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ANC is worse in the new pro 3 and worse sound

Everyone claiming the APP3 are better on ANC than the APP2

Are you using new foam tips on both?

Tips degrade and one must compare like to like as much as possible.

(also comparing OG APP2 tips is not valuable data here, as silicone tips are inferior on sound isolation/ANC fronts)
 
turbineseaplane said:
Everyone claiming the APP3 are better on ANC than the APP2

Are you using new foam tips on both?

Tips degrade and one must compare like to like as much as possible.

(also comparing OG APP2 tips is not valuable data here, as silicone tips are inferior on sound isolation/ANC fronts)
Click to expand...

Yes, I use Comply foam tips on my APP2's.
 
Kylo83 said:
In so angry with Apple, my fave product is AirPods Pro 2 and love them, the new ones not only do not sound better but the anc is worse I spent an hour on a London train and the anc with pro 2 got rid of the whole sound of the train and when I put the 3 in I can hear the train. The seal is fine and I put them in tightly. How is this 2x better? Even the sound quality is a downgrade for me, the pro 2 have full sound and nice low bass; I don’t get any strong bass with the new ones and the sound is tiny. These are not an upgrade but a downgrade. If anyone doesn’t want to believe me try them your self side by s
Rivanov said:
Lol.. you’re negative posting in every thread is a bit tiresome. It’s your opinion. Don’t state it as a fact.
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Nice try, but the rest of us are going to try them out and decide for ourselves. Seems like a positive recourse would be for you to talk to Apple instead of negative posting all over this site.
 
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Kylo83 said:
so maybe my pro 2 are just better, I aint lying, others have said the sound is better when its not, on reddit many agreeing with me, reviews and a apple forum isnt fact
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No one here is dismissing your experience or suggesting what you’re hearing isn’t real. The point many of us—including myself—are making goes beyond the specific issues you’ve raised with the APP3. It’s about the risk of using one personal experience to make a sweeping judgment that all APP3 units are worse than their predecessors.

Sound perception is not an objective measure—it’s shaped by the brain, and therefore deeply subjective. Your perspective is valid, and others may share it, but it cannot be taken as the universal standard. One individual’s experience, no matter how strongly felt, does not define the experience of everyone else using an APP3.
 
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S.B.G said:
No one here is dismissing your experience or suggesting what you’re hearing isn’t real. The point many of us—including myself—are making goes beyond the specific issues you’ve raised with the APP3. It’s about the risk of using one personal experience to make a sweeping judgment that all APP3 units are worse than their predecessors.

Sound perception is not an objective measure—it’s shaped by the brain, and therefore deeply subjective. Your perspective is valid, and others may share it, but it cannot be taken as the universal standard. One individual’s experience, no matter how strongly felt, does not define the experience of everyone else using an APP3.
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I respect that but people are angry at me for saying my one the anc is worse I done a side by side test and that’s the truth, it’s not subjective, the fact is the new ones let more sound in and people want to say I’m wrong
 
Kylo83 said:
I respect that but people are angry at me for saying my one the anc is worse I done a side by side test and that’s the truth, it’s not subjective, the fact is the new ones let more sound in and people want to say I’m wrong
Click to expand...

You may be right for your APP3's but that is definitely not the case for mine. Side-by-side comparison of APP3's and APP2's with Comply foam tips, different noise environments.
 
Kylo83 said:
I respect that but people are angry at me for saying my one the anc is worse I done a side by side test and that’s the truth, it’s not subjective, the fact is the new ones let more sound in and people want to say I’m wrong
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It’s the constant posts and arguing your point for me…

They aren’t better to you… plenty have different opinions…

To me they are much better, to someone else they might not be

Return them and move on 😃
 
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Kylo83 said:
I respect that but people are angry at me for saying my one the anc is worse I done a side by side test and that’s the truth, it’s not subjective, the fact is the new ones let more sound in and people want to say I’m wrong
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You keep saying it’s the truth and yet it isn’t. That’s why people are disagreeing. You either don’t know how to use them, or you have faulty ears. Sorry.
 
Side by side with the AirPods Pro 2 - the ANC is absolutely better with the Pro 3 in my evaluation and testing - as long as you've got a proper seal.

Using signal and noise generators, and measuring the dB SPL at the point I can hear something other than silence, at various frequencies, I'm finding the the AirPods Pro 3 are 6-10 dB better than the Pro 2 below 3 kHz and 6-8db or so better above that.

Some of that is down to the tips/fit I'm sure.

Perception of sound will be affected both by how good a seal you have, as well as personal preferences.
 
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For those who think that the noise reduction of the AirPods Pro 3 is worse than that of the AirPods Pro 2, we have made an interesting discovery!

