I’m totally up for this

Thanks for letting us know. We re-tested on firmware 2B588 and didn’t find any noticeable results in ANC performance, but we’ll look into it more as it seems there might be another update available.

Thanks so much Ian. Were there differences in the FR? From oratory’s measurements on Reddit I understand that the Airpods Pro EQ based on ear canal length. Guess that would be hard to test without different dummy heads.

Wonder what causes the mass hysteria at ANC performance on firmware updates? I’m sure it’s some unknown psychoacoustics. Completely different user basis that Bose/Sony have to Apple and there’s mass reports.

Dec 19, 2019 02:42 PM By OP Dush

100

Thanks so much Ian. Were there differences in the FR? From oratory’s measurements on Reddit I understand that the Airpods Pro EQ based on ear canal length. Guess that would be hard to test without different dummy heads. Wonder what causes the mass hysteria at ANC performance on firmware updates? I’m sure it’s some unknown psychoacoustics. Completely different user basis that Bose/Sony have to Apple and there’s mass reports.

We took a quick look and did see some variation in ANC performance but we’ll need to look into it further. We’re going to be off for the holidays for a bit but we’ll re-test their ANC, along with FR, once we’re back in January.

Thanks so much Ian. Have a great Christmas break 😊

Can’t wait to see this… wife and I returned ours until fixed… over 1500 people have said theirs are horrible now with ANC lacking.

Current Forum Followings for Fix… https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250887615 and https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-airpods-firmware.2174906/ and https://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=792523&st=8380

Possible more out there as well-

Dec 20, 2019 03:55 PM By  Ian McPhail

We took a quick look and did see some variation in ANC performance but we’ll need to look into it further. We’re going to be off for the holidays for a bit but we’ll re-test their ANC, along with FR, once we’re back in January.

Could it be possible that the new firmware introduced something like Sony’s “Adaptive Sound Control”, which passes through some ambient sound while the person is walking … etc? On my Airpods Pro with firmware 2B588, I seemed to notice that after a few minutes of walking, the ANC just kind of fades out to an almost non-existent level… it’s barely there, not much different than passive isolation on Jabra 65t. This might be a feature for safety and liability reasons??? Knowing Apple’s way of doing things, it’s either Apple’s way or the highway, I decided not to wait for any future updates and returned mine after a day of use.

https://www.iphone-ticker.de/airpods-firmware-2c54-offenbar-von-apple-zurueckgezogen-151650/

Thanks for that link - glad they finally recognised the issue.

Ian - any change on getting those measurements posted? Will be very interesting now to compare different firmware versions since Apple are working on the issue themselves.

Jan 06, 2020 12:25 PM By OP Dush

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Thanks for that link - glad they finally recognised the issue. Ian - any change on getting those measurements posted? Will be very interesting now to compare different firmware versions since Apple are working on the issue themselves.

Expecting to have them by the end of week, will keep you all in the loop!

Huge thanks and can’t wait for this…

Any updates, and greatly appreciated…

We are getting a brand new back ordered pair coming in Monday so we will update on hardware and firmware out of box… and this is coming from Best Buy. Hopefully, orig firmware and same hardware so the wife and I can both test them and see where they update to and give a real word 2 person opinion from start to finish on ANC degradation within a hour or however long it takes to update to current broken firmware/hardware failure = )

Jan 10, 2020 08:52 AM By senfinger

5

Any updates, and greatly appreciated… We are getting a brand new back ordered pair coming in Monday so we will update on hardware and firmware out of box… and this is coming from Best Buy. Hopefully, orig firmware and same hardware so the wife and I can both test them and see where they update to and give a real word 2 person opinion from start to finish on ANC degradation within a hour or however long it takes to update to current broken firmware/hardware failure = )

They will likely come with firmware version 2B588 or later…. got mine around the new year and they came with 2B588 preloaded….

Well right out the box brand new from APPLE/Best Buy and current Firmware is 2B588 and Hard. 1.0.0

So its firmware guys… just as crappy ANC (30%sh reduction and almost no difference between transparency and ANC) and no other issues… 100% at least we have 45 days to return these now from today if they don’t fix this sooner than later.

Also, this may be our biggest fear coming true… since this shipped with this version anyone who didn’t listen to them at launch, in store, or purchasing early will never be happy and will more than likely turn into a legal matter to see revision notes and get corrected… for what we were originally sold on and now outside their window of return. Ehhh…

Hey everyone, thanks a lot for your patience and apologies for the delay. We finished re-testing with firmware 2C54 and did indeed notice a drop in noise isolation performance, primarily in the bass range. We’ve updated the review with our findings.

Thanks Ian, can you please show the graphs before and after the update?

Jan 13, 2020 10:44 AM By OP Dush

100

Thanks Ian, can you please show the graphs before and after the update?

Absolutely, you can check it out here.

Thanks Ian

I suspect Apple have tried to minimise the ear drum suck effect, much like Bose did with the 700 series. There’s a relationship between how much bass you can cancel and how quickly you slope out of that that impacts this effect. See Brent Butterworths article on it.

A shame they don’t give the option to choose the highest cancelling. Mine have also auto updated despite barely ever having them connected to my iPhone. They really didn’t do a great job on a plane ride on the new firmware.

Jan 13, 2020 12:50 PM By  Ian McPhail

Absolutely, you can check it out here.

Thnx.

Any chance to add 2b584 firmware (released about November 4) to the comparison? Since 2b584->2b588 ANC difference is much bigger than for 2b588->2c54

Does anyone know if a factory reset reverts firmware back to factory state also?

