[HN Gopher] AirPods Pro 2 adds 'clinical grade' hearing aid feature
___________________________________________________________________
AirPods Pro 2 adds 'clinical grade' hearing aid feature
Author : janandonly
Score : 191 points
Date : 2024-09-09 17:42 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (9to5mac.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (9to5mac.com)
| minimaxir wrote:
| The keynote mentioned it's for H2 chips, meaning it _should_ also
| work for the recently announced AirPods 4.
| a_vanderbilt wrote:
| The additional segmentation of the regular AirPods is kind of
| confusing. Conceptually I know they sit between the base
| AirPods and the Pros, but am I paying more just for ANC?
| minimaxir wrote:
| Yes, and wireless charging/better case. Will have to see the
| tech specs after the event but it's an interesting price
| segmentation strategy.
| jerlam wrote:
| I am curious how well ANC will work without any kind of
| rubber tips to maintain seal.
| a_vanderbilt wrote:
| That was my first thought. I've used AirPod Pros and an
| expensive over-ear headset, and the headset was actually
| worse for ANC because of my sideburns/beard and glasses.
| Plane rides especially highlighted this, as the low-droning
| engine noise penetrated the weak ear seal easier. Perhaps
| the fancy acoustic feedback and ear topology modeling are
| going to alleviate this issue, but I'm not sure that it's
| going to resonate with consumers because it requires
| product knowledge. Give me decent ANC in the base model,
| and very good ANC in the Pros and it's immediately
| understandable what I am getting.
| favorited wrote:
| They said it's in the process of FDA (and other agency)
| approval, which likely means the specific model is being
| validated for use as a medical device. If they only mentioned
| it for AirPods Pro 2, I wouldn't expect it on other devices.
| minimaxir wrote:
| Fair, although they likely saved it for the AirPods Pro 2
| segment since there's no new hardware unlike the other
| products.
| tedivm wrote:
| Once you get one device approved it's easier to get others
| approved under one of the new fast track programs (or at
| least that's what my FDA consultant told me a couple of years
| ago, I'll admit I'm not personally an expert on this).
| not_the_fda wrote:
| Not exactly. A novel device has a higher bar to get
| clearance. If you are developing something that already
| exists i.e. a hearing aid then you can go the 510k route.
|
| Every model has to go through the same rigor with design
| controls and get clearance through the 510k process. There
| is a lot of process and documentation, and as a medical
| device you can't just update firmware and swap components
| as they go end of life. And you can't just discontinue a
| product. When you submit for approval you have to define
| the lifetime of the product and how you plan to support it
| through that lifetime.
|
| I imagine Apple will keep the AirPods Pro 2 around for
| about a decade as their hearing aid device.
| nineplay wrote:
| I won't speak for everyone but my $1,500 hearing aides are
| terrible Bluetooth earbuds. Music streamed from my phone is full
| of static and I end up going back to my trusty wired headphones.
|
| If the AirPods work as hearing aides I'm never going back.
| gedy wrote:
| Yeah I was very underwhelmed by sound quality of my not cheap
| hearing aids. Bose Hearphones and Airpod Pros were way better
| and much cheaper
| kshacker wrote:
| Curious as a future patient. How long do the prescribed hearing
| aids lost? I don't know when the AirPods came but I have used
| only 2 generations and with a price tag of 200-250 odd, I don't
| mind replacing every 2-3 years, just trying to see comparison
| with the medical industry (whether we pay or the insurance
| pays)
| Retric wrote:
| In the US clinical hearing aids cost 2,000 to 7000$ for a
| pair (half that if you need one) + whatever the audiologist
| charges. Like a lot of medical expenses you can drop that
| significantly with over the counter options available for
| under 1,000$.
|
| That said, hearing loss varies quite a bit and high end
| devices have meaningful benefits in terms of customization.
| desert_rue wrote:
| My dad's were in the 2k range and are expected to be good for
| about three years. Not that they don't last longer- just that
| all the features like Bluetooth should last for three years.
| LooseMarmoset wrote:
| I have a set of the Pro 2s. The noise cancellation and adaptive
| listening is really great, but the damn things _will not_ stay
| in my ears no matter what tip I use or how I orient the things
| in my ear.
