Apple Airpods Pro 3

[GoMrPickles]

I didn't see a thread about these, so.

I ordered a pair and will pick them up in a week. Will report back on the delta vs the 2s, which are my daily driver.

Maybe not a popular choice around here, but the kids pull any wired headphones off my desk and try to lasso the dog with them... so needs must.

 

[Somafunk]

I bought the AirPod Pro 2’s back in March as I couldn’t find my AirPod Pro Gen 1’s…..needless to say I found my Gen 1’s 3 weeks later……doh! .

To be perfectly honest I’ve only used my Pro 2’s less than a few hours (one 3hr hospital visit) the case is still on the original full charge i gave it when it arrived so why am I looking at the AirPods Pro 3’s and thinking to myself “I quite like the idea of those with the improved eartips”


I am stoopid for even considering purchasing them but if the sound quality is an improvement over the Pro 2’s then you can imagine what’s likely to happen

 

[masterhw]

Good video here overviewing some of the intelligent features of the Airpods Pro line and why it makes them particularly challenging to get an accurate frequency response measurement.

I for one did not realize they had loudness correction, or ear canal correction. Certainly raises the possibility for these to sound better than passive wired earbuds. Obviously I’ll be the judge of if they do.

 

[scotchrocks]

Thanks for starting this thread.

Just due to form factor, my AirPods Pro 2 are my most-used headphone, and I have a Pro 3 on order as well. The Pro 2 have reasonably good sound quality and to my ear a pleasing sound signature (treble isn't too sharp/sibilant), so I'm looking forward to hearing how the new ones fare. Most reviews have stated better bass clarity and treble extension, which in combination with stronger ANC and better battery life, sounds like a winner. I use mine when traveling, working out, just whenever I'm not at my desk or at home.

Another hope of mine is that they've improved the microphone. The Pro 2 microphone was abysmal for calls. I've heard firmware updates have changed sound quality/ANC quality/microphone pickup as well, but I gave up using it for calls after a while. Some reviewers even test individual firmware updates as the typical Apple notes ("bug fixes and improvements") hide more significant changes under the hood. Anyways, I'll provide some impressions when I get them.

 

[Peluvius]

I have a set of 3s coming today. I use the 2s daily mainly for phone and media consumption on my MacBook (in a noisy household). The Truthear Zero IEMs give a better sound quality for me but I am interested to see if the 3s are improvement.

 

[Peluvius]

I have spent about 40 minutes with them on a few of my familiar tracks and it's a big thumbs up for me. Sound quality is noticeably improved towards the Truthear Zeros. Not quite as good but remarkably close for bluetooth noise cancelling ear buds. The tips are also much better for me and make a better seal (I had to use aftermarket foam for the 2s).

 

[A Surfer]

I'll never be convinced that pushing things into the ear cannal is a good idea.

 

[Joe Smith]

The Apple buds are just too expensive to my taste. Love my iPhone (Verizon made a deal too good to pass up), but I find my $28 TOZO wireless earbuds have very good sound and excellent wind blocking and noise cancellation algorithms.

 

[beeface]

Maybe not a popular choice around here

given this is Audio SCIENCE Review, surely people should show some interest.

It might be intended to the masses rather than "audiophiles", but there's not really much than can compare to the R&D that goes into Apple's audio products

here's another entirely mainstream review of them (no measurements in sight). I can see the appeal

 

[InfiniteJester]

The fact that they automatically "correct" their sound to achieve their target response in any ear it is very interesting.

Also, their spatial sound includes head-tracking.

I use Android, though. And I'm not going to buy an iPhone. So all that interesting technology is useless for me. But I wish more companies tried to develop similar technologies.

 

[antcollinet]

I watched the apple announcment of them.

Some minor sound quality benefits over the 2's - mainly around noise cancelatin.

Most interesting for me was the real time translation feature. I'd love to try it out in the (forrin) world.

Though I think most of the heavy lifting for that is done on the phone - so I wonder if it will also be possible on the 2's

 

[JamesYeomans]

Live translation also available with the Pro 2s:

Use Live Translation with your AirPods - Apple Support

Bridge language barriers in person—while traveling or navigating in a foreign country—with AirPods.

support.apple.com

 

[somebodyelse]

The fact that they automatically "correct" their sound to achieve their target response in any ear it is very interesting.

Also, their spatial sound includes head-tracking.

I use Android, though. And I'm not going to buy an iPhone. So all that interesting technology is useless for me. But I wish more companies tried to develop similar technologies.

Plus using the iPhone's 3d scanning to generate an individual HRTF rather than relying on an average one for the spatial sound (also applies to the earlier generation, like most of the points). They're bringing techniques used in higher end hearing aids to consumer level pricing too. They weren't the first to try automatic correction for the user's ears (AKG did it in some of theirs, now discontinued I think? And someone else with over-ears but I don't remember the name) but they're doing a good job of bringing the combination of great new capabilities to the mass market.

