[SilverEars]

The ANC performance is strong, and isn't too far behind Bose's over-ear headphones. Especially when we're considering the size of these earbuds.

The consistency is probably a factor of the Adaptive EQ which will skew the results.

Interestingly, Powerbeats Pro has a better sound quality (slight 1dB emphasis on sub-bass and a 3dB emphasis on upper mids) and it seems that I would prefer that signature but I'll hold my judgements until I can hear them both. I did demo Powerbeats Pro but they only had small ear-tips at the store so I didn't get a good seal and it sounded tinny -- one of the downsides of a true IEM. I would image AirPods Pro will fit better since they still sit just outside the ear canal. Another win for the Powerbeats Pro is that it scores at about 10 hours in battery life, compared to 5 for AirPods Pro.

Apple has been pumping out products with class-leading levels of distortion, imagine if they paired all of this technology to an over-ear pair of headphones. I imagine maybe we'll get that once they add Apple Lossless to Apple Music...

Comparing Rtings measurements of Airpods Pro and PowerBeats Pro, Pro has a bit of a sharper upper-mids emphasis, but the driver does show lower distortion in the subs even with higher shelved low frequencies. I have not heard PowerBeats however. Due to it's bulk, there should be more battery life, and it's a trade-off between size and battery-life. I do hope battery-life improves with the size of Airpods or smaller.

Anybody compared Airpods Pro sound out of Android vs iPhones? Does it seem better out of iPhones?

 

[WinterCharm]

If 200 times a sec is true, that's rediculous. I kinda doubt this, there is no way there is tech than can do that in such small form-factor.

they can because they literally made custom silicon to do this. Apples chip engineering prowess is insane.

the H1 headphone chip is easily capable. It’s got 10 low power audio cores each doing processing of the various inputs (internal, external mic, voice mic, accelerometer, placement sensors, Bluetooth, and AAC audio in parallel with the ANC algorithm.

not only that but Apple has it hooked up to a custom high efficiency amp that’s matched to the driver.

200 times / second is very achievable because Apple has such a massive chip lead over everyone else.

 

[nanaholic]

they can because they literally made custom silicon to do this. Apples chip engineering prowess is insane.

the H1 headphone chip is easily capable. It’s got 10 low power audio cores each doing processing of the various inputs (internal, external mic, voice mic, accelerometer, placement sensors, Bluetooth, and AAC audio in parallel with the ANC algorithm.

not only that but Apple has it hooked up to a custom high efficiency amp that’s matched to the driver.

200 times / second is very achievable because Apple has such a massive chip lead over everyone else.

LOL don't overblow Apple's technical power here - 200 times a second is actually nothing in the world of ADC devices because that is only 200Hz sampling - it's not even enough to correctly sample human voice (off by a factor of 100 - to correctly sample human voice you need 20kHz or 20000Hz), it's actually extremely slow sampling in the world of digital signal processing. We already have small ADC chips in the world that does 1.5MHz sampling per second....

Your human common sense may think 200 times a second is fast, but in digital signal space and processing speed, 200 times a second is like your desktop calculator class processing.

 

[MICHAELSD]

LOL don't overblow Apple's technical power here - 200 times a second is actually nothing in the world of ADC devices because that is only 200Hz sampling - it's not even enough to correctly sample human voice (off by a factor of 100 - to correctly sample human voice you need 20kHz or 20000Hz), it's actually extremely slow sampling in the world of digital signal processing. We already have small ADC chips in the world that does 1.5MHz sampling per second....

Your human common sense may think 200 times a second is fast, but in digital signal space and processing speed, 200 times a second is like your desktop calculator class processing.

That may be true, but it's still surprisingly effective. If it was sampling at a higher rate that would have a negative effect on the battery life. From an engineering standpoint, the first-generation AirPods were remarkable and AirPods Pro are even more so.

 

[nanaholic]

That may be true, but it's still surprisingly effective. If it was sampling at a higher rate that would have a negative effect on the battery life. From an engineering standpoint, the first-generation AirPods were remarkable and AirPods Pro are even more so.

