This is the second time I have read about issues with the AirPod pros (at launch and now)...it sounds like the AirPod pros were rushed out
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AirPods Pro 2C54 Firmware: Worse Noise Canceling, Improved Frequency Response and Bass Accuracy
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Testing and Quality Control - don't leave the warehouse without them. 
I recently purchased AirPods Pros and promptly returned them to Apple because the "noise cancelling" feature was a total fail. This product is an absolute POS and that comes from a longtime Apple fan.
Apple QC is at its lowest point ever and that’s clearly evidenced by the amount of patches and updates released for phones, watches and now AirPods. I sent my AirPods back. What’s the point if noise cancelling if they reduce the effect of noise cancelling. They just don’t test products properly before releasing them. I wonder what issues will arrive with iOS 13.4 for the phones. Inability to make phone calls I guess. Their software division is a total mess.
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Must admit hadn't used mine since last day in office last year on 17Dec and then on 7th Jan....noticed a distinct difference in NC....they need to sort this s**t out and stop playing around with the functionality to make a great product become a normal product
Apple claim on their website for the Pro’s that
“Active Noise Cancelling silences the world to keep you fully tuned in to your music, podcasts and calls”.
I am sure that can now be disproved and possibly conceived as inaccurate and false marketing.
“Active Noise Cancelling silences the world to keep you fully tuned in to your music, podcasts and calls”.
I am sure that can now be disproved and possibly conceived as inaccurate and false marketing.
Don’t have AirPods (couldn’t get them to fit) but this is interesting to me as these are exactly the problems that us Bose users are very familiar with and one of the reasons I was prepared to ditch my QC35s. Crackling, reduction of NC or bass or treble response, seem to have a 50:50 chance of being introduced with every firmware upgrade. At least you guys don’t have to deal with endless Bluetooth problems (from what I gather) !
The AirPods Pro have actually got worse at ANC with each new firmware
The Fit Test now regularly fails when it passed on the original firmware
as for battery performance, somehow the left AirPod drains faster
Apple need to address this asap , otherwise people
The Fit Test now regularly fails when it passed on the original firmware
as for battery performance, somehow the left AirPod drains faster
Apple need to address this asap , otherwise people
Mine wont even connect consistently since or starting about a few days ago. If they do successfully connect there’s a uniform white noise tapping almost haptic, in the right pod, there’s static, intermittent switch to transparency and oddly some 3D type back and fourth. If I try to connect to Samsung or Apple TV. Forget it—it’s as tho, or the same response you get when you walk too far away from a bluetooth device. Then gone. I hope they’re working fast. Mine still shows 2C54. I am confused does everyone have this version ? How did they ”pull” the update?
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Mine too
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Human Hearing isn't ubiquitous. They'll need to create profiles for people to choose from to be a best approximation of the three features to get as close to optimal for the individual.
I was blown away by the ANC at launch, so much so I was going to sell my entire collection of headphones.
I asked rtings to take a look at the measurements glad it's finally on mainstream websites - something odd was going on. I believe they could have tweaked the low frequency calculation so that it reduces the ear drum suck effect. Bose did this most recently with their 700 series headphones.
But because they have tweaked the low frequency cancellation - I now find when I'm walking around the occlusion effect is horrible with cancellation on - you get nasty booming noises randomly. I also get the buzz and rattle.
I believe because the issue may lay because of the revolutionary way Apple has achieved the eartip design - it can generate low frequency at high SPL for a non ear cancel insert earphone. With all other IEM's you need to have a good deep insert in order to generate bass. Apple must be using some state of the art modelling of the driver dynamics/distortion to achieve the same thing. Much like the Homepod's huge xmax. With low frequency noise cancelling that ability to produce low frequency effects would be constant - perhaps that's taking a toll on the driver?
I'm hoping they can achieve something better. I went back and tested my collection of headphones with various YouTube plane/ambinent sound noises on my theater setup that can produce 120db @ 6hz - the APP's are still by far the best ANC truly wireless - but it's nothing like launch day for low freqeuncy rumble on the metro/planes.
I asked rtings to take a look at the measurements glad it's finally on mainstream websites - something odd was going on. I believe they could have tweaked the low frequency calculation so that it reduces the ear drum suck effect. Bose did this most recently with their 700 series headphones.
But because they have tweaked the low frequency cancellation - I now find when I'm walking around the occlusion effect is horrible with cancellation on - you get nasty booming noises randomly. I also get the buzz and rattle.
I believe because the issue may lay because of the revolutionary way Apple has achieved the eartip design - it can generate low frequency at high SPL for a non ear cancel insert earphone. With all other IEM's you need to have a good deep insert in order to generate bass. Apple must be using some state of the art modelling of the driver dynamics/distortion to achieve the same thing. Much like the Homepod's huge xmax. With low frequency noise cancelling that ability to produce low frequency effects would be constant - perhaps that's taking a toll on the driver?
I'm hoping they can achieve something better. I went back and tested my collection of headphones with various YouTube plane/ambinent sound noises on my theater setup that can produce 120db @ 6hz - the APP's are still by far the best ANC truly wireless - but it's nothing like launch day for low freqeuncy rumble on the metro/planes.
And yet the anecdotal evidence began at the end of November when 2B588 was released. There are hundreds of posts about it on. In fact, when 2C54 was released, many users expressed initial optimism that it would fix the reduction in ANC that had been introduced with 2B588.
