ANC weak

[Otflyer]

Anyone else think the AirPods pro ANC is weak? I walked along a busy street and though muffled I could clearly hear the traffic. I don’t expect these to rival over ear ANC headphones but, I did expect slightly better. I tried all combinations of ear tips.

Edit: today I went and exchanged my APP’s at the Apple store. The new set passed the seal test. The sound and ANC is noticeably better on the new pair. I have read where others have Exchanged theirs and got better results. With this being the first release, I wonder if there is something in the production process that creates some variation.

 

[Nozuka]

Only used at the gym so far. At first it seemed to me like it was too weak too, but when listening to something it seems just fine. And i guess it's also a bit safer if you can still hear what's going on around you a little bit.

It makes a big difference though.
When i watched some neflix on the crosstrainer with the old Airpods i had to almost turn it up to max (around 90%) on monday, because the treadmills were very loud. and it was still hard to understand everything. But i was afraid to turn it up any louder...

Yesterday i used the Pro and i was able to watch more episodes at just around 50% volume and i could understand everything very clearly. In-ear and ANC help alot with this. And is also much better to preserve my hearing.

 

[Paco II]

Out of curiosity, have you used headphones with ANC previously?

Anyone else think the AirPods pro ANC is weak? I walked along a busy street and though muffled I could clearly hear the traffic. I don’t expect these to rival over ear ANC headphones but, I did expect slightly better. I tried all combinations of ear tips.

 

[kemo]

Personally I have not used ANC headphones before and find it perfect. Sitting in the office and even with music off I can't hear my colleagues talking and staying basically next to me.

 

[chabig]

Anyone else think the AirPods pro ANC is weak? I walked along a busy street and though muffled I could clearly hear the traffic. I don’t expect these to rival over ear ANC headphones but, I did expect slightly better. I tried all combinations of ear tips.

Muffling external noise is exactly what the ANC should do. ANC won't make the world around you completely silent. If you expect otherwise, you need to adjust your expectations. You didn't mention what you were listening to. I assume music? Was the volume of the traffic so loud that you couldn't hear the music?

 

[JBGoode]

Compared to my over the ear Sonys the ANC is weak although this was not unexpected. It does make me wonder how it compares to Sony’s latest buds though.

 

[Irock619]

Anyone else think the AirPods pro ANC is weak? I walked along a busy street and though muffled I could clearly hear the traffic. I don’t expect these to rival over ear ANC headphones but, I did expect slightly better. I tried all combinations of ear tips.

this is commonly known if you’ve owned Beats Studio with ANC. It doesn’t compare to others out there at all. The adaptive feature is what makes it inferior to others. Supposedly ANC will change the level of noise canceling based on your current environment, when others don’t adapt at all and just work amazingly better. With that said, I still bought AirPods pro because it’s better than other in ear designs.

 

[zhenya]

Initial impressions are that the noise canceling is not as good as my Sony WH-1000mx3’s, but I didn’t expect it would be. I bought these because nothing quite disappears as well as Airpods, making it feel like you’re wearing nothing.

 

[Otflyer]

Out of curiosity, have you used headphones with ANC previously?

Yes, I’m quite familiar with them. I have Bose QC 35, Sony WF-1000xm3 over ear, Sony Wh-1000XM3 in ear. I Also owned the Bose QC30 in ear.
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Muffling external noise is exactly what the ANC should do. ANC won't make the world around you completely silent. If you expect otherwise, you need to adjust your expectations. You didn't mention what you were listening to. I assume music? Was the volume of the traffic so loud that you couldn't hear the music?

I was listening to music but, I don’t like my music loud. I’m familiar with how ANC works and have experienced other ANC headphones. That’s why I feel they’re weaker. I don’t expect the AirPods pro to rival over ear ANC’s.

 

[Closingracer]

Compared to my over the ear Sonys the ANC is weak although this was not unexpected. It does make me wonder how it compares to Sony’s latest buds though.

Sony’s buds do a better job but even with it superior sound quality and ANC I still kept the AirPods over the Sony’s. The Sony’s win only if you have an Android device or if you simply want the smallest case and better Bluetooth stability.

I wouldn’t say the Sony’s are miles ahead better but I would say if a rating of 1-10 I would give the Sony’s an 8 and and then AirPods a 7? The Sony’s does a better job with higher frequencies and muffle them better. The AirPods do a good enough job if you never experienced ANC before. I do think they do better then the beats studios. Haven’t experience the solo pros enough to tell you otherwise.

 

[Closingracer]

Yes, I’m quite familiar with them. I have Bose QC 35, Sony WF-1000xm3 over ear, Sony Wh-1000XM3 in ear. I Also owned the Bose QC30 in ear.
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I was listening to music but, I don’t like my music loud. I’m familiar with how ANC works and have experienced other ANC headphones. That’s why I feel they’re weaker. I don’t expect the AirPods pro to rival over ear ANC’s.

You mixed up the Sony’s lol. The WF are the in ears. WH is over ears

 

[JBGoode]

Sony’s buds do a better job but even with it superior sound quality and ANC I still kept the AirPods over the Sony’s. The Sony’s win only if you have an Android device or if you simply want the smallest case and better Bluetooth stability.

I wouldn’t say the Sony’s are miles ahead better but I would say if a rating of 1-10 I would give the Sony’s an 8 and and then AirPods a 7? The Sony’s does a better job with higher frequencies and muffle them better. The AirPods do a good enough job if you never experienced ANC before. I do think they do better then the beats studios. Haven’t experience the solo pros enough to tell you otherwise.

Thanks. Yeah, I suspected the Sonys might be a bit better for noise cancelling. These are good enough though. I mainly use these for watching TV anyway, and just wanted something to dampen the sound of the fans, AC, etc. and these do the trick well enough. I love the Sonys for this purpose but I tend to get headaches (unrelated) and sometimes I can't wear those for long periods or at all.

How do the Sony buds sound for music compared to these? I thought these would be a lot better than regular AirPods but I'm honestly struggling to see much of a difference. Not that I think it's bad, but I was hoping for more. I think the Sony over the heads spoiled me for anything else.

 

[tonester697]

I haven't thoroughly tested ANC in the wild to see if it works really well, but at least with my set of APPs I do know that it is working--I tested them in my home office room where I can hear the PS fan of my PC (the fan noise is not too loud but is clearly audible); with the APPs in my ear but ANC off the fan noise is muted somewhat but still audible; with ANC on I do not hear the fan noise at all.