Comment by Fwirt | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Fwirt | Hacker News Reader

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I have been able to trigger it when fumbling around with adjusting the fit. If I run my finger over the top of the body I can get a brief squeal out of them. Happened just a few seconds ago. I also have noticed on multiple occasions that if I take them both out of my ears and cup them in the same hand, they squeal audibly enough to hear faintly from a couple feet away. The skin contact sensor is very sensitive.

However, unlike a lot of other commenters in this thread, I feel like the APP3 are a huge leap forward from the APP2 and have had zero regrets with the upgrade (other than the forced iOS 26 upgrade, but I feel like that's inevitable anyway.) They stay in much better, the fit is more comfortable, the battery life is better, the ANC probably drops background noise another 10db subjectively, and most of all, the sound quality is absolutely stellar. I have owned several midrange headphones and a portable DAC and I find myself preferring the AirPods over them. I haven't worn my Sennheisers since I got the APP3.

Just curious, which Sennheisers did you give up on in favor of APP3?

I have over-the-ear Momentum 3 and love it, but if APP3 provides better sound quality and better ANC I might consider switching as Momentum 3, while I love it, is bulky, heavy, and started to wear off and break down.

Drop x Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee through a Qudelix 5K. Both are great pieces of kit, the Qudelix especially. The onboard parametric EQ combined with AutoEQ is fantastic. However, after running a hearing test and enabling Hearing Assist, the EQ on the Airpods is incredible and everything sounds very natural. I have no idea how they managed to get this much soundstage and bass out of these things. I also have a pair of Grado SR 80, and have a soft spot for Koss KSC 75.

FWIW I got mine at Costco and their return policy is top notch, and I believe they include AppleCare+ with the purchase. I had bought my APP2 fairly recently before the APP3 were released, experienced buyers remorse, but had kept them in like new condition with the box and accessories, and had no problem exchanging them.

I have an HD450 BT pair and they’re my first ones that have ANC— I’ve found it a game changer for long flights. The only bummer is that wearing cans interferes with a neck brace like trtl; on that basis alone I’d be interested in trying ones that were in-ear style.

What parts are breaking down on yours? The earpads are of course replaceable, and if you had the awful loose yoke problem I’m guessing you wouldn’t be so calm.

Cushions (yeah replacable but not super cheap), the cable that connects one earpiece to other, the bit connecting the earpieces, the hinges around the earpieces.

Literally everything. The sound is still great and battery is awesome. But I doubt it will last long.

(Just to be clear: I've used it A LOT over the years, and is already worth every penny I spent on it)

Huh. For what it’s worth, the Chinese lambskin (not generic “leather”!) pads that you can get for ~$15 from Aliexpress, Geekria, etc. work as well as the official ones in my experience. (For other headphones, you can’t always get generic replacement pads made of the same materials.) The only difference I’ve been able to discern is the L/R labels are printed using a different technique.

Let me have a look. Do you think the material is of good quality and healthy (no weird questionable materials for wearing/skin contact for long time with sweat etc)?

I’ve spent a few weeks with mine and, as best as I can tell, they’re indistinguishable from the original ones, except the dye of the L/R markings is on top of the cloth rather than inside it. These ones (black lambskin, currently 14 USD): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005961714330.html.

> (other than the forced iOS 26 upgrade, but I feel like that's inevitable anyway.)

I'm using my Airpods Pro 3 with iOS 26 yes, but I stayed on macOS 15 (THANK GOD!) and I saw nothing unusual about using the new Airpods there except for the missing artwork.

On macOS there were some issues but I can't say exactly because I returned my AirPods Pro 3.

Other than the missing artwork and label, with AirPods Pro 3 on iOS 18 you also can't see the battery level, you can't take a Hearing Test, and more. After iOS 18.7.1 was released and didn't address any of these issues I reached out to Apple who said they wouldn't be adding any further support to iOS 18. So I returned my AirPods Pro 3, an easy decision. Just not worth the hassle for me.

What about iOS 26 kept you away? I was hesitant when I got APP3, but was pleasantly surprised by how many longstanding issues with responsiveness and functionality it fixed for me (iPhone 15 Pro Max user).

I assume it's because of Liquid Glass. It's absolutely undercooked as a design system, but Apple knows which way its bread is buttered. So Liquid Glass on iOS is where it's the least bad, and I switched there knowing that. It was exactly as I thought: a regression in most places, but still manageable because Apple is laser-focused on the iPhone.

I didn't upgrade my Mac and at this point I'm wondering if I'll ever be tempted to update until I see what they do with macOS 27.

I guess you could ask "what about iOS 26 would make me want to upgrade?" My answer: nothing. Definitely not to get a slower and bugger UI, nor to get full support for headphones I could simply return for a full refund. I'm using iPhone 16 Pro.

Yep, I have the same exact story with the 2. Most times I move my right to fit in my ear it squeals.

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