A bit of context to get started: I am a classical musician (cellist) and I regularly teach online classes in cello and music theory. I use either Zoom or Teams or FaceTime to call students and regularly play either at the cello or at the piano during classes.
I had the 1st gen Powerbeats Pro serving me excellently for well over 4 years before their battery hopelessly dying. I use this kind of headphones because, wearing glasses, I couldn't manage to get any other model to stay in my ears without a constant fear of them falling out (let's say I tried almost all of them!). So, when the PBP2 were released, I jumped at the opportunity and, last week, I got them.
Today I used them during my classes and, to my absolute horror, my students told me they were not hearing neither my cello nor my piano — but they heard me just fine when singing. I tried all modes: Spatial Audio ON/OFF, ANC OFF, Transparency (worse result of all!), full ANC ON. The baseline was that they heard something muffled in the background.
During the pandemic, this was usually a software issue inside apps (not inside hardware!!), the only app not cancelling out musical instruments being Skype (RIP, btw...). With time, Zoom (and then WebEx) introduced a music mode dedicated to music teachers.
What is happening now, though, is quite different: the hardware and the internal firmware of the PBP2 — not any external app, I tried all of them, with music mode ON where available — actively considers musical instruments as something to be cut out from the microphones!!! Why on Earth would that make any sense? As things stand now, it seems I have no power over this because the PBP2 are overriding any app settings!
I still have one week to send them back, but I have no serious alternative because I need the ear-hook and good integration with Apple devices.
My understanding is that the wind-reduction software is understanding musical instruments as some sort of wind and muffling it down. The PBP1 also had a very good wind-reduction, though, and they never showed this issue.
For the records, before purchasing the PBP2 I got a 30€ pair of low-level earpieces (with the hook!) and they are not causing this issue!
What do you think of this?
Can anyone confirm or explain what exactly may be going on?
Do you think this could be fixed by a firmware update (and if so, should I report it to Apple directly)?
I had the 1st gen Powerbeats Pro serving me excellently for well over 4 years before their battery hopelessly dying. I use this kind of headphones because, wearing glasses, I couldn't manage to get any other model to stay in my ears without a constant fear of them falling out (let's say I tried almost all of them!). So, when the PBP2 were released, I jumped at the opportunity and, last week, I got them.
Today I used them during my classes and, to my absolute horror, my students told me they were not hearing neither my cello nor my piano — but they heard me just fine when singing. I tried all modes: Spatial Audio ON/OFF, ANC OFF, Transparency (worse result of all!), full ANC ON. The baseline was that they heard something muffled in the background.
During the pandemic, this was usually a software issue inside apps (not inside hardware!!), the only app not cancelling out musical instruments being Skype (RIP, btw...). With time, Zoom (and then WebEx) introduced a music mode dedicated to music teachers.
What is happening now, though, is quite different: the hardware and the internal firmware of the PBP2 — not any external app, I tried all of them, with music mode ON where available — actively considers musical instruments as something to be cut out from the microphones!!! Why on Earth would that make any sense? As things stand now, it seems I have no power over this because the PBP2 are overriding any app settings!
I still have one week to send them back, but I have no serious alternative because I need the ear-hook and good integration with Apple devices.
My understanding is that the wind-reduction software is understanding musical instruments as some sort of wind and muffling it down. The PBP1 also had a very good wind-reduction, though, and they never showed this issue.
For the records, before purchasing the PBP2 I got a 30€ pair of low-level earpieces (with the hook!) and they are not causing this issue!
What do you think of this?
Can anyone confirm or explain what exactly may be going on?
Do you think this could be fixed by a firmware update (and if so, should I report it to Apple directly)?