|
| Talking, chewing gum, and even just leaning my head back is
| enough to make the things fall out.
|
| I really wanted to like these things as I have terrible
| hearing, and the assistive hearing on these is already pretty
| nice, but they don't do me any good if they won't stay in my
| ears.
|
| I haven't had this issue with any other earbud I've ever owned.
|
| Do yourself a favor and try a pair out first before you buy, if
| you can.
|
| EDIT: I am very open to specific recommendations on 3rd-party
| eartips for these things.
| nomel wrote:
| There are many third party foam tips that should make them
| work for you. They give better hold and noise isolation.
| tstrimple wrote:
| This is what I do. The foam tips wear out faster, but as
| mentioned fit and noise isolation are superior. I've also
| noticed that some brands of foam tips interfere with
| charging the AirPods. You've got to sort of jam them down
| into the case to get contact. But that has been very size /
| brand specific.
| crazygringo wrote:
| > _but the damn things will not stay in my ears no matter
| what tip I use_
|
| Look at third-party tips. There's no set of 3 tips that can
| work for everyone, but with third-party tips you're _much_
| more likely to find some that work.
| selykg wrote:
| Yup, my friend has some of these that were custom made
| based on his ears. They seem to be much much better for him
| as a result. I don't believe they were inexpensive though,
| at least what he had made.
| BobaFloutist wrote:
| They're still probably pretty price competitive with
| hearing aids.
| numpad0 wrote:
| It's not just the tips, but the stem and overall shape can
| be problematic too. EarPods and AirPods hang off the ears
| by protrusions on ears called tragus and antitragus, and
| the triangular cavity behind it, but that part can be just
| wide open hemisphere for some people. Maybe ethnicity has a
| role in it. If those are, the earphones become cantilevered
| on ear canals with most of its mass unsupported and just
| follows Newtonian physics.
|
| And tbh, I have this problem. Most circular shaped
| earphones are complete non-issue for me, many TWS models
| included, but not Apple earphones. Supposedly they offer
| SoTA performances in many domains, so it's kind of sad that
| I don't get to buy them myself or recommend to anyone
| unless they change it back to more commonly used shapes.
| blackeyeblitzar wrote:
| You need to get third party tips with wings, which will help
| them stay put.
| para_parolu wrote:
| I found that beats fit pro can stay very well and still have
| most of apple features
| eej71 wrote:
| I'm a runner and I'd have no hope of keeping those airpod
| pros in my ears if it weren't for the airpod hooks that I
| have. There's a variety of inexpensive ones on Amazon that
| you can try out. I've had good luck with the ones that nestle
| inside my ear.
| LooseMarmoset wrote:
| got a link?
| nmarinov wrote:
| Not the GP but I use these[1] and they work great for
| workouts. They look pretty much the same on various
| amazon stores, temu, aliexpress, etc so I'd just get
| whatever is cheapest if I lose mine. I've also tried over
| ear hooks for the AirPods Pro but I wear glasses and it's
| an awkward fit.
|
| [1] - https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/product/B0BGLJ9B1C
| eej71 wrote:
| This particular iteration doesn't seem to be available
| anymore - but there are many copy cats. The silicone is
| usually flexible enough to provide support integrity
| without being too irritating.
|
| https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BHHGJB8/
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| The downside is that you have to put them on and take
| them off every time they come out of the case and then
| manage to never lose the dang wings.
|
| But in return you get a form factor that is comfy and
| refuses to fall out of your ears.
| formerly_proven wrote:
| memory foam tips
| shepherdjerred wrote:
| Are you sure you aren't just using tips that are too large?
|
| I've used AirPod Pros for the past ~3-4 years and have spent
| hundreds of hours walking, running, and biking with them.
| They have never once come out or even become loose, though I
| do use the smallest size tip.
| rockostrich wrote:
| Not the person you're replying to but I tried all 3 sets of
| standard tips as well smaller 3rd party tips and none of
| them sat in my ears well enough while doing any kind of
| moving around (or gum chewing) so I ended up giving them to
| a friend and going back to the standard AirPods because
| I've never had a problem with them staying in my ears.
