New AirPods Sound Quality Debated as Orders Begin to Arrive Around the World

[Sheza]

There's no change in the speaker quality. It's just that the AirPods everyone has had already have clogged with ear wax and the new ones are clean, so they sound loud and clear. This has gone in since EarPods and the same design is still present. These new ones will degrade the same way.

*in your opinion, speculating.

Because you don't work on the engineering team at Apple.
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https://www.macrumors.com/2019/03/25/airpower-referenced-on-airpods-packaging/

No mention of this? If these boxes are now shipping to customers, wouldn't they have a mention of AirPower on the back as was reported yesterday?

They do. Mine do. Exactly like that picture. No illustration on the back though, but that photo was from the standalone charging case box.

 

[nathan_reilly]

I'll take the word of the people who hear the difference over the people who don't any day. There are people that think a 64 kbps mp3 sounds fine too.

thank you. thank you thank you. This is such an important aspect of this debate

 

[Trboteg]

Mine were not as loud. Then I turned off sound check and they were about the same as first gen.

 

[The Game 161]

Any improvements was bound to be other areas and not sound quailty. Basically if you have a good working first gen these aren’t really a must buy

 

[nathan_reilly]

Is it true that "Hey Siri" can't even pause a track if you don't have an internet connection to send a report to Apple?

i guess they hope you're streaming that track via apple music lol

 

[TMRJIJ]

While I haven’t tried the new AirPods yet, I’m willing to bet all these people saying the sound is better just haven’t cleaned their gen 1s properly lol.

The "placebo" train has arrived...get on board!

Seriously...your ears can hear differently sometimes. I've experienced this with all earphones, headphones and the Airpods. Sometimes you can improve the sound by blowing your nose.

It also depends on how much earwax is in there so yeah...it's subjective unless we see an actual scientific sound comparison.

There's no change in the speaker quality. It's just that the AirPods everyone has had already have clogged with ear wax and the new ones are clean, so they sound loud and clear. This has gone in since EarPods and the same design is still present. These new ones will degrade the same way.

Probably a lot of new AirPods owners have old AirPods with 1-2 years of wax built up inside them.

To all of you guys saying it’s just the ear wax buildup, I want you to remember this moment in terms of MBP keyboards when people said it was just dust buildup, or iPhone 4 connectivity problems being blamed on cases, or EarPods not fitting in ears (I’ve seen quite a few people put them in wrong to validate their case), or many Battery complaints after updates.

Let’s wait for the professionals to judge and scientific evidence to prove this.

 

[JetTester]

"These are the best AirPods we've ever made." -- Tim Cook What more do you need to know?

 

[B-Mc-C]

FWIW, I have a pair of original AirPods that I’ve never used, and the new ones sound noticeably better. The improvement is better than I expected.

AppleInsider has a review that echos my opinion regarding the sound quality.

Of course, haters are going to hate, and blame it on earwax.

 

[MoreRumors?]

Lol with everyone talking about the ear wax. To be objective, you would have to find a song/music that was recorded in high quality (yes, some are recorded in high and lower quality recording equipment) use it to compare with the 2 AirPods.

The bottom line is as long as you’re happy and it does more than what your old AirPod did.

 

[bbednarz]

Never understood why people liked these overpriced toothbrushes. You can get a great pair of bluetooth over ear headphones for like 80$

Do you feel better now?
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FWIW, I have a pair of original AirPods that I’ve never used, and the new ones sound noticeably better. The improvement is better than I expected.

AppleInsider has a review that echos my opinion regarding the sound quality.

Of course, haters are going to hate, and blame it on earwax.

Maybe something was mistyped or I’m misreading, but how do you know the new ones are better if you never used the old ones?

 

[snowatom]

Never understood why people liked these overpriced toothbrushes. You can get a great pair of bluetooth over ear headphones for like 80$

Yes you can, but they don’t fit in your pocket.

 

[RickInHouston]

FWIW, I have a pair of original AirPods that I’ve never used, and the new ones sound noticeably better. The improvement is better than I expected.

AppleInsider has a review that echos my opinion regarding the sound quality.

Of course, haters are going to hate, and blame it on earwax.

I like this. Makes perfect sense.

 

[outskirtsofinfinity]

But. How do you pop them out of the plastic case? I remember Gruber making a video for the first version. Will there be a sequel?

 

[sundog925]

FWIW, I have a pair of original AirPods that I’ve never used, and the new ones sound noticeably better. The improvement is better than I expected.

LOL wait WHAT? i can't even.

 

[alexandr]

better sound quality in siri? what does that even mean?..

 

[TMRJIJ]

Remember people:

1. Sound is subjective
2. Audio Quality varies
3. Some people can’t fit these in ears
4. Some people think they do/don’t fit in ears yet don’t even know how to put earphones in correctly.