Sorry even from an engineering stand point it is nothing special because the tech is SOOOO old.

Remember we've achieved real time sampling and conversion of 44100 samples per second of analog signals in the 1970s (sampling analog tapes and converting it to CDs).

Every 20 dollar bluetooth earbud is capable of decoding hundred thousands of bits of information per second, or accurately converting human voice (remember, you must sample at least 20000 times per second to record human voice!) from analog space into digital space and then transferring over BT back to the smartphone, and those buds can talk for hours on end. So 200 samples per second in a tiny chip is baby walk in terms of electrical and digital processing.

Apple did code a very good ANC algorithm - but don't get fooled by their 200 times sampling PR speech, that part is absolutely nothing special.

EDIT: I want to add the most difficult part of ANC is how to code the algorithm to cancel out the noise without destroying the signal you want to keep - however explaining that part is just not sexy and extremely difficult for non-technical people to understand, and I completely understand why Apple PR instead choose to throw that 200 sample number out to wow the average person, however that part is actually not impressive at all if you even have a basic understanding of analog and digital signal processing.

EDIT2: As my numbers above shows - 200 samples in the world of analog sampling and digital processing with today's chips is actually a very VERY low number. So instead of "Apple is using 200 samples! that's so many!", the proper way to interpret it should actually be "Apple is ONLY using 200 samples to get an effective ANC and auto-adjusting EQ going." - it actually shows them using some very clever and efficient DSPs in their algorithm.

 

[chesebert]

Rtings posted their review (which I'm hype about), and AirPods Pro measured pretty well. AirPods Pro is mid-focused and the bass is lacking slightly, but isn't as rolled-off as on the original AirPods. The treble is really impressive, which is probably how they make up for the relatively weak bass. I'm surprised how well they scored in total harmonic distortion considering the addition of ANC.

All-in-all, I'm impressed with the results:

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/apple/airpods-pro-truly-wireless

I wouldn’t base your decision only on measurements. Measuring headphones is very difficult and depending on the analyzers, position change and various other factors you can get slightly different results.

 

[WinterCharm]

Your human common sense may think 200 times a second is fast, but in digital signal space and processing speed, 200 times a second is like your desktop calculator class processing.

A few things that make this different: there are multiple mics here. Inner / outer mics to noise cancel, and EQ for ear shape, and update the model. Yes, an ADC can sample at many times higher frequencies, but it's working with an infinite power budget, when compared to the tiny batteries here. To combine this many inputs in near-real-time *on such a low power budget* is the impressive bit. It's not about the performance in a vacuum, but the power budget that makes this so impressive.

I should have been more clear

the proper way to interpret it should actually be "Apple is ONLY using 200 samples to get an effective ANC and auto-adjusting EQ going." - it actually shows them using some very clever and efficient DSPs in their algorithm.

Exactly. The point of using so few samples with such an efficient DSP algorithm, on a custom SiP is to lower power usage. It's how they manage such incredible battery life, and why turning on ANC only costs 10% of available battery life (4.5 hours vs 5 hours). It's incredibly impressive in context. The AirPods Pro achieve their 4.5 hours (with ANC) and weigh just of 5.4 grams each. (-10% battery for ANC)

By comparison, The Sony WF-1000XM3's weigh 8.5 grams each, and have a much larger battery and go from 8 hours with no ANC to 6 hours if you Turn on ANC (-25% battery for ANC) meaning Apple's custom SiP is more than 2x the energy efficiency.

 

[WinterCharm]

Rtings just did some Frequency Response Measurements!

Check out how close these are to the Sony WF-1000 XM3's

 

[chesebert]

FR is not dispositive of good vs bad sound or how close one cans sound to another one. AirPod pro does sound good and entry level audiophile quality - mid is very much like K501

 

[johnn29]

I've had mine since launch day and have been floored with these. Over the last 2 years I've collected quite a few headphones and most of them serve a purpose. But since I got these I'm going to be selling all of them bar 3. I have an unusual use case so I thought I'd type up my thoughts.

