Very faint ‘white noise’ when in ANC mode?

[TomPurcell]

Sorry if this has been asked already but I struggled to find it.

When in noise cancellation mode, but with nothing playing, do you hear the faintest hum/white noise coming from the AirPods?

mom just trying to make sure it’s normal with ANC and not a problem with the inside microphone.

thanks!

 

[its93rc]

Sorry if this has been asked already but I struggled to find it.

When in noise cancellation mode, but with nothing playing, do you hear the faintest hum/white noise coming from the AirPods?

mom just trying to make sure it’s normal with ANC and not a problem with the inside microphone.

thanks!

Are you close to metal detectors or something like that? I noticed this when I was at my University and that was the culprit.

 

[mavis]

Sorry if this has been asked already but I struggled to find it.

When in noise cancellation mode, but with nothing playing, do you hear the faintest hum/white noise coming from the AirPods?

mom just trying to make sure it’s normal with ANC and not a problem with the inside microphone.

thanks!

I haven't noticed it with my AirPods Pro but I do notice it with my Sony WH-1000Xm3.

 

[Eccentric Arcanist]

Ive owned two pairs and both had very feint white noise. I was only aware of it if i really tried looking for it.

 

[Nozuka]

I also had this on mine at the beginning. Didnt bother me much though.

now it is suddenly very loud and annoying.... not sure if it is because of the train I’m currently in or if it just got worse... will have to check tomorrow.

One of them also discharged itself once, while in the case...

Guess i‘ll have to return them or get them repaired. Which kinda sucks with the current availability...

 

[BuzzingCricket]

I've also noticed this, especially when not in noisy environments. Have not found any info on why this happens. Hopefully it's not a defect.

 

[JBGoode]

That's how the ANC works. It emits a sound with an opposite frequency to counteract the ambient sound. It's like a white noise as the OP stated.

 

[Kimball]

Same here, but its also the same with my on-hear Xqisit & Sony ANC headphones and its not noticable when playing music/audiobook and so on so Im not bothered anymore since thats just how its supposed to be.

 

[Dave 123]

I’m confused as some people say it’s normal to hiss (including my Apple Store) yet others seem to have ones that don’t have the white noise issue. Obviously I’d love non hissing ones.

Should I return mine in the belief I could buy another sample that doesn’t hiss, or are the people posting saying there’s no hiss just not noticing it?

 

[JBGoode]

I’m confused as some people say it’s normal to hiss (including my Apple Store) yet others seem to have ones that don’t have the white noise issue. Obviously I’d love non hissing ones.

Should I return mine in the belief I could buy another sample that doesn’t hiss, or are the people posting saying there’s no hiss just not noticing it?

Has everyone in this thread forgotten how to use a search engine? As I stated above the 'hiss' is produced by the ANC...maybe some cannot hear it as it isn't an obvious noise.

Here, I've done the work for you. This explains it pretty well.

How Noise-canceling Headphones Work

Noise-canceling headphones come in two types: active and passive. Find out how noise-canceling headphones reduce ambient noise.

electronics.howstuffworks.com

Active noise-canceling headphones can do everything that passive ones can do -- their very structure creates a barrier that blocks high-frequency sound waves. They also add an extra level of noise reduction by actively erasing lower-frequency sound waves. How do noise-canceling headphones accomplish this? They actually create their own sound waves that mimic the incoming noise in every respect except one: the headphone's sound waves are 180 degrees out of phase with the intruding waves.

 

[Dave 123]

Has everyone in this thread forgotten how to use a search engine? As I stated above the 'hiss' is produced by the ANC...maybe some cannot hear it as it isn't an obvious noise.

Thanks for your contribution! I didn’t ask how it worked and yes, I have researched the efficiency of different ANC implementations at length. My question was trying to clarify if some people really had no hiss especially as some report being able to fix it by replacements or resets. I am on my third set of AirPods Pro and they all hiss.

If people really can do something to avoid the hiss I’d like to do it too. I, like you, suspect that it’s the nature of a poor Apple implementation (as other manufacturers have models that remove noise without adding their own). But if anyone really has fixed it, please contribute.