Live translation is something that should be possible with any headset-capable earbud really - it's just connecting the audio to a different backend service.

Like you I wish they'd get over their vendor lock-in though. Same applies to Samsung though (earbud features that only work with a Samsung phone.) Keep an eye on https://github.com/kavishdevar/librepods to see whether they've reverse engineered enough of the features for you, and when they add support for the 3rd gen model. Note the need for rooted Android until Google fix their bluetooth code (and manufacturers then issue firmware updates - good luck with that!) but linux should be fine. Unsurprisingly it looks like the spatial audio is done on the paired phone/computer - the airpods just provide the sensor data for the head tracking - so that's not going to Just Work, much like live translation. I'm almost tempted to look for some used 2nd gen to try.

 

[Esprit]

Most interesting for me was the real time translation feature. I'd love to try it out in the (forrin) world.

Aside from the fact that it should also work with the 2 but the feature will not be available in Europe (ok, you are in the UK) but it should not be available for everyone when you are in a European Union state (geolocation via iPhone).

 

[Peluvius]

Main observations after five or six hours of listening (in comparison to the 2s). Much more comfortable fit out of the box, no issue for a few hours. Probably be fine for an 8 to 9 hour flight which is great for me. Bass is improved, punchier and deeper. Vocals are better and I can hear more detail in the music at similar volume.

Don't really notice any difference in noise cancelling for me it's either on or off but maybe on a plane it will make a difference. I never found it works that well with household sounds anyway.

I usually do not enjoy listening to music for any period of time unless the reproduction is excellent and as a casual observation I have enjoyed listening on these for a lot longer than I would with the 2s. It could be just that they are new and sound "different" but I suspect not. I do most of my music listening on my home systems or an IEMs and am pretty intolerant of mediocre sound.

I would say Apple have nailed it with this one.

 

[scotchrocks]

Just got mine in as well, and first impressions agree with most others; the bass is clearly better, especially sub-bass in music. The treble is also more pronounced (more "sparkle" I suppose), but it's a little more emphasized than I would've liked. In any case, the sound signature is very pleasing if you like a V curve. ANC is also definitely better, but not sure how I can quantify that. I still need to try out the mics on calls to see if they're improved.

 

[Windmills]

FR compared to APP 2 posted on another forum seems to suggest more bass and treble:

 

[GoMrPickles]

Picked them up yesterday. Just listened for a few minutes but:
1) Bluetooth pairing worked. Apple *really* wants you to try things out, like take a hearing test right away (and then wait for a 5 minute calibration), but the UX was fine.
2) The medium ear tips fit me well. No previous ear tips from any vendor have; I've used foam tips for Comply for years.
3) The bass is more prominent. The sound might evolve over time, as Apple evidently EQs things; I tend to EQ bass down on most headphones as it gets distracting.
4) Soundstaging is clearer, but almost distracting? Very good for active listening, a little too pronounced for passive listening (which I imagine a lot of AirPods users do).

Anyway, my very non scientific first impressions.

 

[Tks]

Ive been using mine for a day or so. The most important part for me in audio these days is comfort. I do not care if your product is literally flawless, if the comfort isn't there, it's pointless for me.

They bring that for sure, love the fit, and I've said this when the first ones came out. IEM makers have to stop it with these nonsense thick metal/pastic stems you have to shove in your ear causing annoying pain, or having to use basically one time use foams to rectify partially, the tips need to stop being circular, and more ovular like these are.

The sound though. I can't tell if it's because I've only had the chance to listen to Apple Music offerings, but I'm regularly seemingly hearing some sort of distortion when the bass or certain treble hits heavy, this could be because so many of these tracks are horns/brass heavy instrumentally, and it seems the entire recording industry is riddled with garbage recording engineers and are having their recordings clipped, and on top of lossy compression, it's just very apparent on these earphones.

The other thing is, I sometimes cannot hear the mid's all that much. All this talk about improved bass is actually real, improved in the sense of extension, I'm not sure if it's improved in terms of representation of being distortion free, but man do the tracks punch. This seems slightly over-tuned to be perfectly honest at times, and I'm not sure if this is drowning out the rest of the music because of it at times (we're talking about IEM drivers here and all). Idk what's going on but things feel quiet until I ramp the volume up considerably.

 

[scotchrocks]

The other thing is, I sometimes cannot hear the mid's all that much. All this talk about improved bass is actually real, improved in the sense of extension, I'm not sure if it's improved in terms of representation of being distortion free, but man do the tracks punch. This seems slightly over-tuned to be perfectly honest at times, and I'm not sure if this is drowning out the rest of the music because of it at times (we're talking about IEM drivers here and all). Idk what's going on but things feel quiet until I ramp the volume up considerably.

Yes, I agree that the mids are recessed now relative to the increased bass and treble. Punchy, for sure, but maybe not entirely accurate.