The Airpods have all the openness of my Bose SoundSport Free - in their transparent mode. They minimise the occlusion effect remarkably well - even better than the Bose 700s which has that feature and when it's time to turn on ANC they isolate as well as any of my collection. Far far better than the WF XM3s and on my head even better than the WH XM3's and Bose 700s. The rtings isolation test is on a bald dummy head - I have long so often don't get an ideal seal with over ears. I no longer have to wear different sets of earphones for when I want to carry on conversations with the family.

Even the gestures are really well thought out - when I bought the WF XM3's at the aiport I ordered a coffee - the ambient sound mode there worked much better than on any trulywireless I'd tried but the buttons were frustrating. The stem on the airpods means I can easily press it without pressing into my ear. And I can easily press it with gloves on outdoors. The case is tiny too, especially when compared to the WH XM3's. They're even smaller than the Galaxy Buds.

I run my own (perceptual) noise cancellation tests by using my home theater 5.1.4 system that's has an f3 of 6hz in "all stereo" and play various background noises off YouTube - plane, cafe etc. All stereo means that you get direct sound from all around you. Airpods performed by far the best for me. I was very confused as to the /r/headphones perception of them not being that great for ANC. The isolation is so remarkable I've been using them as ear defenders for a recent home construction project, especially when using a nail gun with a gas compressor which hits 97db. It kills that noise AMAZINGLY well - and the beauty is you can then immediately turn on transparent mode to listen to your work mate. Even better is that because they're so small, for maximum isolation I can actually wear them while wearing the WH Xm3's over them. There's been a few flights where I've had people sitting near me that keep shouting to carry on a conversation. I tested speech intelligibility on myself with both the WH's and airpods on - I can barely make out what's being said. That is primarily down to the passive isolation from the overears though. But it's going to be great when I want some peace next time.

I also have an unusual use case - speaker virtualization. I use Impulcifer to virtualise my home theater system for headphones. My main use case is so that I can travel with a very good surround system or watch TV when there's construction/noise at home. Although Impulcifer does an amazing job with speaker virtualization with my Bose 700s I found the band and earcups to be distracting and keeping me from forgetting I'm listening to headphones. Even more comfortable open backs like the DT990s had that problem. With the airpods this is going to be so much more effective because they just don't feel like you have anything in because they're so comfortable - I can even lay on my side.

The final thing - pairing - which has always been a pain is amazingly simple now. I've got them paired to 2 Android devices and at least 3 windows ones. I just have to bring up BT settings and connect to them, even when they're paired to another device. None of my other BT headphones do anything as simple as that.

My impulsive headphone purchasing is likely over now. I'll just purchase the Airpods Pro future models. I was really looking forward to the Bose Trulywireless 700s but their ANC, at best, is only going to match the airpods since that's what their over ears do.

 

[FieldingMellish]

I discovered that exchanging IPP eliminated my inability to obtain a seal. Which suggests that something else went wrong in my original pair and that tips or biology were less likely the culprit.

My launch day set sealed as one would expect. During ensuing days, it started not sealing, which led to my going batty switching out tips and losing faith and patience. I was bummed that I was going to have to return for a refund. But in explaining it to the Apple personnel at the store led to the suggestion that I might try a brand new boxed pair and have my 2-week testing period extended as of the date of making the swap. Thus far, 3 days in and I'm getting a seal, which is encouraging.

 

[SilverEars]

I've had mine since launch day and have been floored with these. Over the last 2 years I've collected quite a few headphones and most of them serve a purpose. But since I got these I'm going to be selling all of them bar 3. I have an unusual use case so I thought I'd type up my thoughts.

The Airpods have all the openness of my Bose SoundSport Free - in their transparent mode. They minimise the occlusion effect remarkably well - even better than the Bose 700s which has that feature and when it's time to turn on ANC they isolate as well as any of my collection. Far far better than the WF XM3s and on my head even better than the WH XM3's and Bose 700s. The rtings isolation test is on a bald dummy head - I have long so often don't get an ideal seal with over ears. I no longer have to wear different sets of earphones for when I want to carry on conversations with the family.

