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Comment by menshiki | Hacker News Reader

AirPods Pro without a doubt. It's the only item in my life that if it broke, I would immediately buy a replacement. I used them in the office to isolate myself from other people and when I'm walking outside to isolate myself from cars.

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The mic quality is so poor though. I have to turn off Bluetooth to record voice notes to people.

Also if you drop them the earbuds always go flying.

I fucking hate that I can’t tell my phone to use my phone mic and not the AirPods mic. At least I can on laptops.

I got a case with a snap closure after having to crawl under the car multiple times to retrieve an earbud. I hate the bulk of it but beats the alternative. I used to keep an odd-sized wide rubber band around the case instead but lost it somewhere.

With AirPods Pro I can’t walk next to a street and have the other person hear me on mic. For $300 you’d think I could.

I can't wear them because they really hurt after about 20 minutes.

Indoors, I use AirPod Max. They have the same benefits. They are really overpriced, but I can use them all day without any negative effects. The quality is superb.

One caveat: don't workout in them. They have issues with moisture.

I can recommend the Bose QC45 or the Bose Headphones 700 as a less overpriced and more compatible alternative to the Max. Very good audio quality, comfortable fit (although the Headphones 700 tend to be rather tight depending on your head shape), and great noise canelling.

How did you choose them over Bose and Sony? My understanding is that they are more expensive and heavier than both of those. Is the noise cancellation so much better that it outweighs the cost and weight considerations?

I have a pair of QC35's (v2, I think). They're OK. I'm in the Apple ecosystem and decided to try them with the idea of returning them if I didn't like them.

The NC isn't hugely better, but the transparent mode is kickass. I use it all the time.

I think they are overpriced, but after more than a year with them I'm happy I have them.

Note that they were really tight when I got them and I saw a post on reddit about bending the top bar to make them looser. Before doing it I couldn't wear them more than an hour at a time. Now I can wear them all day.

I have a bias against Sony, for many reasons (over the years), though I have no doubt their headphones are really good, too.

Try Comply memory foam ear tips with AirPods Pro’s. I can do 5 hours no prob. Near 7 I start to really feel them.

I had to "adjust" them to make them comfortable. From another reply:

> Note that they were really tight when I got them and I saw a post on reddit about bending the top bar to make them looser. Before doing it I couldn't wear them more than an hour at a time. Now I can wear them all day.

I found the comment:

https://www.reddit.com/r/airpods/comments/mpjwp8/finally_sol...

Regarding the AirPod Pro's... I can't wear them for even 30 minutes without pain, but I will look into the suggested tips. With the original tips, how long can you wear them?

I really wanted to like them. They kept falling out of my ear with all tips, and at almost $300, I didn’t want to have to buy aftermarket foam tips or ear hooks.

The sound is great and the Bluetooth pairing is excellent though.

I had the same issue, so now I use them without any of the tips. The noise cancellation isn't quite as effective, but they're still better than average earbuds.

My gen 1's had so many issues with the earbuds having crackling and squealing when set to anything but no processing mode. Swapped them through support I think five times before the program expired.

Bought the gen 2 USB-C ones as soon as they got discounted and love them. The noise cancellation is noticeably improved. I'm mostly fine with the stock tips but do have some of the Comply foam tips which give a little tighter seal.

I think the microphones used for noise cancelling were prone to getting damaged, same thing happened to my gen 1s too

On the flipside, unless you're specifically referring to the newer Max model, getting away from earpods and using around-ear headphones led to a MASSIVE boost in my comfort level after a day of work.

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