AirPods Max phone call ambient noise?

[kastanj]

I’ve tried quite a few headphones and one major complaint I always have is the amount of ambient noise that comes through to the person I’m speaking with when on a phone call.

I’m often in slightly noisy environments, and any headphones just make it unbearable for the person I’m talking to. The Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 has been the best ones I’ve tried so far, but not great. AirPods Pro are extremely terrible at this.

How are the AirPods Max in this regard?

 

[MoparShaha]

Also curious to hear how the AirPods Max perform on calls/video conferencing. Looking for something with a good mic for calls.

 

[chicagofan00]

Was on several conference calls today using my APM and no one said anything to me regarding sound/call quality.

 

[iphone529]

Was on several conference calls today using my APM and no one said anything to me regarding sound/call quality.

How does it sound/feel in your ears when you are talking? Meaning is your voice muffled. Most if not all ANC headphones have this issue and make them worthless on conf calls.

 

[chicagofan00]

How does it sound/feel in your ears when you are talking? Meaning is your voice muffled. Most if not all ANC headphones have this issue and make them worthless on conf calls.

I haven’t had any complaints from others about the quality of my voice in the several days that I have used them now. I myself feel as though I am muffled since I’m using over the ear headphones with ANC but those on the meetings have not mentioned anything saying that I am muffled or it is hard to hear me.

 

[Beau10]

I use it with transparency mode on conference calls, works great.

Obviously what you want to do in a noisy environment. Cafes and the like don't allow people where I'm at so I haven't tested it in a noisy environment.

 

[petterihiisila]

I had them on in several telcos today. According to feedback, the mic sounds better than the M1 Air mic, which itself is pretty good. "You sound clearer and closer" were the words. No one complained about call quality. Cannot say the same about the XM4s (terrible) and NC700 (muffled if ANC is on and I don't talk loudly). Compared to the APPs the mic captures a more bass-rich signal of the speaker, but otherwise the profile is pretty similar to APPs in a not-loud environment.

I haven't had a chance to test in noisy environments like cafes, but the YouTube videos I saw suggest that during the call the Max prioritizes the nearby human voice and doesn't block it, meaning no muffle effect. But it also means that if someone drops a fork when you say "hi", they will hear "hi" and the fork dropping. At the same time it was blocking continuous patterns, like white noise. Uneven, treble-rich and sudden peaks did push through the mic in those reviews, if the talking head was speaking at the same time.

Perhaps it's a trade-off between aggressive ANC and a clear voice. Both can hardly be at 100% at the same moment.

 

[Mr. Y]

I've been complemented on how much clearer I sound than even on the AirPods Pro, and the transparent mode is a lot more noticeable, meaning you can hear your own voice even clearer with the microphones sending your voice back to you making it seem as if you don't have anything covering your ears.

That said, I often get complaints--both AirPods Pro and Max, now--that the listener can hear background noises, such as running the sink, crumpling paper, and the like. Though I'm not often doing those things, I've had two callers shout "OMG! What is that!? It's SO loud!"

 

[LongWayHome]

With transparency mode on they are fantastic but they pick up a TON of background noise. I don't recommend using them in a noisy environment in transparency as they will hear everything going on and it won't be a pleasant experience for whomever you are speaking with.