| What's weird is that before AirPods came out my standard
| earbuds were the Panasonic ErgoFit ones and those always
| stayed in my ears no problem with the smallest set of tips.
| LooseMarmoset wrote:
| it's a fair question - I tried using all three sets of
| tips. I settled on the smallest size, but even they won't
| stay in. I find myself wishing they were a little longer.
| macintux wrote:
| I've had great luck with Comply. The Apple tips are worthless
| for me, but Comply tips solve the problem.
|
| The only problem is they last long enough that I can never
| remember what size I ended up using, so I have to buy a
| sampler kit instead of my preferred size.
| diebeforei485 wrote:
| I like the Comply foam tips. You can buy the "assorted" pack
| in different sizes, and use whichever ones fit best.
|
| Both ears need not use the same size tips btw, you can mix
| and match sizes as many people do. You can also use different
| tips in summer vs winter for better comfort due to thermal
| expansion.
|
| https://www.complyfoam.com/products/apple-airpods-pro-ear-
| ti...
| monkpit wrote:
| I will say I do use and love Comply tips, I had the same
| issue where the bundled silicone ones would fall out
| regardless of the size I used.
|
| But a caveat - the foam tips do start to crumble after a
| few months, and the AirPods case seems to munch on them a
| little bit.
|
| As long as you consider them a wear item and not something
| permanent, I think you'll be satisfied.
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| I just bought some, thanks. Also happy to have black tips
| instead of the white ones that Apple is so stubborn about.
|
| After a year the white tips get this embarrassing nicotine
| yellow color that would be completely unavoidable had Apple
| offered any other tip color than white.
| d1sxeyes wrote:
| Ah, they make it out of the same plastic as their cables?
| normie3000 wrote:
| Let's hope not - IME the cables go sticky after a few
| years.
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| They know what they're doing. Replace your tips / cables
| every year or look like the filthiest guy.
| ToDougie wrote:
| Hmm, I just looked at mine and they aren't yellow at all.
| These are the first gen Airpod Pro. They must be 3+ years
| old.
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| Yeah, neither are my girlfriend's. But I sweat heavily in
| them multiple times a daily doing exercise and even wear
| them to bed. And my ear wax might have special yellowing
| properties. Either way, nothing that goes in my orifice
| that could be seen by other people needs to be white.
|
| Don't get me started on the transparent plastic anti-
| snore nostril dilators.
|
| How is the buttplug industry more accommodating with its
| color offering than Apple?
| bawolff wrote:
| Hmm, maybe ill try these. I bought some air pods, but could
| only use them if totally still, which defeated the point.
| Then i see everyone jogging with them and i can't even
| sucessfully walk to the kitchen for a snack.
| _aavaa_ wrote:
| I don't like the foam tips, what works better are silicon
| sleeves for each AirPods or grippy pads that you can tape on.
| You don't have to take either off when putting them back in
| their case.
| skybrian wrote:
| Yes, bluetooth in hearing aids is great for answering the
| phone, but it's disappointing for music. It's not really what
| hearing aids are for.
|
| But I expect that we will still be switching between hearing
| aids and AirPods because they are different enough problems
| that they need different hardware. AirPod battery life isn't
| good enough and using them when talking to people is off-
| putting; it's a social signal you're not listening or don't
| want to be bothered.
| daft_pink wrote:
| There was a free app that I used to do this for my father before.
| Mimi hearing test. They are just bringing this same function to
| the device by default.
|
| Pretty sure you can do the entire thing with existing
| functionality on the existing airpods and iphone.
| unsnap_biceps wrote:
| How did the mimi hearing test modify the AirPod's audio
| response? Was it system wide or just for that one app?
| jerrysievert wrote:
| I can't remember which app I used a few years ago, but there
| was a way to import the audio curves into the phone in
| settings.
| nmarinov wrote:
| Mimi hearing test app[1] works for that as it gives you an
| audiogram that you can import in Settings -> Accessibility
| -> Audio & Visual -> Headphone Accommodations -> Audiogram
|
| [1] - https://mimi.io/mimi-hearing-test-app
| hombre_fatal wrote:
| I just downloaded and tried it for iPhone. Fwiw once you
| do the hearing test, on the app homepage you can sync to
| Apple Health and it sends over the audiogram.
