AirPods as hearing protection: What you need to know about their use 🎧

Key Points:

– 🧐 A study showed that Adaptive Mode on AirPods Pro 2 can reduce loud sounds by 10 dB, improving safety, but it is not a substitute for proper hearing protection.
– 🔇 Switching to Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) mode can reduce loud sounds by 23 dB, although it affects audio clarity.
– 🤑 Basic earplugs are an economical option for those concerned about protecting their hearing.
– If you have a pair of AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), you can use Adaptive mode and noise cancellation to reduce loud sounds.

So, can AirPods protect your hearing? 🤔 The answer is complicated.

Can AirPods really protect your hearing? 🎧✨

He Adaptive Audio combines transparency and noise cancellation (ANC) on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 models. Apple has designed this feature to reduce the volume of loud sounds while maintaining clarity. This works by taking the ambient audio around you and reducing it to a safer listening level.

You can activate this mode on your AirPods by swiping down from the top left corner of the screen on an iPhone or iPad, then holding down the Volume slider and choosing to turn on “Adaptive.” On a Mac, you’ll find this option under the Control Center button next to the clock by clicking on the “Sound” section. 📱💻

And how well does this work in practice? 🤔

An experiment conducted by the blog Wirecutter of the New York Times put the headphones to the test. Using a GRAS RA0402 ear simulatorWirecutter tested the AirPods Pro 2 by playing a short music clip at 105 dB from two speakers placed one meter apart. 🎧

The reduction measured using adaptive audio brought the music from 105 dB to 95 dB. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is safe to listen at 105 dB for only 8 minutes over the course of a week, while a reduction to 95 dB allows listening for one hour and 15 minutes, which is a significant improvement. 🔊

The WHO classifies this as the difference between being about 5 meters away from a car horn and the sound of an average motorcycle. 🚗🏍️ Wirecutter compared the AirPods Pro 2 to headphones from Bose (a reduction to 91 dB) and Soundcore (102 dB), but what's more interesting are the findings from the writer's subjective "real-world" testing against a pair of Loop earbuds. 🌍🧏‍♂️

For more details, you can visit the Wirecutter site. 📲

Apple

In adaptive mode, the AirPods Pro 2 stood out, with the writer noting: “Adaptive Transparency mode gave us, in essence, a quieter version of the un-attenuated live sound… guitars, drums, and vocals sounded surprisingly clear, and our enjoyment of the sound was not diminished at all.” 🎸🥁🎤

However, it is important to note that the AirPods Pro 2 They failed to significantly reduce overall volume. The writer commented that his ears felt fatigued after 10 minutes during a performance that averaged a volume of 105 dB. 😅

Ultimately, although the AirPods Pro 2 can help, they should not be used in adaptive mode to reduce sounds to more commonly accepted “safe” levels of around 85 dB. 📉🔊

For more information, you can visit the Apple's official website. 🍏

You need to use the correct audio filtering mode

🎧 Did you know you can use AirPods to reduce loud sounds in general? If you're not that concerned about sound clarity but are exposed to potentially damaging volumes like power tools or motors, you might want to pay attention! 🔊

In the mode of active noise cancellationWirecutter's tests measured an impressive 23 dB reduction. This means that a 105 dB sound system is reduced to a respectable 82 dB level. 📉

The WHO It states that a sound level of 85 dB is safe to listen to for 12 and a half hours per week, which is equivalent to the noise of heavy traffic. 🚗🚌

For comparison, innovative company Loop claims its Dream plugs reduce noise by 27 dB, which is the highest level of reduction currently offered. 🎧 The economical ones fender musician plugs They go even further, with a reduction of “up to 35 dB.” 🤘 What the AirPods offer in ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) mode seems to line up with what you’d see in inexpensive earplugs you find at a hardware store or online retailer. 🔊

Of course, this doesn't matter unless your AirPods don't fit properly. The models AirPods Pro AirPods are definitely the best option here, as they form a tight seal with your ear canal, and even include a fitting to help you choose the right fit. 👂 Additionally, you might consider investing in earhooks or memory foam tips after purchase to prevent your AirPods from slipping out of your ears. 🏃‍♂️

📢 Pay Attention to Noise Warnings!

One way to protect your hearing is to have your iPhone monitor volume levels and alert you when it's time to turn down the music 🎶. According to the WHO, safe listening levels are calculated based on the amount of time you spend exposed to that sound level.

To activate this feature, go to Settings > Sound & Vibration > Headphone Security and turn on “Headphone Notifications” to get an alert if you exceed “safe” audio levels 🔊. This feature works with all headphones, not just AirPods, but it doesn’t take into account other loud noises like time spent at a construction site or concert 🎤.

If you want to go a step further, you can enable the “Reduce Loud Audio” option to have your iPhone control the audio levels when you use headphones 🎧. Here you can set a safe level, with 85 dB being the default. This is one of the main reasons why you may notice your iPhone’s volume reducing on its own 🔉.

To get an overview of how your headphone audio levels are holding up, go to “Hearing” in the Health app. You’ll see metrics like Headphone Audio Levels averaged over time, plus any noise notifications you’ve received 📊. If you have a Apple Watch that monitors loud ambient sounds, you'll also see these alerts here ⌚.

Do AirPods offer good hearing protection? 🎧

AirPods can help protect your hearing in the sense that having some barrier between your eardrum and loud environmental noises is better than no barrier at all. How effective this is depends on which model you have and which audio filtering mode you’re using. A 10 dB reduction in Adaptive mode (as per Wirecutter’s experiment) doesn’t compare to the 20-30 dB reduction you can expect from a “proper” pair of hearing protectors (even if the audio quality is subjectively better when listening through AirPods).

From this, we can conclude that AirPods aren't necessarily a great alternative to ear defenders designed specifically for concerts. 🎶 However, they work best in ANC mode and may have some utility in blocking out unwanted ambient noise. 🌿

🎧 This is especially true if you want to listen to music or podcasts at a reasonable level while using power tools, mowing the lawn, or otherwise in a noisy environment. That said, they are expensive and you need to keep them charged for them to be useful. They aren't the only noise-cancelling headphones on the market, either.

Having a cheaper pair of earplugs on hand is probably a better option. You don't need to worry about battery levels or stress about losing them at a sweaty gig. 🎵

There’s also something to be said for how you might look with a pair of bright white AirPods at a bowling alley or live music venue (not that we’re judging 🤭). Perhaps the most underrated feature of the “protective” AirPods — at least for the models with ANC — is the ability to turn down the volume of what you’re listening to and still enjoy it at reasonable volumes.

Since Apple's earbuds do a great job of blocking out ambient noise, you don't need to go deaf to block out the sound of traffic or a loud crowd (unless you really want to). 🚦🎶

Apple's headphones may be expensive, but it's hard to deny their appeal! 😍 Find out how the AirPods Pro 2 They compare to the originals and what it's like to run a half marathon with them AirPods 4 ANC. 🏃‍♂️🎶