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On December 16th, Apple released a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro bumping the firmware from 2B588 to 2C54. After the updates, there were several anecdotal reports that the AirPods Pro noise cancelation may have been affected adversely by the update. Adding to the confusion is that Apple has since pulled the 2C54 update, so not everyone with AirPods Pro may have the latest update.
Users asked tech review site RTINGS.com to reevaluate their previous testing of the AirPods Pro with the new firmware to confirm any changes in the new firmware.
RTINGS published its findings today and does confirm that the 2C54 firmware objectively worsens the AirPods Pro active noise canceling feature:The news is not all bad, however. In other areas of testing, the 2C54 Firmware appears to improve performance in frequency response and bass accuracy. Note: RTINGS incorrectly refers to the firmware as version 2C45, not 2C54.
Apple pulled the 2C54 firmware only days after its release, so it is presumably working on the issues described. You can tell what firmware version you have by going to Settings -> General -> About -> AirPods Pro.
Article Link: AirPods Pro 2C54 Firmware: Worse Noise Canceling, Improved Frequency Response and Bass Accuracy
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On December 16th, Apple released a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro bumping the firmware from 2B588 to 2C54. After the updates, there were several anecdotal reports that the AirPods Pro noise cancelation may have been affected adversely by the update. Adding to the confusion is that Apple has since pulled the 2C54 update, so not everyone with AirPods Pro may have the latest update.
Users asked tech review site RTINGS.com to reevaluate their previous testing of the AirPods Pro with the new firmware to confirm any changes in the new firmware.
RTINGS published its findings today and does confirm that the 2C54 firmware objectively worsens the AirPods Pro active noise canceling feature:The news is not all bad, however. In other areas of testing, the 2C54 Firmware appears to improve performance in frequency response and bass accuracy. Note: RTINGS incorrectly refers to the firmware as version 2C45, not 2C54.
Apple pulled the 2C54 firmware only days after its release, so it is presumably working on the issues described. You can tell what firmware version you have by going to Settings -> General -> About -> AirPods Pro.
Article Link: AirPods Pro 2C54 Firmware: Worse Noise Canceling, Improved Frequency Response and Bass Accuracy
Nothing better than Hard Wired Head Phones!!! Unless you like the White Q Tip Look with Radiation giving you a Brain Tumor!
I used to think this until I bought them.I don't own a pair yet, but I'd still take better sound quality vs better noise cancelling. In most situations I need to hear some background noise anyway plus they are earbuds and probably already seel off a decent amount of noise. But hopefully the next firmware gives us the best of both worlds.
I spend a lot on headphones (more than one should) and have many types.
The AirPods I use exclusively when travelling on public transport and the difference was immediately obvious following the update. Noise cancellation was awful and I found myself checking every few mins to see if it was even enabled.
While I do think better sound quality is usually preferable, the issue comes when you can’t actually hear that improvement anyway due to the increased background noise now present.
I much prefer hearing only the music even if the quality is slightly less good.
If I want audiophile sound I stay at home and use over the ear headphones.
IMO AirPods Pro are very much made for travelling and so noise cancellation should be a priority.
Glad it’s not just me, since the 2C54 update the ANC on my Airpods Pro has been awful, despite trying all 3 tip sizes and messing around with them in my ears. Sort this out Apple, this is not good enough.
Weird – I used mine (2C54) on a plane the other day and was perfectly happy with the noise cancellation. Then again, these are my first NC headphones and it was the first time I used them on a plane, so I have no baseline to compare them to.
Anyway, they perform well enough for my uneducated ears right now, but if a firmware update can improve their performance (or rather restore the better performance they apparently used to have), then I'm definitely all for that.
Anyway, they perform well enough for my uneducated ears right now, but if a firmware update can improve their performance (or rather restore the better performance they apparently used to have), then I'm definitely all for that.
My sentiments exactly.
The ANC is very low key, almost useless during my daily commute.
The ANC is very low key, almost useless during my daily commute.
I get an easy 5-6 hours out of them, and 15 minutes in the charger is enough for another 3 hours listening or so. Battery life is not even remotely a problem as where else are you going to store them but in the charging case?
It seems like Apple is getting worse with software as of late. It's such a shame
I am a little bit skeptical still for two reasons. One, the complaints started in earnest with the release of a new firmware (forget exactly which one) which changed how the fit test results worked. A fit test that returned a “good” result suddenly returned a “failure” with only the firmware change. People are much more influenced by this sort of thing than they will admit.
Second, I’m a bit skeptical of the rtings test because the frequency response of the AirPod Pro’s, like any IEM that requires a good seal in the ear canal, is HIGHLY dependent on exactly how the unit fits in the test device. It’s possible that the rtings test fully accounts for this in some way, but I don’t know, and thus, am a bit skeptical. If you look at their chart they posted comparing the frequency response of the two firmwares, note that the response with noise cancelling Off changed MUCH more than with it on between their two tests. That appears to me to be an indication that the second test was had a different seal in the fixture than the first, and would absolutely influence the effectiveness of the noise cancelling.
Pretty much this. They wanted to release them in time for christmas
I keep on push them in into my ear because I thought they didn't properly sealed to block the noises. Now I know why.
This can easily turn into a lawsuit like not disclosing changes made to the iPhone battery management and force users to upgrade with inferior performances or experiences.
This can easily turn into a lawsuit like not disclosing changes made to the iPhone battery management and force users to upgrade with inferior performances or experiences.