them quite a bit, haven't run into any issues like that. I use them with my phone 95% of the time so switching devices isn't a big deal for me.

The airpods do provide a better experience when it comes to connecting and switching between devices (at least apple devices).

Re: AirPods Pro

#286
post #17

The lack of sound isolation is my biggest gripe with my AirPods, so it is nice to see that it has been improved with the Pro version. In the past I have had nausea when using active noise cancelling headphone (especially when used without music), so I am curious to see if any of the reviews hints at this.

I have serious reservations about these. They make big claims yet miss some important, basic design choices. For instance: you will get zero bass with an open back design and the active noise cancellation operates at 200 Hz (presumably) so you can forget about cancelling annoying whines from server fans or turbojets. The dynamic EQ based on a microphone is an interesting choice. This could have really good results if…

Apple says they adjust the active noise cancellation 200 times a second.

We can't tell exactly what that means just from reading it, but it could very well mean that while the filter is updated 200 times a second, it isn't limited to filtering 200 Hz sound.

I'd be rather surprised if it was.

Re: AirPods Pro

#287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't really mention why? Why are they better than wireless earbuds by Sennheiser, Amazon, Google etc?

Microphone quality on most of the other offerings is atrocious. That said I wish these things didn't have a microphone. People tend to shout into them.

[deleted]

Re: AirPods Pro

#288
post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have serious reservations about these. They make big claims yet miss some important, basic design choices. For instance: you will get zero bass with an open back design and the active noise cancellation operates at 200 Hz (presumably) so you can forget about cancelling annoying whines from server fans or turbojets. The dynamic EQ based on a microphone is an interesting choice. This could have really good results if…

Apple says they adjust the active noise cancellation 200 times a second. We can't tell exactly what that means just from reading it, but it could very well mean that while the filter is updated 200 times a second, it isn't limited to filtering 200 Hz sound. I'd be rather surprised if it was.

There are very few parameters that make sense to update 200 times a second if not the actual voltage level to subtract. If you adjusted EQ parameters 200 times a second you'd just be injecting a ton of noise in the center of the audible band due to phase jumps.

Edit: There is reason to believe it is just 200 Hz ANC. It's the same wording used in Beats over ear headphones that have a W1 chip and ANC. Those headphones have abysmal ANC that doesn't do anything above 500 Hz (aside from adding in some noise).

https://www.engadget.com/2019/10/28/apple-airpods-pro-announ...

https://www.engadget.com/2019/10/15/beats-solo-pro-headphone...

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/beats/studio-wirel...

Re: AirPods Pro

#289
post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not quite right. What the anti-noise does is generate an inverse wave to cancel out some (as much as possible) of the waveform of the noise. It's not just playing white noise louder than the external noise. The result is that your ear drum receives a smaller waveform to vibrate to. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_noise_control

Thanks! So it actually destroys the sound and it has no effect? Or does it have an effect on your hearing, but you don’t perceive it?

As others have mentioned, it might affect sound quality in terms of passing a tiny bit of environmental sound, because ANC isn't 100% efficient. But in terms of hearing, ANC itself has no negative effects on its own, and it is definitely way less damaging to your hearing than if you used the same earphones in the same environment, but without ANC.

Re: AirPods Pro

#290
post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a recommendation for sleep headphones that don't hurt your ears or fall out? I'm a side sleeper, so I've always found the ear I'm sleeping on to get irritated.

I use these (don't know why it says "Apple"; mine just use a headphone jack): https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/earphones/qui... Sleeping on my side isn't 100% ideal but they don't prevent it, for me. My biggest problem is turning over in the night and getting tangled up in the cord, then waking up slightly when I try to adjust it.

That one says Apple because it has the volume up, volume down, and middle button attached to the headset, rather than just wire.

I h ave these, too, and they're pretty great. I don't sleep with these in except on an airplane, but even then never on one of these. They're a little big since they stick out of my ear.

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