 

[BvizioN]

Lol at people commenting about Wax on other peoples AirPods and completely dismissing their opinion about sound quality! Even though they yet have to try it.

 

[winning_bigly]

You know, I've actually tried to clean mine a few times with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol but I still don't feel like they're as good as they used to be. Have any tips?

Packing tape or soft rubber adhesives work well to pull all the dust and wax off the tiny speaker grills. I use the adhesive that they send us in those advertisements in the mail; the gooey, rubber stuff that adheres credit cards to paper. My AirPod grills are clean as a whistle.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

That's nice, but I find it hard to trust the opinion of someone who thinks Daft Punk is good music.

 

[MDF314159265]

New AirPod 2 owners: “sound quality is IMPROVED!”

Apple engineers, buyers, and execs: “hahaha!! No new tech, cheaper components, and they’re raving about improvements we never made!! What else can we hack???....”

Surely, filthy mesh screens, degraded batteries and components/radios have diminished the quality of original airpods, thus leading some happy folks (with newer airpods) to perceive an improvement that isn’t engineered, designed, or otherwise directly intentional.
Put those old airpods on the shelf for a year or so, then come back and compare - apples to apples.

 

[rmoliv]

The sound seems to be a bit clearer and bassy but still not impressive.
The box says 2018 so that means they’ve been piling up in some warehouse all these months. It’s a shame that they waited this long and made so many people buy 1st gen AirPods during Christmas season when these were ready to launch back in 2018. Absolute greed.

 

[Salty Pirate]

IMHO- my Gen 1 units sound way better after the firmware update .

 

[RamGuy]

It's supposed to be regular Qi-charging on the wireless charging case, correct? I'm currently using the Samsung EP-PG920I everywhere as it was a nice and cheap wireless charger from a reputable brand when I got my iPhone X.

But charging the AirPods 2 with the wireless charging case is not all that easy. It lights up and the case chargers when you put in onto the middle of the charger but after 5 minutes+ it just stops. I have taken it on and off the charger for like 5 times total and I have only moved from 30% to 60% charge on the case.

 

[blinkytoo]

Apple's new second-generation AirPods are beginning to arrive to customers around the world, and some early adopters have turned to the MacRumors forums and social media to share their first impressions of the earphones.

The new AirPods unboxed via Reddit user Lachlanhunt​

The new AirPods have the same outward design as the original and remain available in white only. Apple continues to include a one-meter Lightning to USB-A cable in the box with all second-generation AirPods.

Hey Siri

Powered by a new H1 chip, the new AirPods support hands-free Siri, enabling users to change songs, make phone calls, adjust the volume, get directions, and more by saying "Hey Siri." Siri can still be activated by doubling tapping one of the AirPods if enabled in Settings > Bluetooth on an iOS device.

First impressions about the new Hey Siri functionality are mostly positive so far. MacRumors forum member Moxxham from Australia wrote that "Hey Siri seems to work really well," even with loud music playing in the background, while Reddit user Lachlanhunt found the feature "works reasonably well."

Sound Quality

First impressions about overall audio quality are both subjective and anecdotal, with conflicting opinions as to whether the new AirPods sound better than the original. Reports range from users not noticing any difference all the way to feeling like the new AirPods are a huge improvement for sound.

​

MacRumors forum member Kiky disagrees with the above tweet:At the very least, MacRumors reader Vladislav Kuznetsov and many others agree that features like Siri and FaceTime calls sound clearer:

​

On a related note, Apple recently seeded a 6.3.2 firmware update for the first-generation AirPods, and some users on MacRumors and Reddit are speculating that the update has led to improved audio quality and faster connection speeds on the first-generation AirPods. Evidence is anecdotal at this point.

Early adopters are also noticing that the new AirPods switch more quickly between devices like the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac they are connected. Apple says the H1 chip makes switching between sources up to two times faster.

As far as battery life is concerned, more time will be needed for a proper comparison between the new AirPods and the original pair.

Apple says the new AirPods get up to three hours of talk time per charge, compared to up to two hours with the previous generation. Other battery life stats remain the same, with up to five hours of listening time per charge and more than 24 hours of total battery life from extra charges stored in the case.

The new AirPods are available to order on Apple.com and in the Apple Store app with a wired charging case for $159, the same price as the original AirPods, and with a wireless charging case for $199. Apple says both options will be available at Apple Stores and select resellers starting this week.

MacRumors will be sharing our own second-generation AirPods hands-on video and impressions soon. Let us know your own first impressions in the comments section or by tweeting at us with a @MacRumors mention!

Article Link: New AirPods Sound Quality Debated as Orders Begin to Arrive Around the World

 

[HangmanSwingset]

Somewhat related, but I realized this morning that my BeatsX suddenly connect and play audio while plugged in. This wasn’t a thing before.
No firmware update, still on 7.0.3.