Even the gestures are really well thought out - when I bought the WF XM3's at the aiport I ordered a coffee - the ambient sound mode there worked much better than on any trulywireless I'd tried but the buttons were frustrating. The stem on the airpods means I can easily press it without pressing into my ear. And I can easily press it with gloves on outdoors. The case is tiny too, especially when compared to the WH XM3's. They're even smaller than the Galaxy Buds.

I run my own (perceptual) noise cancellation tests by using my home theater 5.1.4 system that's has an f3 of 6hz in "all stereo" and play various background noises off YouTube - plane, cafe etc. All stereo means that you get direct sound from all around you. Airpods performed by far the best for me. I was very confused as to the /r/headphones perception of them not being that great for ANC. The isolation is so remarkable I've been using them as ear defenders for a recent home construction project, especially when using a nail gun with a gas compressor which hits 97db. It kills that noise AMAZINGLY well - and the beauty is you can then immediately turn on transparent mode to listen to your work mate. Even better is that because they're so small, for maximum isolation I can actually wear them while wearing the WH Xm3's over them. There's been a few flights where I've had people sitting near me that keep shouting to carry on a conversation. I tested speech intelligibility on myself with both the WH's and airpods on - I can barely make out what's being said. That is primarily down to the passive isolation from the overears though. But it's going to be great when I want some peace next time.

I also have an unusual use case - speaker virtualization. I use Impulcifer to virtualise my home theater system for headphones. My main use case is so that I can travel with a very good surround system or watch TV when there's construction/noise at home. Although Impulcifer does an amazing job with speaker virtualization with my Bose 700s I found the band and earcups to be distracting and keeping me from forgetting I'm listening to headphones. Even more comfortable open backs like the DT990s had that problem. With the airpods this is going to be so much more effective because they just don't feel like you have anything in because they're so comfortable - I can even lay on my side.

The final thing - pairing - which has always been a pain is amazingly simple now. I've got them paired to 2 Android devices and at least 3 windows ones. I just have to bring up BT settings and connect to them, even when they're paired to another device. None of my other BT headphones do anything as simple as that.

My impulsive headphone purchasing is likely over now. I'll just purchase the Airpods Pro future models. I was really looking forward to the Bose Trulywireless 700s but their ANC, at best, is only going to match the airpods since that's what their over ears do.

Yup. ANC has so much potential and many applications, protecting people's hearing without the earmuffs clamping force discomforts. And stress. Noise cause stress.

I hope Apple improves either isolation or high frequncy noise cancelling.

These are the most practical ANC TW ever.

After these, I don't even know if Bose can do better. The size is so small that I doubt that Bose can pull-off comparable TW. Their's has always been bulky.

I tried going wired again, and realized how convenient AirPods Pros are. No tangled wires, etc..

 

[MICHAELSD]

Yup. ANC has so much potential and many applications, protecting people's hearing without the earmuffs clamping force discomforts. And stress. Noise cause stress.

I hope Apple improves either isolation or high frequncy noise cancelling.

These are the most practical ANC TW ever.

After these, I don't even know if Bose can do better. The size is so small that I doubt that Bose can pull-off comparable TW. Their's has always been bulky.

I tried going wired again, and realized how convenient AirPods Pros are. No tangled wires, etc..

Once you go wireless you don’t go back. (Other than for critical listening at home or the studio.)

 

[SilverEars]

Once you go wireless you don’t go back. (Other than for critical listening at home or the studio.)

I got good wired setup for the office or in listenable spots not noisy.

TW performance in general isn't the domain I'd look to satify my audiophile requirements in fidelity. Wireless can't get up to wired fidelity from passive, no EQ drivers. Just the way it is.

I know for a fact dynamic driver needs lots of power to drive well. I don't see amps inside TW housing to get up to that level of fidelity.

AirPods Pro works well, without matching wired iem sound, and it's due to ease of usage on the go. There are so many noisy situations we will run into on the go. It makes much sense to go ANC on the go. And now in miniturized form.

 

[pufftissue]

What level sound quality does the AirPods pro achieve in terms of a wired IEM, both past or present? Like is it as good as a 1 more triple driver, an entry leve shure?