| lukasb wrote:
| This is helpful even if you don't need a full-on hearing aid.
| My hearing is worse in the left ear than the right, so with
| headphones audio will sometimes sound panned right. The
| audiogram helps correct for that.
| maxglute wrote:
| Is this just saying commercial transparencey/pass through mode is
| getting clinical grade? I hope someone comes out with 12+ hour
| buds for all day "aid".
| danielovichdk wrote:
| I do not own airpods so don't know about quality. But if a
| hardware company as great as Apple can build a hearing aid
| earpiece there are some companies that should be very worried.
|
| It's a huge industry.
| t0mas88 wrote:
| I'm on my 4th pair of airpods. Sound quality is good for such
| small in ears, convenience is amazing, but they don't last very
| long when used daily. They tend to break after about 1.5 year
| and the warranty is 1 year.
| scosman wrote:
| I still use my first gen pair bought on day 1. Got sick of
| waiting for them to die and finally bought Pros last month.
| Battery life has declined but still work great otherwise.
| Shank wrote:
| As others have mentioned, though hearing aids are a 4-digit
| item for many people. Even if you have to rebuy AirPods Pro
| regularly, you're still likely saving money. Granted, they
| may not work in all situations or all cases, but if they work
| for you it could still be a huge quality-of-life upgrade at a
| fraction of the cost.
| killingtime74 wrote:
| Is it not advantageous to get AppleCare+ then?
| Spivak wrote:
| My biggest gripe is that Apple went for aesthetics over
| functionality with the charging case. It's impossible to
| clean the tiny little charging contact far down and _curved_
| away from where a straight tool can fit, and when you put
| them in your case after working out the salt from your sweat
| corrodes the pins.
|
| If/when the next ones break I might just DIY a "sleeve"
| design with replaceable contacts.
| tootie wrote:
| I'm just googling about this as we speak, but apparently the
| FDA approved OTC hearing aids last year and there are already
| many models available at retail from name brands like Sony and
| Jabra. Apple is definitely going to make a splash in this
| space, but there are already a lot of options and probably some
| very good ones (I've never been disappointed by Jabra).
| desert_rue wrote:
| At $250, I could buy my dad three pairs to last him all day and
| still pay less than his current hearing aids.
| ugh123 wrote:
| Would insurance cover that? (honest question)
| vineyardmike wrote:
| While not as cheap as AirPods, there have been a boom of low-
| cost hearing aids in the last few years. They are finally
| available OTC, so that has driven prices down. A quick search
| will yield a few in the $300-range, but tbh I'm not sure about
| quality. I really hope the FDA keeps expanding OTC access to
| health tech. Especially devices that don't typically cause
| damage or carry much risk.
|
| My in-laws all have hearing problems (genetically?), and they
| said the prices are starting to reach the "keep a pair in the
| office, and a pair in the car" prices.
| mbrameld wrote:
| I hope so, too! They recently approved an OTC blood glucose
| monitor and it's been very eye-opening seeing how food and
| exercise affect blood glucose and then correlating how I feel
| with my blood glucose level. It's driving a lot of behavior
| change, and I would be a lot healthier now if I had access to
| it years ago.
| joshl32532 wrote:
| But how's the $80 hearing aids sound quality when playing
| music? Or ANC performance?
|
| If your dad doesn't care about those, then he's not Apple's
| target demographic anyway.
| dfex wrote:
| I am currently trialling a pair of Phonak hearing aides (mid-
| range audio package, roughly AUD$5K) and I can assure you the
| sound quality is garbage even at this price point.
|
| Yes, they pick up sounds I don't normally hear, but I would
| compare the experience to listening to world through a cheap
| high-school PA system.
| jimktrains2 wrote:
| I also have phonaks on a similar price range and mine sound
| pretty good. Could it be an issue with how they're
| configured?
| gwd wrote:
| I think you got it backwards: his Dad's current hearing aids
| cost over $750.
| dmix wrote:
| Wearing AirPods for extended hours is not an easy thing to do
| rllearneratwork wrote:
| One thing I love about Apple is that they are building products
| for what their leadership team actually needs/wants and uses
| themselves. This started with iPhone (e.g. what kind of
| smartphone do we want instead of all that blackberries?) and is
| very obvious with Apple Watch line.
