AirPods Pro 3 - Airplane Travel

Hardware
21

Missed joke aside, my experience is probably closer to @Bmosbacker than you’re expecting.

These AirPods seal your ear a bit more than any I’ve ever tried. It’s a bit like having earplugs in with headphone capabilities (not to mention the active noise cancelling sciencey-stuff happening).

The typical engine drone you get while on an airplane is low enough that you’re unaware of it with even quiet music playing. I could see how a podcast would have a similar effect. It’s slightly better than my Bose OE and only a loud seat mate or an announcement would break through (and even then you couldn’t make out what was being said, just that a new noise frequency had entered the picture).

Your precise “inaudible” claim is also likely correct - if you focus on listening for engine noise you could hear a hum that otherwise wouldn’t be there. For the practical question bmosbacker was speaking to, I agree with him - it’s remarkable that you don’t notice (hear) anything from the plane.

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22

I like to know what’s going on around me, so I have never used noise canceling earbuds/headsets in the air or on the ground.

I use the standard AirPods4 most of the time, but I use wired EarPods when flying or on long drives.

23

That depends a great deal on what the “going on” is! There’s a lot of goings-on that I really don’t want to hear. :slightly_smiling_face:

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25

Hearing happens in the brain more than in the ears. Louder sounds that you are focused on will mask less loud sounds, particularly if these are predictable and persistent (e.g. engine noise in a plane). You genuinely don’t hear (not just are less aware of) the masked sounds. Of course, if you focus on the background sound, or if the background sound changes, the brain makes sure you can hear it if physically possible.

There’s a threshold effect. The closer in volume the background and foreground sounds are, the more the background sounds will not be masked. Noise cancelling needs to lower the background sound enough so you can easily mask it out. How aware you are of any remaining background is very personal - it’s what’s happening in your brain, not in the ear that determines that.

I have no problem accepting that people can’t hear engine noise with decent noise cancelling earbuds while they are listening to music or discussion, but different folks will have different experiences with exactly the same set up. It’s what works best for you that matters.

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