If these are, indeed, AirPods - i.e. buds that just sit in your ear, not over your ears, nor sealed-off in any way - I wonder how they'd achieve active noise cancellation. Seems like a very difficult problem. From what I understand, noise cancelling headphones basically try to generate an "opposite" wave of all the external sounds that make it to your ear. That's easier when some of the sounds are already muffled or eliminated by either sealing the earbuds in the ear canal or by essentially putting 'bowls' over the ears.
And all that has to be done in these tiny buds. Pretty impressive, if it can be done. Sign me up. I have these Bose QC-15 collecting dust in a drawer since the AirPods came out. Loved their noise cancellation capability, but they're not exactly portable (and are wired). Just took a quick look and it seems like the sealing foam is starting to fall apart :-( Oh well - not using them anyway.
Here is an example of something similar to what might be coming:
In that case, which is also an open fit solution, there are physical design changes to better isolate voice, reduce wind interference and what seems to be selective ANC up to 15 decibels. Improved audio processor and new, low latency, high bandwidth HD Bluetooth.
Goodness those things are such an AirPods knockoff. Doesn't surprise me coming from HuaWei. They even ripped off the AirPods pose. At least Sammy is trying nowadays.
Pro?!! Stick it in your ear! Literally. By sticking it in your ear and plugging your ear canal, you’ve already eliminated 90% of the outside noise. You need very little active noise cancellation if any. Is this some kind of Apple scam?
Because noise cancelling is such a “Pro” feature...
The Pencil will be next.
/s
So true. Overuse of the term Pro will water down its true meaning. It’s like giving everyone an award, the value of the award is lost. Calling everything Pro for a little added functionality and way to charge more is very unimaginative, in my opinion... but hey, not seen these things yet so may be proved wrong.
Great noise cancellation costs money. Decent noise cancellation can be fairly inexpensive, so I'm interested to see how well these work.
I tried a pair of $30 Macally noise canceling headphone at MacWorld one year. I didn't expect much of the fidelity or noise canceling ability.
But they were impressive in reducing the noise floor, with adequate fidelity. They greatly reduced the din of the crowd. From that point on I've wondered what really good NC headphones sound like. but they tend to be pricey and I don't have much application for their use.
I'm a big fan of AirPods and they fit me well, allowing me to wear them they need to be recharged. I'm good for about two hours with sealing IEC buds, which I think would be needed for active NC.
So these aren't likely to be in my future, but I'll get to an AS to give them a listen. I wish I could hear how well they work on urban street traffic.
Because noise cancelling is such a “Pro” feature...
The Pencil will be next.
/s
I’m waiting for the Pro Lightning Cable. (Apple’s sudden catering to the ‘Pro’ market means slapping the word ‘Pro’ on everything. Spaceballs the bed sheets, Spaceballs the toilet paper, Spaceballs the lunch box.
Rereading the article, I made the mistake of assuming active noise cancellation vs passive noise cancellation.
These could be merely using only silicone or similar tips to seal the 'pod to the ear canal, passively reducing ambient noise. This would mean no additional electronics to compute and generate noise canceling sound.
The Focus Mode would be using the AirPods' mics to pipe amplify and pipe in outside sound. This is easy since the iPhone already has Live Listening, which would be the same concept as Focus Mode.
Rereading the article, I made the mistake of assuming active noise cancellation vs passive noise cancellation.
These could be merely using only silicone or similar tips to seal the 'pod to the ear canal, passively reducing ambient noise. This would mean no additional electronics to compute and generate noise canceling sound.
The Focus Mode would be using the AirPods' mics to pipe amplify and pipe in outside sound. This is easy since the iPhone already has Live Listening, which would be the same concept as Focus Mode.
I think the suggested pricing points to something more than passive cancellation.
Comments
Ummm how are you sure this is the only "Pro" feature? I'm sure Apple will add features like Find My, U1 chip, maybe a new W chip and BLACK.
Goodness those things are such an AirPods knockoff. Doesn't surprise me coming from HuaWei. They even ripped off the AirPods pose. At least Sammy is trying nowadays.
I tried a pair of $30 Macally noise canceling headphone at MacWorld one year. I didn't expect much of the fidelity or noise canceling ability.
But they were impressive in reducing the noise floor, with adequate fidelity. They greatly reduced the din of the crowd. From that point on I've wondered what really good NC headphones sound like. but they tend to be pricey and I don't have much application for their use.
I'm a big fan of AirPods and they fit me well, allowing me to wear them they need to be recharged. I'm good for about two hours with sealing IEC buds, which I think would be needed for active NC.
So these aren't likely to be in my future, but I'll get to an AS to give them a listen. I wish I could hear how well they work on urban street traffic.
These could be merely using only silicone or similar tips to seal the 'pod to the ear canal, passively reducing ambient noise. This would mean no additional electronics to compute and generate noise canceling sound.
The Focus Mode would be using the AirPods' mics to pipe amplify and pipe in outside sound. This is easy since the iPhone already has Live Listening, which would be the same concept as Focus Mode.