New AirPods Pro 2 Firmware 6A301 affected Call Quality? 🤔
We have a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro 2 called 6A301, which replaces 5E135. This update is substantial enough to finally have some update notes.
Basically, if your device is running iOS17 and MacOS Sonoma, this update unlocks new features like Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness and Personalized volume, features that were unveiled during WWDC, as well as press to mute calls and improved automatic switching.
But some of you are also reporting changes to its sound after the update. Is that really the case? And are there any performance changes in terms of noise canceling and mic pickup too. That’s what we’re going to cover here.
Sound Quality
In terms of sound quality, frequency sweeps before and after the update shows that indeed, some change has occurred, but not in the bass frequencies. Instead, there’s been a pulling back in the 1.4khz to 5khz region, with the exception of a slight bump at 2khz. This gives the lower mids and bass frequencies a bit more prominence, which is why to some people it can sound like the bass is stronger. That being said, the difference is so small that it’s hard to tell, comparing the sound side by side. Have a listen.
Call Quality
In terms of mic pickup, my voice seems to sound sharper in quiet conditions, which is an improvement. But in noisy, windy conditions, it’s not cutting as much background noise now, or even wind noise. They’ve definitely done something to the mic algorithm, maybe to facilitate the new features, alot of which depends on the microphones. Hopefully it’s not permanent, and a new update in future will bring it back to what it was. (Tested in both quiet and noisy conditions, using some really loud cafe noise, and wind noise from a fan.)
(Note: A follow up test using Telegram in public showed that the AirPods Pro 2’s mic is relying on the calling app’s own noise suppressing algorithm to tackle background noise instead. This means that if the recording is done on apps that do not have noise suppression features, there will simply be no noise suppression. Video here.)
Active Noise Canceling
In terms of active noise canceling, there seems to be a slight improvement in the way it reacts to mid-range frequencies, but by and large the amount of noise being canceled is the same as the previous firmware. Have a listen to the samples.
Transparency Mode
In terms of transparency, ambient sounds seem to be amplified a bit louder, in the higher frequencies but by and large, it still sounds amazingly transparent and natural.
So there were some changes to its sound and noise canceling that wasn’t so obvious, and changes to its mic pickup that is definitely a more obvious change. We’ll have to see if the next update polishes things up further in terms of the mics noise gating.
That’s from my end, but if you have something to add that wasn’t mentioned, tell us in the comments. If you’d like to check the latest prices and availability of the AirPods Pro 2, I’ve included links to their Amazon page below.
Amazon
AirPods Pro 2 - https://amzn.to/3VbAmsW
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