34dB cancelled is huge. Anyone got more?

[matrix07]

Using my AirPods Pro 2 for a week and this is the first time I activate noise cancelling. Have been using it in Off mode for the most part. Surprisingly got 34dB cancelled. 😳 Everything around me suddenly went so quiet.

Anyone got more?

 

[Ralfi]

Just curious, is that shown on the watch only, or can you view that on the iPhone also?

 

[davidg4781]

I should've checked mine when I mowed the lawn earlier today.

I'm curious... does this protect your ear drum and all that?

 

[Ralfi]

I'm curious... does this protect your ear drum and all that?

Yep that’s a great benefit of Noise Cancellation - it allows you to lower the volume of your source material because it’s not fighting external noise for your ear drum’s attention.

 

[matrix07]

Just curious, is that shown on the watch only, or can you view that on the iPhone also?

Not sure but I checked mine on the watch. The best part is my watch is only S5 😀

I'm curious... does this protect your ear drum and all that?

Yes, it reduces noise coming into your ears so you can listen to music at a significantly lower volume. Normally if I cut grass the noise would be ~90-95dB so wearing this would reduce it to safe volume.

 

[WeekendGearGuide]

Not sure but I checked mine on the watch. The best part is my watch is only S5 😀

Yes, it reduces noise coming into your ears so you can listen to music at a significantly lower volume. Normally if I cut grass the noise would be ~90-95dB so wearing this would reduce it to safe volume.

Do you find that the more noise there is in the background, like a loud lawn mower, that there is a significant drain in your battery?

 

[matrix07]

Do you find that the more noise there is in the background, like a loud lawn mower, that there is a significant drain in your battery?

I haven't activated it for long, only around half an hour, but no noticeably difference in battery. I'm sure it will drain more battery though.

 

[Cowboy8467]

Do you have to be listening to music straight from the watch or can you also see this information when streaming music from your phone?

 

[matrix07]

Do you have to be listening to music straight from the watch or can you also see this information when streaming music from your phone?

I could swear I was playing music from my phone but I’m not 100%.

 

[andyw715]

I wouldn't use these as ear protection from say like a mower or leaf blower, etc.

ANC is not a valid substitute for proper hearing protection.

They do "protect" your ears though by not requiring the volume to be increased to hear over environmental noises.

 

[RagingHamster]

I wouldn't use these as ear protection from say like a mower or leaf blower, etc.

ANC is not a valid substitute for proper hearing protection.

They do "protect" your ears though by not requiring the volume to be increased to hear over environmental noises.

This makes more sense to me. I’m not an expert in audio (measuring). Aside from the passive noise canceling that the buds provide by sitting in your ear canal, what remains is the loud noise from outside + the “anti-noise” wave that the AirPods put out to counter us perceiving the outside noise. I imagine it’s then both of those still hitting our eardrum, we just don’t perceive the noise anymore.
Though perhaps that’s not how it works?

 

[andyw715]

Well anC does attempt to Cancel out sound waves. And it does its best job when the sound it's trained to cancel is a low frequency sustained noise (ie ambient noise from a building/AC or on and airplane, etc).

A low frequency cancelling wave is easier to "line up" out of phase with the incoming noise, which is why ANC isn't great for voices or spontaneous sounds such as drums. AirPods rely on the tight seal with the ear to help with those.