|
| This is great and one of the reasons why their products offer
| genuinely best user experience.
| jerlam wrote:
| It does explain why the Apple Watch tracks of lot of metrics
| mostly applicable to the elderly - Double Support Time, Walking
| Asymmetry, Walking Steadiness.
| blackeyeblitzar wrote:
| Does anyone know if there is a way to contact Apple and provide
| feedback/requests on accessibility / disability features?
| yreg wrote:
| > To provide feedback, request an enhancement, or share your
| story about using the accessibility features of Apple products,
| send an email to our Accessibility Feedback Team:
| accessibility@apple.com
| jeffnappi wrote:
| This is great! Hearing aids are stupidly expensive and I hope we
| see more solutions leveraging mass production to improve
| accessibility of hearing aid tech
|
| Another thing I'd love to see is affordable AR glasses with auto
| captioning for noisy environments with many speakers. My mother
| struggles with hearing loss, and it's apparent to me that audio-
| only solutions are not sufficient for many situations and types
| of hearing loss.
|
| There's a small company already working on auto-captioning, but
| the price point is currently $5k -
| https://www.xanderglasses.com/xanderglasses
| ikekkdcjkfke wrote:
| Can Whisper differentiate / classify speakers? If so the easier
| thing would be a pad listening to the room
| jeffnappi wrote:
| The problem is that folks who are hard of hearing want to be
| part of the conversation and make eye contact. The
| transcripts in the audio recorder app on Pixel phones is
| quite good, though combining computer vision and audio
| processing is necessary for loud and complex social
| environments.
| izacus wrote:
| Can someone with first hand experience explain how are hearing
| aids different from in-eat headphones with passthrough? What's
| the technical difference?
| gklitz wrote:
| I'm not an expert by I have worked with a hearing aid producer,
| though not directly with the signal processing. Roughly the
| thing is that hearing loss doesn't just mean that you have for
| instance 30% reduced volume on your hearing. So just naively
| amplifying all sound won't help you that much. What you need is
| to measure the hearing loss at different frequencies and then
| amplify those frequencies in the input signal. Now thats a very
| crude simplification and a lot more complex signal processing
| goes into the actual products based on things like making the
| signal source more clear for people with high frequency loss,
| since many people suffering from hearing loss will have issues
| in crowded spaces or conversations with multiple people because
| it's not at easy for them to "tune out" notices unrelated to
| the person they are listening to. Then of cause there a a bunch
| of things you can do to try to isolate typical "useful sounds"
| compare to environmental sounds.
|
| Hope that helps a little to explain the difference. This is
| also why you can't really have a hearing impairment aid without
| doing the assessment which it sounds like Apple can now do with
| just the AirPods and an iPhone, because it's never just "tuning
| up the volume"
| izacus wrote:
| It does explain a lot, thanks!
| barkingcat wrote:
| personally, knowing about how apple product development works,
| I have very little expectations for apple branded hearing aids
| being any good.
|
| hearing aids are medical devices, not headphones with
| passthrough.
|
| The tolerances of safety and robustness alone are worlds apart.
|
| Think about it this way: if a pair of apple earpods break, you
| just buy another one.
|
| If my hearing aids break, there is a very high possibility of
| death and dismemberment leading to termination of my life.
|
| Also, I would never buy apple branded hearing aids except under
| the circumstances where Apple and the FDA come to agreement,
| contractually obligated by the US courts system, that if Apple
| decides to terminate that product line, that all information,
| patents, design schematics, and code are passed to a 2ndary
| company (it could be one of the current hearing aid
| manufacturers) for continued support.
|
| There can absolutely be no instance where apple can decide to
| "lay off the department" and "turn off the update servers" and
| leave the product unusable, for the lifetime of the patient.
|
| That's the real difference between hearing aids and headphones.
| stonogo wrote:
| I'm with you on the product management story here, but I've
| had hearing aids fail and no dismemberment occurred.
| barkingcat wrote:
| as with all medical equipment, your experience may not
| represent the experience of all who need hearing aids.
