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Wando64

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Jul 11, 2013
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I assume the new Hearing Health features will not be made available to owners of the 1st gen AirPods Pro.
Does anyone have more information to confirm of deny this?

Also, still on the assumption that they will not be made available on 1st gen, is there a technical reason for this, or just Apple understandably trying to sell more stuff?

Thanks
 

fwmireault

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Jul 4, 2019
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Montréal, Canada
Yes only AirPods Pro 2 unfortunately. On Apple's website, they say 'The ear tips help to provide passive noise reduction, while the H2 chip helps to actively reduce louder, more intermittent noise at 48,000 times per second'

It seems that the H2 chip is the reason why this feature isn't offered on the first gen. However, I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that they could incorporate it into the first generation if they wanted to.
 
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Wando64

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Original poster
Jul 11, 2013
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As a musician and a live music lover, I spend a lot of time at live performances, both off and on stage, and this functionality could be very exciting.
At the moment I use good quality earplugs when off stage, and either the same or in-ear monitors on stage.
Even the best quality earplugs cut high frequencies more than low frequencies, and if used on stage they might make you feel a bit detached.
While this helps prevent ear damage (high frequencies are the most damaging) it also changes the quality of the sound.
Active noise control (not cancellation), ideally with controllable intensity, could potentially be a game changer in this field.
 
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