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Comment by vlunkr | Hacker News Reader

So do airpods actually sound better than the standard wired headphones? If they don't, this is a lot of fancy engineering for some pretty bad headphones. Maybe they just didn't fit my ears or something, but I've always hated them.

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I think the Pros sound amazing. I used to have the Sony WH-XM1000 v3 and v4 noise-canceling headphones, but sold both after using the Airpod Pros for a few days and never went back.

The Airpod Pro sound quality is maybe 90% as good as the Sonys, but the form factor is INCREDIBLY convenient. No more sweating and constantly adjusting the earcups and headbands... just plop them in and they fit my ears perfectly and never fall out. The noise canceling works VERY well, as good as any other I've tried, whether at home, at work, or on a plane.

I also love that they work so seamlessly with some Apple devices, like being able to wirelessly watch the same movie from my iPad to two sets of Airpods. Apple has their own proprietary wireless chipset and protocol, so the interconnect between Apple stuff and Airpods works a LOT better than using them with Android or Windows hardware (sadly). Bluetooth works but is far less reliable.

That was the first Apple product I've ever purchased, and it has since become my favorite-ever piece of technology. I honestly adore them so much it makes me gush (and blush) when I talk about them... egads. The Sonys were always a love-hate relationship, with great sound quality but terrible comfort. The Airpods have both in equal measure.

> Sony WH-XM1000 v3

They aren’t even comparable. Sony’s being over ear design cancels noise way better, but Pro’s are much more practical for sleep and calls.

Just compared my Pros and XM4 back-to-back and the Pros seem to have better noise canceling but YMWV with getting a good enough seal.

Transparency mode is where the AirPods take it without question.

I did in fact compare them and the difference was negligible to me. I am extremely happy with the Airpod Pros despite having had the Sonys for years before that. The Sonys had OK noise canceling but it was hard to get a consistent seal, especially as my ears got sweaty after short sessions. Never had an issue with the Airpods.

I'm no audiophile, granted. Just a satisfied average Joe. The Airpods are way more convenient.

You experience matches mine almost 100%. I have a WH-XM1000 v3 and AirPods Pro and I reach for my AirPods Pro more often than the Sony's. The noise cancellation imo is negligible if you're using it under normal circumstances. The only scenario where the Sony's outdid the AirPods Pro was on a flight.

All said and done, I consider AirPods pro one of my best investments in life. Not only is the connectivity / switching between devices amazing, the sound quality is fantastic for earphones that size.

They sound better to me than the standard issue Apple wired earphones, but not remarkably better. The Pros sound much better, but don't stay in my ears so I've repurchased the original design (v2).

The game changer for me is how convenient the UX is. Whichever Apple device that you're near can connect, or automatically connects to the right device most of the time and it's pretty seamless. Any other wireless headphones I've used (including the recent Beats Studio buds) are frustrating in comparison.

I definitely won't go into longer calls without them.

I'm no audiophile (but I do have standards) but the real appeal is they mostly "just work".

I can only comment on the pros. There's not a ton you can do to compete with something with much larger drivers and a good crossover circuit. They certainly sound acceptable, but the real upside is that they don't have wires and they have shockingly good sound cancellation. You can even use them as lightweight hearing protection - I'd estimate they give a good 15-20dB of noise reduction against small explosions, so they're sufficient for things like nail guns or .22 fire.

It does. But it's not about that. It's about being able to get rid of wires and associated mess.

Are wires a mess? Looking at the Zoom calls I've been on, I've never heard "oh sorry I'm all tangled up in my wires", but have seen "my batteries are dead" or "my headphones won't pair with my computer", etc. (I say "seen" because you don't hear much from people debugging their "magic" wireless headphones.) This has added up to many person-hours of delays, while the wires just keep working.

If you go outside and try to do anything with wired headphones, the wires are a constant struggle. When my left AirPods Pro had to be replaced, I had to use some wired EarPods on my commute. The cable was always catching on something. I was so relieved to get the replacement and be able to get rid of the wires again.

I like being able to walk around, even exercise, during meetings.

And the AirPods Pro provide better outbound audio when I’m speaking than my Sony Bluetooth headset.

> "my headphones won't pair with my computer"

That's the other things Airpods solves (assuming you're on a Mac)

The pairing process is so simple and seamless, it's the only bluetooth headphones I've ever used that isn't a huge pain to pair every time I want to use them (and especially the first setup). When I first got them, I popped open the lid of the case next to my phone, it popped up, I clicked the button to pair, and it's paired. And any device logged into your Apple ID is automatically paired to them too, so I just went over to my laptop and it was already connected.

I like them for cases where wired headphones wouldn't work, like when I'm doing the dishes, listening to a podcast, but don't want it to be on speakers because it'll wake up the baby.

In fact, on reflection, I almost only listen to podcasts on mine, so I don't really care about sound quality.

No, they sound pretty crap to be honest if you're used to high quality over the ear headphones. But that's not really their purpose. They are ideal as portable earpieces - walking around town, on the train, folding your laundry, or any other use case where you can't sit down and plug in your headphones. The lack of a wire is very convenient.

Although these days I just use wired earpods. Can't be arsed to replace my last airpods whose battery inevitably died.

The sound is fine, the active noise cancellation is phenomenal. Transparency mode is also nice at times when you need to be aware of your surroundings.

The sound quality is really good, but now worth the high price. It's all about the convince of not having wires.

I have had Pro's for a year and I'm still not convinced that they are worth of the money. Cleaning ears & pods every day makes them usable but they still drop from the ears sometimes.

So much packaged sophistication yet can't match high fidelity audio.

I picked up a KZ-ZSN with a pair of dynamic and balanced armature drivers and haven't looked back in terms of sound quality. Imagine my surprise when I purchased another pair with 4BA + 1DD..

Both were under $30.

To each their own I guess.

There’s a huge value in not having to untangle wires every time you use headphones even if there is a hit to sound quality.

Also having the ability to use one earbud without having the weight of the cable tugging at your ear is underrated.

Yes! Never thought about that, but it is. Especially for calls!

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