My wife often only uses the AirPods 2 with noise cancellation in bed and can therefore make a very good comparison. She told me that since the new update of the AirPods 2 pro, the noise cancellation doesn't work as well as before. I then made a comparison with the AirPods Pro 2 and 3 and came to the same result as my wife. Finally, we did the whole thing with the AirPods Max that haven't received the update yet and the usual old quality of noise cancellation was back as it has to be.

The problem is therefore clearly reproducible. We can only hope that Apple will fix this with a new update.
 
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I used the Pros 2 five days a week (since release) on my commute to work. I took the NYC subway and got used to what would or wouldn't bleed through ANC. Things like the PA system and the general track sounds bled through. With the Pros 3 I no longer hear track sounds or the PA. I picked up the 3's from Grand Central Station and switched them out on the train. The difference was very noticeable. In terms of audio quality, I can't say I notice much of a difference personally.
 
Just bought an Airpod Pro 3 and used it in a foodcourt. I am not impressed with the ANC as I could hear the music being broadcasted. Going to return to Apple.
 
This guy is a certified troll. He’s on like 3 different posts/articles here bashing the APP3 all day every day for 3 days straight now. Ask him to prove he has them…he won’t do it because he doesn’t and hasn’t even tried them. He’s already been exposed in the other threads
 
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Kylo83 said:
In so angry with Apple, my fave product is AirPods Pro 2 and love them, the new ones not only do not sound better but the anc is worse I spent an hour on a London train and the anc with pro 2 got rid of the whole sound of the train and when I put the 3 in I can hear the train. The seal is fine and I put them in tightly. How is this 2x better? Even the sound quality is a downgrade for me, the pro 2 have full sound and nice low bass; I don’t get any strong bass with the new ones and the sound is tiny. These are not an upgrade but a downgrade. If anyone doesn’t want to believe me try them your self side by side.
Click to expand...
I have the same issue. The AirPods 3 say they have a good seal but I can hear absolutely everything, more so than compared to the AirPods Pro 1. Even though the seal is ok, I think it comes down to how they sit in your ear canal. My partner has no issues with the AirPods Pro 3, and definitely thinks they're better than v2. Clearly it's a personal thing, but very frustrating!
 
danny1305 said:
This guy is a certified troll. He’s on like 3 different posts/articles here bashing the APP3 all day every day for 3 days straight now. Ask him to prove he has them…he won’t do it because he doesn’t and hasn’t even tried them. He’s already been exposed in the other threads
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Seems like a paid shill… or else, just a very lonely person? I’m just asking questions!
 
Yeah weird. I've also compared them and i can barely tell any difference on the ANC. I played a whitenoise youtube video on some speakers, and jumped between having the airpods pro 2 and 3 in my ears (no music playing, just with ANC on). The volume setting at which I could hear nothing was pretty much identical. I haven't upgraded yet to ios26 so maybe there is firmware that comes with that?
 
I maintain that the new firmware update has massively worsened the ANC of the Airpods Pro 2. It will become clear in the next update whether Apple will hopefully undo this. I hope that was not the intention to make the AirPods Pro 3 look “better”.
 
Kylo83 said:
In so angry with Apple, my fave product is AirPods Pro 2 and love them, the new ones not only do not sound better but the anc is worse I spent an hour on a London train and the anc with pro 2 got rid of the whole sound of the train and when I put the 3 in I can hear the train. The seal is fine and I put them in tightly. How is this 2x better? Even the sound quality is a downgrade for me, the pro 2 have full sound and nice low bass; I don’t get any strong bass with the new ones and the sound is tiny. These are not an upgrade but a downgrade. If anyone doesn’t want to believe me try them your self side by side.
Click to expand...
For me, ANC is better but sound when playing music is horrible!

I have used APP1 and 2. 2 was a huge upgrade on sound quality. Both had really bad fit for me, I can barely use them with third party tips. 3 fits PERFECT, like they were made for my ears. ANC as mentioned better. But, the sound is thin and shrill, and not by a small margin. I always felt the 2 was on the darker side, but this is ridiculous. And it sounds over-processed like a bad MP3 file. Instant ear fatigue.

I am sad. I was so jubilant when I felt them just plug perfectly in, but now I’m considering returning them.

Worse, but not unique to APP3, is that they are so silent they feel dangerous when I’m walking in traffic. But, pass through mode AMPLIFIES the noise, in a really annoying way. I miss a simple standard mode with no added processing.
 
jhfenton said:
Any difference in sound quality between the two is minimal, and which is better is a matter of preference. But there's no question that the ANC is better in the Pro 3. It's much better. Tested against blender, vacuum cleaner, street noise, etc., the Pro 3 are far more effective at canceling the sound. It's not close. They are also far better at canceling out voices.
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Hard disagree on your assessment of sound quality. I don’t see how they could be any more different. But your experience with ANC matches mine.
 
Just a shot in the dark, but even when you have ANC turned on, make sure under "Audio", that "Personalized Volume" and "Conversation Awareness" are ticked-off. When I had them on, I noticed even in ANC mode, these allowed noise in.
 
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