Airpods Pro 2 noise cancellation worse after firmware update 7A294

I am experience all the things people are talking about in this threat. It is incredible how bad is now the NC of my AirPods Pro 2. They used to isolate completely, and you also used to have a lot of controls to set the adaptive mode to your preferences, but now in the NC mode I even listen perfectly the funs of my MacBook while working! It is unacceptable, and it is a software "problem" after lastest firmware updates. I realised that, when I put the AirPods in my ears, I listen a lot of noise with the NC function already activated, but if I go to the AirPods settings, change to other mode like deactivated, and turn on again the NC, then it cancels much more noise than in the beginning, but anyway, it still is really really bad compared with how they used to work in the past. The problem is, are you apple listening to your customers? or are you quite busy building the new "windows vista transparent mode" for your devices that are not taking in care all our replies?

I had the exact same problem, but fixed it by changing the earplugs of the AirPods. Trust me on this one just use the original right size earplugs. Try the every option!

7A305 essentially entirely disabled both ANC and transparency on mine. I reset them, cleaned them, everything. I just threw them out, I'm done with Apple hamstringing these AirPods more with every update and now they're essentially useless as the sound quality also took a major dive.

Same here - transparency custom mode, headphone accommodations with audiogram are not working since 7A302 IOS18.0.1 (possibly earlier) The 'hearing aid' effect is now gone, after Apple made a fuss about it being FDA approved ! Volume goes up and down randomly too

I can literally hear water dripping with ANC on on my AP2. It’s mind-boggling that Apple doesn’t allow us to opt out of or at least confirm firmware updates for the AirPods, the same way we do for iOS updates. It’s unfair that they can push out updates that downgrade functionality without giving us a choice.

I just got new pro2 buds from a applecare replacement, and the ANC is still nowhere near as good as it used to be, if I had to try for an educated guess based on Apple's history, I'd say they are prepping for a new AirpodPro model in the future that will have "The best noise cancelling we have ever made".

I'd like to figure out how to revert to the old software versions to confirm these suspicions.

i have been very impressed with my original AirPod pros noise cancelling. Purchased pro 2 as Apple advertised 2x noise cancelation performance. They currently cancel 50% as well as my old ones did. Generic over ear headphones currently cancel noise better than the pro 2. This has to be a bug. Cleaning does not help. Apple please fix this!

Yeah 7a305 broke my AP2's ANC completely. I'm certainly Apple's captive, and they can apparently do anything they want to me, but after reading all of this, I'm even nervous to pay their ransom and re-buy AP2's, because apparently it happened to new ones as well. Very, very disheartening for the brand.

SAME!!! I have both AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Max and up until recently they were both incredible for noise cancellation - I’m autistic and I often need this for sensory issues, I was SO impressed before because noise cancellation felt like instant silence whether I used my pods or my max headphones. Now, I would definitely not recommend them and am actively looking for another brand that performs the way Apple used to…the “noise cancellation” is so bad now that I actually can’t even tell if it’s on because I can hear everything, even things that aren’t very loud. They are basically not much better than foam ear plugs, I have to run a white noise app to block ambient sound now and it still doesn’t really work. PLEASE FIX THIS APPLE, you had the BEST product and now it sucks :(

I recently noticed this as well after using them in a noisy server room. ANC was less comfortable than both adaptive and even off. It felt like ANC doesn't remove certain mid range frequencies anymore, so they felt loud with it enabled.

Tried it in other situations and noticed I can hear people speak relatively easily. Tried a running sink and it was only slightly quieter than adaptive (set to less noise). As I was testing them just now I heard my refrigerator turn on and I have no issues hearing it continue to run.

Same problem for months, it's tiring.

Apple has changed headphones several times, instead of acknowledging purely software changes (APP1 and APP2).

I love Apple's products (IPhone and AirPods Pro) but this culture of secrets is getting tiresome.

The new pair to come won't be AirPods Pro.

ANC is becoming essential in today's society. Without it, no matter how good the sound, headphones are worthless.

You’re right. The reversed polarity (in relation to natural sounds) signal of noise cancelling systems doesn’t do harm.

But the ear has muscles and they react to the environment to protect ones hearing. When you are exposed to loud sounds the muscles in your ear contracts to function as natural hearing protection. That’s why it’s more harmful to remove plugs from your ears in the middle of a loud concert than not wearing them in the first place. While wearing plugs, your ears ”thinks” this is the amplitude they are exposed to. And when you remove the plugs the sudden change in amplitude happens faster than your ears can adapt, leaving them more vulnerable to loud sounds.

Noise cancelling is a digital process and therefore it is impossible for it to react to sound instantly.

At a band rehersal setting there is always going to be transient material slipping through the noise cancellation. A transient from say a loudly hit snare drum at close proximity has great amplitude. Why I’m afraid this might be harmful is that since the tonal material you are hearing is significantly more quiet then its natural unfiltered version, your ear might adjust its natural protection to this level, still being exposed to almost full level transients.

Hope this helps!