|
| I use hearing aids, and without them, my workplace turns
| into a death zone.
|
| Think about people working in public transportation with
| hearing disabilities.
|
| Imagine if you are working in an Amazon warehouse where
| your hearing aid fails and you can't hear a mechanized
| forklift coming through, or you can't hear announcements
| pertaining to safety.
|
| Even at regular office, I can't hear fire alarms without
| hearing aids so literally, if the hearing aids fail, and
| there are no flash alerts or smoke alerts, I'll just keep
| working through a fire alarm. Thankfully flash alerts are
| regulated and mandatory.
| stonogo wrote:
| I maintain that if your workplace is this dangerous, your
| hearing aids aren't the problem. That mechanized forklift
| should have warning lights and safety cutoffs. It's
| extremely common for industrial workers to be wearing
| huge amounts of hearing protection; relying on audio for
| survival in the workplace is almost guaranteed to be an
| OSHA violation in one way or another.
| yreg wrote:
| One thing that's a shame regarding AirPods / AirPods Pro is that
| you cannot try them out at the store (for understandable hygienic
| reasons).
|
| I find it difficult to decide which ones to get or when to
| upgrade without trying them out.
| UI_at_80x24 wrote:
| See if you can find a .stl or mockup that can be 3d printed,
| and apply the 'test-tips' to that?
| liminalsunset wrote:
| Unless they changed something, in Canada I was able to try the
| AirPods Pro and the Pro 2 in store. They sanitize them between
| customers (IMO, not very well) with alcohol wipes. You just go
| in and ask someone to try them out.
| yreg wrote:
| Ah, interesting, I might try again. Thanks.
| bluetidepro wrote:
| It's annoying but nothing is stopping you from buying them,
| trying them on, and then returning them for a full refund a min
| later if you don't like them.
| okdood64 wrote:
| You could always return them within 14 days as well.
| gklitz wrote:
| This might end up having a huge impact on the entire field of
| treatment for hearing impairment. A big problem in the field is
| getting products to patients who could use them, but won't
| because of stigma. This particularly true of young patients and
| unfortunately many might go even decades with a known hearing
| problem and still ignore it, and this can lead to social
| isolation and has a huge negative impact on their quality of
| life. Breaking the stigma of having hearing impairment might lead
| to these patients seeking out help much much sooner, and even if
| the AirPods aren't perfect for everyone they might serve as an
| easy "on ramp" to getting traditional hearing aids for those who
| need them.
| SanjayMehta wrote:
| Exactly this.
|
| People who have no problems wearing eyeglasses balk at hearing
| aids.
| dmix wrote:
| Not exactly easy to wear AirPods all the time. Especially in
| social situations and school
|
| But making it a standard headphone thing might make it normal
| pants2 wrote:
| Can you elaborate more on the stigma? From my perspective, if I
| were talking to someone with hearing aids I wouldn't give it a
| second thought (or I would try to speak more clearly). Talking
| to someone with Airpods in, I might assume they're listening to
| music and ignoring me.
| nicoburns wrote:
| > Can you elaborate more on the stigma? From my perspective,
| if I were talking to someone with hearing aids I wouldn't
| give it a second thought
|
| I think it's mostly perceived stigma (or self-stigma) rather
| than actual stigma from others, and partially a generational
| thing where there was more stigma in the past. Attitudes to
| sight correcting glasses have also massively changed in the
| last few decades.
| ineedaj0b wrote:
| sorta like crocs: god awfully ugly but really comfortable.
| there's groups (not the groups you'd initially imagine) who
| are against them because they're 'lame'.
|
| hearing aids are kinda lame. they fix deficiency whereas cool
| things usually raise normal baselines.
|
| again, a lot of old people wear them and young people often
| reject old people things reflexively, regardless if it's
| beneficial or not.
| bravura wrote:
| As someone who has had success at turning people you
| wouldn't expect to like crocs, on to crocs, do you mind
| sharing: Who are the groups you wouldn't initially imagine
| to be against crocs who are?
|
| I only have experience proslethyzing, I have little
| understand of who has fallen.
