Apple Airpod Pros as active & "intelligent" earplugs

[Reezekeys]

My sense is that the limiter in the Airpods Pro was added because the transparency mode can actually amplify the outside sound fairly loud if you have the amplification slider turned up. So, maybe not a safety feature as much as a convenience feature. Walking around in a city, needing to hear the sounds of traffic or whatnot, but not get your ears blown out if an ambulance siren goes by. That's my take anyway.

 

As I mentioned before, I wonder if the best kind of earbud for us is one with a variable noise-cancelling algorithm that can get stage levels to a comfortable level, as opposed to simply cancelling everything as much as possible. I think that might very well obviate the need for a limiter, as you say. A transparency feature might still be useful if certain frequencies are somehow cancelled more than others. Maybe those Sony buds are the ones to get, if they work like this; since you own them, you're in a position to let us know, though you said you use IEMs for playing so may not get the chance. The little gigs I do around home have no facilities for connecting IEMs - that's what my Airpods are for. When I travel for the gigs that actually pay my mortgage I use IEMs! 🙂 

 

3 hours ago, Ibarch said:

If the Airpods Pro transparency turns out not to be suitable for use in stage, would the lack of limiter really be a showstopper to trying other buds? 

 

I appreciate having the limiter. Again as I mentioned, switching the transparency setting from regular to adaptive while I played showed me the limiter does help. It's not night & day, but its effect is most definitely audible. I'm aware of the other posts here saying the limiter made instruments "disappear", that has not been the case with me.

[MathOfInsects]

Yeah, I tried out only using Transparency a few nights ago. It's definitely a more complete sonic experience, but I felt it growing fatiguing as the gig went on, and switched to AT halfway through. 

 

@Reezekeys, I have to wonder if either your stage-monitoring option or the overall volume of the gigs you've been doing, are a factor in your differing experience around the levels. In other words, maybe you're just not hitting the limiter very often, or something other than your keys is, when it's hit. Do you think that's possible?

[MathOfInsects]

On 7/23/2023 at 5:27 AM, Reezekeys said:

I keep Amplification at minimum - enough to let in some highs that typical foam earplugs block. Actually I wish that setting would let me turn the gain down a little more.

This has been my thought throughout--rather than making ANC slider-able, I'd settle for a volume control on the pass-through options. Then the ANC could stay as is. 

[aronnelson]

On 7/23/2023 at 6:33 AM, Ibarch said:

 

I've never used them when playing as I have IEMs. In simple testing at home, they cut a lot of outside noise out. The keys comes through nicely when blending in ambient sound. I think they would do a pretty good job. 

 

In terms of quality, most reviews put them above the Airpod Pros for both audio and noise cancelling. 

Would it be too hard to try them in a rehearsal setting - maybe plug into the PA?

That way the rest of us would know.

[Ibarch]

18 hours ago, aronnelson said:

Would it be too hard to try them in a rehearsal setting - maybe plug into the PA?

That way the rest of us would know.

I meant to last week but forgot to pack them (the case is twice the size of the Airpods  ) . Will be a few weeks till we are all together again, some band members taking liberties by booking holidays that don't include any gigs or touring. 

 

Mind you, mine are 3 years old now. The XM5s are out. There's a good review on  the Verge,  

https://www.theverge.com/23803374/sony-wf-1000xm5-earbuds-review

Still no active transparency. Not sure whether that is a good or bad thing. 

[MathOfInsects]

"Three months later..." is what that line above this post is about to say.....

But...after testing the Airpods' update, I do think the pass-through sound is cleaner now, but that this solution overall is still too unwieldy. Without being able to directly control the level of NC, I had a situation where (for example) the drummer counted in, first with sticks, then with voice, and because of whatever quirk of the NC, I didn't hear the voice part. It was "Use Me," which is drums and keys alone at the top, or rather in this case...drums alone.

Whoops. Out they went.

Anyway, that's not why I raised the dead. I made an offer I did not expect to be accepted on a pair of those ASI 3DME BT Gen2 earbuds, and in fact it was accepted. So the bad news is I just forked over five bills I literally don’t have. But the good news they came yesterday and early signs point to HOLY F*CK. They’re exactly what I wanted the Airpods to be, or really, what I wanted to find after dipping my toe in with the Airpods. They are completely directional and natural sounding. I keep not quite believing they are working, so then I turn the unit off and everything is a muffled mess, and I turn it back on and it's like taking earplugs out--in the best way. 

To be sure, the Airpods were promising until I pushed them on gigs and loud rehearsals, but these feel like a whole different experience. I have two chances in the next couple of days to test them on a gig--one for a duo that I don't usually really need ear plugs for, and one for a wedding-band gig that I most definitely always do. I'll try them out on both and report back. But thank you for the tip, @aronnelson. Good call on these.