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ANC is worse in the new pro 3 and worse sound
- Thread starter Kylo83
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Seal, yes. Personal preference affects which one you prefer. Not that 2 sounds dark and 3 sounds bright. At least on my pairs, the difference is huge. Educated guess: 8-10 dB difference above 4-5khz.
My reference is a different brand, but I don’t use those much as the AirPods are simply easier to use. Compared to those, APP2 is darker but acceptable, APP3 is much brighter in a quite (to me) objectionable way. I felt the same way about the original standard AirPods by the way, but I haven’t tried newer versions of those.
You don’t have to agree, just laying out the basis for my experience.
I didn’t use Apple Music for the test. All settings were identical.
Edit: One thing we, including me, may be underestimating here is unit to unit variance, which is likely several dB. Maybe I have a particularly dark APP2, and a particularly bright APP3. But, I think there is more going on than simply frequency response.
Ears are definitely unique. The APP3 don't fit me as well as the APP2. The APP3 don't fit terribly, and they've stayed put through a few sweaty exercise sessions. But they don't feel as secure as the APP2. They're a bit better after dropping down to the Small tips from the Medium. Both passed the seal test, but they feel slightly more secure with the Small tips.
So for me, APP3 wins on ANC. APP2 wins on fit. And sound quality is a draw.
I didn't guess, I measured. Fit may affect that for others, as may the test tones/noise. As does individual hearing response. Older people will have reduced high-frequency sensitivity. A transducer that sounds bright to a 20 year old may well sound far more muted to an older listener.
ANC is progressively less effective at higher frequencies.
Not that I'm interested in arguing; I'm getting the results (objectively verified) I expected - if someone isn't then maybe they should buy something else.
Fully agree on the ANC, with ear tips fit reported OK on the 3 the AirPods Pro 2 performs absolutely better! And if the 3 pods are not perfectly fitting it gets even worse. So it requires a lot of effort positioning the pods to get ANC to perform as good as possible, which is still WORSE than that of the AirPods Pro 2!
I challenge Apple to prove the 3 to be even at par with the 2 wrt ANC, let alone 'being up to twice as good' as the 2.
FYI: I am very satisfied with all Apple products I currently own (and that are many!) that always have performed as sped'ed, this is my first encounter of an Apple product that does not perform as specified on this topic by them.
In a 'real world use' Apple WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PROVE their sales pitch 'being up to twice as good as the 2', perhaps they can tweak things in lab conditions such that it does.
- Very disappointed user -
You’re talking about ANC, I’m talking about frequency response. Did you measure that?
Nice update to ANC, absolutely asinine sound profile. For Metal, Rock and the likes I vastly prefer the APP2.
Ah! For some reason I thought you were talking about the effectiveness of the ANC; my bad.
Yes.
To the extent that such measurements make sense, at least, due to the behavior of the adaptive EQ, and volume dependent EQ behavior. I did that using a B&K 5128. And I provided a wide-band stimulus to "set" the adaptive response prior to measurement (if you don't do that, the results will be very wonky).
More work to do there before writing that up; which won't be here.
...
On another note ... I wonder how many have tried the Headphone Accommodations and Custom Profile setup. That's been a thing since at least the AirPods Max (maybe before, I don't recall), and that may have enough of a compensatory effect for some people that don't like the new, native, signature.
I did not know that setting, found it after some googling - but, it says my headphones are not supported…
Edit: Hooray, success! I reset the AirPods, and went to the custom profile, then I was allowed to create a profile. It still sounded like crap. Then I turned headphone adaptation OFF, and that brought therapies back to what I am used to: Still a bit on the dark side, but definitely usable! don’t have the 2’s with me here, so I can’t A/B them.
This fixes the issue I had with them, so I can now fully enjoy The much improved fit and ANC. I am happy, although I am annoyed that I had to go to accessibility to make my headphones sound normal…
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Exactly, many others just want to think their new product is better when it really isn’t
You pretend to speak for everybody, but you don't.