| ineedaj0b wrote:
| fashion heads. they wear tabi runway shoes but find crocs
| too much? puzzling. gen z fashion heads seemed to embrace
| crocs fine however, it's the older ones
| choilive wrote:
| Yeah it's a big generational thing, my 90 yr old grandmother
| wouldn't wear hearing aids despite losing 80% of her hearing
| in both ears. Said they looked ugly.
| theGnuMe wrote:
| And then thousands of kids in school wearing air pods saying
| they need them to hear despite not being hearing impaired...
| liminalsunset wrote:
| The precursor to these features was the "Audio/AirPods
| Accessibility" settings as "Custom Transparency Mode"). When I
| last tried them, some settings seemed to process the audio in the
| "control plane" (as opposed to the regular transparency being
| "data plane"), leading to loss in quality or delay (compared to
| plain transparency mode). I remember hoping the 2nd gen AirPods
| Pro would solve this but I think it remained.
|
| For example I remember amplifying the sound appeared to introduce
| some kind of extra delay and quality reduction that wasn't there
| before. I no longer have an iPhone to try this out with but I do
| wonder if someone knows whether these new features are still
| subject to this limitation.
| c2k wrote:
| related: if you want to test your hearing at home, then you can
| try this app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mimi-hearing-
| test/id932496645
| skybrian wrote:
| Understanding people and listening to music are different
| problems. I have hearing aids and they're better for
| understanding people (for one thing, the battery lasts longer),
| but they have no bass response, so I use Airpods for music.
|
| Your hearing aid prescription might not be what you want to use
| for listening to instrumental music. For me it bumps up the
| treble too much, making a piano sound like a toy piano. An
| equalizer seems like a better tool for music. I thought Apple's
| built in hearing test was pretty good for that, though it would
| be nice to have more control over the EQ.
| blackeyeblitzar wrote:
| Has anyone else noticed that AirPods Pro's noise cancellation
| doesn't work if you have just one earbud in?
| RobMurray wrote:
| There's a setting for that in the airpods settings under
| accessibility.
| strongpigeon wrote:
| Thank the recent hearing aid deregulation for that. [0]
|
| [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/health/fda-hearing-
| aids.h...
| mimikatz wrote:
| Yes, this is a clear example of how regulation was harming
| people (not all regulation is bad, but some of it is, usually
| the kind that gets between safe things and users)
| culi wrote:
| What do you call "regulation" vs "deregulation". This is
| technically a _new rule_ that added a category of OTC called
| "hearing aids" and established guidelines for OTC hearing
| aids
| joshl32532 wrote:
| This.
|
| Those who have the money/insurance will still go through
| their doctor for expensive "prescription" hearing aids.
|
| Those low income ones can buy one off Amazon/Walmart which
| (though not the best) makes a huge difference than not having
| one.
| ineedaj0b wrote:
| next i hope for contact lenses to no longer require
| prescriptions
| runnr_az wrote:
| They really are amazing. I've been wearing them to concerts to
| help with noise... work incredibly well. They're the only earbuds
| I've had that survived a full summer of sweaty running in the
| desert.
|
| Grumbling about having to pay $100 for a new case though, while I
| watch my old case (left on a trail in Sedona) wander around PHX.
| esel2k wrote:
| People say the stigma on hearing aid. But what about the stigma
| for people feeling that it is inadequate to walk around with
| airpods and people thinking that this inappropriate / say
| impolite?
|
| If someone doesn't know at least with hearing aid people will be
| respectful and try to speak clearly, which airpods - hard to tell
| the difference.
| ValentineC wrote:
| As someone with potential auditory processing disorder [1], I
| sometimes need people to repeat themselves if I'm talking to them
| in a crowded place.
|
| I hope this feature helps me filter speech directed at me from
| background noise better.
|
| [1] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/auditory-
| proc...
| MBCook wrote:
| AirPods Pro have had a feature that might help you for 3 years
| called Conversation Boost.
|
| https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/enable-conversation-boost-a...
| tmaly wrote:
| This is brilliant!
|
| Good hearing aids are super expensive.
| noname120 wrote:
| I wish the AirPods Pro 2 had a feature to increase the volume of
| conversations while reducing the background noise. Something akin
| to the Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus:
| https://www.sennheiser-hearing.com/en-US/p/conversation-clea...
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