 

[JBGoode]

Thanks for your contribution! I didn’t ask how it worked and yes, I have researched the efficiency of different ANC implementations at length. My question was trying to clarify if some people really had no hiss especially as some report being able to fix it by replacements or resets. I am on my third set of AirPods Pro and they all hiss.

If people really can do something to avoid the hiss I’d like to do it too. I, like you, suspect that it’s the nature of a poor Apple implementation (as other manufacturers have models that remove noise without adding their own). But if anyone really has fixed it, please contribute.

Well how it works explains the noise you hear so it seemed you needed to be told. Those that say they can’t hear it probably aren’t picking up that particular frequency or they simply don’t notice. It’s not very obvious to me and I have to actually listen for it to “hear” it. Some may be more sensitive to that frequency and it might be more obvious.

I can hear it in my $350 Sony over the head ANC headphones too and their ANC is considered among the best.

What headphones have removed this noise? By definition that would not be ANC so I’m intrigued. Or do they just have “passive” noise canceling which is just a marketing term for the normal muffling of sound caused by covering or inserting something in one’s ear and isn’t even a real thing? Or is it new noise canceling technology?

 

[ipponrg]

Thanks for your contribution! I didn’t ask how it worked and yes, I have researched the efficiency of different ANC implementations at length. My question was trying to clarify if some people really had no hiss especially as some report being able to fix it by replacements or resets. I am on my third set of AirPods Pro and they all hiss.

If people really can do something to avoid the hiss I’d like to do it too. I, like you, suspect that it’s the nature of a poor Apple implementation (as other manufacturers have models that remove noise without adding their own). But if anyone really has fixed it, please contribute.

No models that have ANC so far will have removed the hiss. Insensitive ears will claim there is no hiss which isn’t true. The white noise is what helps in canceling out the outside noise.

 

[Dave 123]

I’m feeling more content that there are no magic samples of the AirPods Pro out there without the background hissing, so thanks for that.

Now for the tantalising side issue of whether ANC requires there to be some residual perceived noise. I’d maintain that a perfect implementation should be able to perfectly cancel any noise with the matching anti-noise to yield complete silence.

This was affirmed on my googling travels by some posts from users of high-end headphones (Bose 700 I think) claiming there was no additional noise added in a quiet environment. Think of it another way, if you are in a silent room, switching on ANC should add exactly no extra anti-noise and so the silence should remain untarnished. The fact that Apple AirPods Pro adds some white noise illustrates an imperfect design and we conclude that some people just don’t hear this combination of all audio frequencies.

 

[Eccentric Arcanist]

I’m feeling more content that there are no magic samples of the AirPods Pro out there without the background hissing, so thanks for that.

Now for the tantalising side issue of whether ANC requires there to be some residual perceived noise. I’d maintain that a perfect implementation should be able to perfectly cancel any noise with the matching anti-noise to yield complete silence.

This was affirmed on my googling travels by some posts from users of high-end headphones (Bose 700 I think) claiming there was no additional noise added in a quiet environment. Think of it another way, if you are in a silent room, switching on ANC should add exactly no extra anti-noise and so the silence should remain untarnished. The fact that Apple AirPods Pro adds some white noise illustrates an imperfect design and we conclude that some people just don’t hear this combination of all audio frequencies.

Agreed! There seem to be a lot of people here who don’t actually understand how ANC works. If ANC works perfectly then there should be total destruction of the waveform resulting in complete silence. I’m sure I saw a thread somewhere that said it could be dangerous to use the APP whilst doing something like mowing the lawn. Why? Because you'd be getting double the decibels: from the lawnmower and the opposing frequency that cancels it out ?

 

[Dave 123]

Because you'd be getting double the decibels: from the lawnmower and the opposing frequency that cancels it out ?

Fake news. Yes accuracy generally (no, not pointing at this thread) seems to be becoming less fashionable recently. I appreciate all the contributions.
I vote truth. Merry Christmas all!