And you clearly are just making excuses to feel like your old product is better when it really isn’t
I think a big issue with the AirPods Pro 3 is that Apple can't please everyone with the ear tips provided, even in five different sizes. As such, what may sound great with one user may be terrible with another user. The only way to solve this is using custom-molded ear tips that fit one specific person, but such customization is almost as expensive as the AirPods 3 itself.
In testing (check squiglink graphs) the Pro 3 have punchier bass than either the 1 or 2. If anyone is experiencing flat sounding music it's probably a fit issue with the new ear tips. Bass drop off on IEMs is a classic symptom of not getting a good seal.
It did sound thin and flat for me until I turned Headphone Adaptation OFF. Not sure why it was on in the first place, I did not enable it. Anyone experiencing sound quality issues should check this setting (in Accessibility)
Where exactly is this? I just looked and either I’m blind, or it’s not there on my 17pm. I’m not experiencing any issue, but, I was curious to see if that was on. All I see is headphone accommodation.
I have the two side by tried and compared the two, along with my AirPod Max at home yesterday.
For anc I rate AirPod Pro 2 the worst. Followed by AirPod Max, with AirPod Pro 3 blocking out the most background noise. In my case the noise was music from the lounge room stereo, the dishwasher and also traffic noise when I went outside.
For sound quality, APP2 were the worst. The most tinny and harsh sounding. APP3 had no harsh upper mids and more bass. I’d call them slightly bass heavy, but I’m listening to dub techno so that was a benefit. The AirPod Max were the most balanced. I’d rate them overall as APP2 worst, APP3 next and AirPod Max best.
APP3 are definitely going to be replacing my APP2 for daily use, while the APM are still good for when I’m going to be listening to music in the office. But the additional bass, anc and weight and size benefits mean I won’t be taking the AirPod Max wherever I go anymore.
So I’m pretty happy with the APP3
Accessibility > Hearing > Audio and visual > Headphone adaptation (sorry if the translation is off).
no I wanted to love my fave product but I dont like the sound quality, its a fact but I dont care what you lot thing, I said the truth and thats it
APP2 were my favourite apple product ever.
APP3 are interesting. While the upgrade from gen 1 to gen 2 was a big positive in almost every respect, that isn’t the case with APP3.
APP3 don’t fit me as comfortably, but I get a good seal with the M tips. I find the ear tips very difficult to remove and take off, but I guess I won’t be doing that much anymore. The battery in the case gets depleted much faster as expected. The ANC is much improved, I find it almost scary now when I’m walking to the gym or at the gym how much sound is being blocked out.
Sound quality - I find the same tracks on APP3 compared to the APP2 do sound quite a bit different. I wouldn’t say better. APP2 sound more clear to me. APP3 sound more bass heavy, and almost like the music is being played in a bigger room. TBH, I like the sound of both. Im having more fun listening to music with the APP3 right now and when I put on APP2 to compare, I don’t get the same “energy” from the music. Whatever that means and is worth. Haha
APP3 are interesting. While the upgrade from gen 1 to gen 2 was a big positive in almost every respect, that isn’t the case with APP3.
APP3 don’t fit me as comfortably, but I get a good seal with the M tips. I find the ear tips very difficult to remove and take off, but I guess I won’t be doing that much anymore. The battery in the case gets depleted much faster as expected. The ANC is much improved, I find it almost scary now when I’m walking to the gym or at the gym how much sound is being blocked out.
Sound quality - I find the same tracks on APP3 compared to the APP2 do sound quite a bit different. I wouldn’t say better. APP2 sound more clear to me. APP3 sound more bass heavy, and almost like the music is being played in a bigger room. TBH, I like the sound of both. Im having more fun listening to music with the APP3 right now and when I put on APP2 to compare, I don’t get the same “energy” from the music. Whatever that means and is worth. Haha
