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I just want a pair of airpods that allow me to have a conversation outdoors. I'm always getting feedback that the ambient noise makes it difficult for people to

I just want a pair of airpods that allow me to have a conversation outdoors. I'm always getting feedback that the ambient noise makes it difficult for people to hear me talk. I can't even do the dishes while on a call without people complaining.

Meleagris 5y ago
I wish I could upvote this 10x. I don't know what Apple does with their processing, but the quality of the Airpods microphone is very poor (the worst I've ever heard). Especially outside, but even indoors. I'm commenting to see if that's everyone's experience, or if we're outliers.
1123581321 5y ago
I think many people have that issue. Voice isolation mode, new to iOS 15, helps.
MrJagil 5y ago
Try to pair them again! My girlfriend said the same thing, as if my voice was attenuated instead of the other way around. All it took was re-pairing them.
hackstack 5y ago
I believe iOS 15 includes a little-touted feature: "Voice Isolation" mode; I haven't tested it comprehensively, but other similar technology (e.g. RNNoise [1]) has very impressive results in the scenarios you allude to. [1] https://jmvalin.ca/demo/rnnoise/ https://jmvalin.ca/demo/rnnoise/
javajosh 5y ago
By chance I bought a Sennheiser headset for Zoom calls, and the real killer feature is a high quality mic with firmware noise cancellation. At the time I was in a hurry and bought the most expensive Senn's I could find on Amazon, and lucked out. I've had two people at work ask me what I use. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J8ME6QA https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J8ME6QA
- rlpb 5y ago
  I think the key difference is the microphone boom. If a microphone is close to your mouth, then most of the ambient noise cancellation is done.
  - javajosh 5y ago
    I assumed this as well before I had an issue with the device where the firmware somehow got corrupt and I had to update it. Without the firmware noise cancellation, people complained that they could hear everything, the creaking of my wooden floor every rustle of every piece of paper and so on. But once I fixed the firmware all of that went away. That said I think you're right and putting the mic closer to your mouth is probably a good thing in general
VikingIV 5y ago
I've had better luck with the Jabra Elite wireless earbuds. Less complaints of background noise or muffled voices than the AirPods I tried using for a very brief period.
gumby 5y ago
I have this problem too. A shame as walking the dog is a good time to catch up on phone calls

Meleagris 5y ago

I wish I could upvote this 10x. I don't know what Apple does with their processing, but the quality of the Airpods microphone is very poor (the worst I've ever heard). Especially outside, but even indoors. I'm commenting to see if that's everyone's experience, or if we're outliers.

1123581321 5y ago

I think many people have that issue. Voice isolation mode, new to iOS 15, helps.

MrJagil 5y ago

Try to pair them again! My girlfriend said the same thing, as if my voice was attenuated instead of the other way around. All it took was re-pairing them.

hackstack 5y ago

I believe iOS 15 includes a little-touted feature: "Voice Isolation" mode; I haven't tested it comprehensively, but other similar technology (e.g. RNNoise [1]) has very impressive results in the scenarios you allude to. [1] https://jmvalin.ca/demo/rnnoise/ https://jmvalin.ca/demo/rnnoise/

javajosh 5y ago

By chance I bought a Sennheiser headset for Zoom calls, and the real killer feature is a high quality mic with firmware noise cancellation. At the time I was in a hurry and bought the most expensive Senn's I could find on Amazon, and lucked out. I've had two people at work ask me what I use. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J8ME6QA https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J8ME6QA

rlpb 5y ago
I think the key difference is the microphone boom. If a microphone is close to your mouth, then most of the ambient noise cancellation is done.
- javajosh 5y ago
  I assumed this as well before I had an issue with the device where the firmware somehow got corrupt and I had to update it. Without the firmware noise cancellation, people complained that they could hear everything, the creaking of my wooden floor every rustle of every piece of paper and so on. But once I fixed the firmware all of that went away. That said I think you're right and putting the mic closer to your mouth is probably a good thing in general

VikingIV 5y ago

I've had better luck with the Jabra Elite wireless earbuds. Less complaints of background noise or muffled voices than the AirPods I tried using for a very brief period.

gumby 5y ago

I have this problem too. A shame as walking the dog is a good time to catch up on phone calls