Apple has managed to considerably enhance the audio high quality on the AirPods Professional 2 with out the necessity for help for lossless audio – and in a brand new interview, Apple engineer Esge Andersen reveals a few of the secrets and techniques about how that was executed.
Briefly: it is all in regards to the airflow, Andersen instructed What Hi-Fi? (opens in new tab) in a wide-ranging dialogue. Andersen works for the acoustics group at Apple, and describes how the corporate wished to offer everyone “an AirPods Max in their pocket”.
Whereas the general design of the AirPods Professional 2 nearly identically matches the unique AirPods Professional, they’ve redesigned vents to optimize airflow for the audio drivers, and that was apparently key to getting the advance in sound.
“How we move the air”
“When we talk about good sound, it’s all about how we move the air in the product – which is kind of weird because it’s not talking about the enclosure or how it looks – but it’s about ensuring that we also design for airflow,” says Andersen (opens in new tab).
There was a selected concentrate on bettering the excessive frequency response apparently, however the AirPods Professional 2 supply each cleaner highs and deeper, extra exact bass. There’s additionally delicate tuning at every quantity stage.
Andersen additionally revealed how the earbuds are engineered to behave barely in a different way relying on the machine that they are linked to – and that there is a panel of “expert listeners” who assist make sure that the sound is as spectacular as attainable.
Evaluation: the AirPods normal
Apple has been growing its AirPods wi-fi earbuds since again in 2016, and the introduction of the primary pair kickstarted a brand new wave of expertise: just about each producer now has a pair of wi-fi earbuds on sale.
Regardless of there now being quite a lot of competitors within the area, the AirPods stay the tech to beat right here, not least due to the excessive constancy and supreme response provided by the AirPods Professional 2 (which we gave four-and-a-half stars out of 5 too).
Add within the extra reasonably priced AirPods 3 and the dearer AirPods Max, and customers are properly lined when it comes to what they will choose up – though on this newest interview Andersen admits that it is unattainable to make the audio output good for each listener.
The following step can be that help for lossless audio (which is out there in Apple Music, remember). Apple has beforehand stated that it may need to develop its personal various to the Bluetooth codec to make its headphones and earbuds prepared for lossless.