Jan 13, 2020 04:52 PM By tt_ua

2

Thnx. Any chance to add 2b584 firmware (released about November 4) to the comparison? Since 2b584->2b588 ANC difference is much bigger than for 2b588->2c54

We didn’t observe any noticeable differences in noise isolation performance between the original firmware and the 2B588 update, so the graph didn’t change. You can see this in the updates made in the “Noise Isolation” box of the review.

Jan 13, 2020 12:50 PM By  Ian McPhail

Absolutely, you can check it out here.

Hi Ian, could you explain why the curve of ANC-Off tests are so different in the mid range? I think the firmware update should not change the ANC-Off curves.

Jan 15, 2020 08:11 PM By wangchou

3

Hi Ian, could you explain why the curve of ANC-Off tests are so different in the mid range? I think the firmware update should not change the ANC-Off curves.

Some variation in passive isolation (ANC) between reseats/re-tests is expected due to normal differences in seal. I have a feeling that’s the case here, but we’ll still check it out more. I’ll keep you posted, as well as this thread which noticed the same thing.

Any reason why the 2c54 update testing was removed?

Jan 17, 2020 02:45 PM By  Ian McPhail

Some variation in passive isolation (ANC) between reseats/re-tests is expected due to normal differences in seal. I have a feeling that’s the case here, but we’ll still check it out more. I’ll keep you posted, as well as this thread which noticed the same thing.

Hi Ian. Apple just released a new firmware for the AirPods Pro - 2D15 ( https://www.macrumors.com/2020/05/05/apple-updates-airpods-pro-firmware-to-version-2d15/ ) Would you mind retesting the noise cancellation with this new update please? I see contradicting feedback on apple forums and would love something more concrete.

Mine just got the update.

I also cleaned all the speakers and mics with blue tac. That’s completely solved my buzzing/ratling problem with foot steps and body noises.

The biggest change I can feel is that they’ve stopped ear drum suck. It feels like the Bose 700 now, they’ve probably improved the filter coming out from ANC to non ANC frequencies. It’d be very good if rtings could re-test once the back log from Covid has cleared!

They sound fantastic now, like on day 1 of my purchase.

May 06, 2020 08:26 AM By GVes

1

Hi Ian. Apple just released a new firmware for the AirPods Pro - 2D15 ( https://www.macrumors.com/2020/05/05/apple-updates-airpods-pro-firmware-to-version-2d15/ ) Would you mind retesting the noise cancellation with this new update please? I see contradicting feedback on apple forums and would love something more concrete.

We’ve added it to our things for testers to look into, but we don’t know if/when we’ll be able to.

For anyone interested a YTer has compared them. It’s obvious it’s improved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8d0UDCF3N4&t=331s

He doesn’t say how he was measuring it though. You can clearly hear it though. I suspect he uses a MiniDSP HaTS that the other bud is on.

May 07, 2020 10:44 AM By  Adam Babcock

We’ve added it to our things for testers to look into, but we don’t know if/when we’ll be able to.

Hi Adam, any update for 2D15 new firmware retest? Thanks! Love your works!

May 27, 2020 01:27 PM By c100361

1

Hi Adam, any update for 2D15 new firmware retest? Thanks! Love your works!

Nothing to announce yet, maybe towards the end of next week, but that could change.

May 27, 2020 01:30 PM By  Adam Babcock

Nothing to announce yet, maybe towards the end of next week, but that could change.

Hope this isn’t too far away, have been very keen to see your objective data.

Another site has the measurements up. It’s on a GRAS coupler too, so very high quality: https://www.0db.co.kr/REVIEW_0DB/1370151

Just use google translate - but the graphs are there.

No reduction in ANC. Slight difference in bass, likely to give less ear drum suck effect.

More interestingly, on that site the cheap memory foam tips are also measured - they give a massive increase in ANC performance. So much so that the APP’s now clearly out perform the WH XM3s.

Jun 14, 2020 07:22 AM By OP Dush

100

Another site has the measurements up. It’s on a GRAS coupler too, so very high quality: https://www.0db.co.kr/REVIEW_0DB/1370151 Just use google translate - but the graphs are there. No reduction in ANC. Slight difference in bass, likely to give less ear drum suck effect. More interestingly, on that site the cheap memory foam tips are also measured - they give a massive increase in ANC performance. So much so that the APP’s now clearly out perform the WH XM3s.

Thanks for posting this, nice to get another perspective. However, I superimposed this site’s APP + Foam tips ANC graph against the WH XM3’s and the WH XM3s still provide superior ANC, but it is very close (except the higher frequencies - WHXM3s are far ahead here). Perhaps you meant the WF XM3?

No I meant the WH XM3. I did the same thing as you and compared the graphs from 0db. You have to weight the ANC to what bothers us most - brains pick up human voices - in the range of 80-180hz the APPs with mem-foam cancel more. In the treble range the over ears do more - as a function of their form factor with passive isolation.

The dummy head also has none of the nuisance factors in real world cases - like hair, odd jaw shapes, and glasses that could prevent a tight seal. I find any memory foam tips seal far better than any over-ears on my own head. I’ve A vs B’d the APPs and WHXM3, WFXM3 and Bose 700 against white noise and cafe noise in my 7.1.4 theater. The APPs are significantly better for me. The crazy thing is you can even combine the APPs with the WHXM3’s because they have spacious ear cups - so you can wear them over the APPs!

You might be interested in this video: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/anc-is-more-complicated-than-it-sounds-advanced-anc-headphone-measurements.934609/#post-15669815

It’s a proposal on how to weight ANC performance on how humans hear. Rtings has a form of that via a weighting system but this one is a little more complex.

UPDATE

We’ve retested these headphones following multiple firmware updates and the Noise Isolation has changed. Click here to read the full details!