AirPods Pro Spatial Audio = MIND BLOWN By Unbox Therapy

Ah, are you blind? Why are you walking like that? Did you try this? Oh, my god that was the movie. I tried the demo. I sound stupid. It sounds so stupid. It feels like I'm. I don't know how this software, so a new feature recently launched on these guys right here, the AirPods Pro I knew I had to test it out because I recall watching the keynote next, let's talk about AirPods in which they announced this particular feature.

Facial audio. I mean it felt like something interesting. It looked like something interesting. I couldn't feel it yet. I was just watching the keynote.

You know the experience of being in a movie theater one where the sound not only comes from in front of you, but also from the left, the right behind and even from above you. The way this basically works is that with the latest software update, so you have iOS 14, and then you have. This is the important part, the latest software on your AirPods Pro as well. It will create a spatial awareness kind of surround sound experience which is relative to your head, and the device that you're holding we can play sounds virtually anywhere in space. Now, not all devices are supported.

You need a relatively recent iOS device in order to take advantage of this as well, and then it's going to take some serious magic to get your AirPods Pro to update, because there's no way to force a firmware update to these things. You kind of have to just leave them nearby and leave them opened up, and it took in our case. Like an hour, I don't know it's. It's apple magic going on Siri had to be enabled there's a little pro-tip so for some reason, enabling Siri helped to update the AirPods Pro. What you're looking for is version 38283, at least at the time of filming this video, okay, so after you've done that this will enable the spatial audio toggle and the support for spatial audio in a number of different apps, in which you would typically have surround sound content, Dolby content, 5.1 or 7.1 content. So there's also a little demo just to give me a taste of what it's going to be like, so I'm going to pop open, oh by the way, this doesn't work on regular AirPods, not really sure why we had them here just to rub it in that, if you have regular AirPods, don't expect to utilize this feature I'll just go ahead and put them right in my ear right now.

By default, I mean this is stuff that you've seen before in these settings. You have noise cancellation and you have transparency. Transparency is going to allow the microphones on these devices to let sound pass through, so I'll click that, for a moment, just as a quick reminder, this lets, you have a conversation unless you hear your surroundings. I've loved this feature on headphones dating back a number of years now, actually, and I'm glad that it exists now in an Apple AirPods product. I think for the kind of optimal spatial audio experience, I'm going to go back to noise cancellation mode anyway.

We scrolled down here, and now you've unlocked this spatial audio setting. So I'm going to go ahead and click the c and hear how it works here. Immersive three-dimensional audio from supported videos that follows the movement of your phone. Obviously you have various sensors capable of knowing where the phone is in relationship to your head. That's that kind of synergy as they say in the well.

That's the corporate lingo, but I think ecosystem is the more frequent terminology in the tech realm anyway see and hear how it works all right. Well, first up you got stereo audio. This is your typical earbud functionality. So now I'm going to click the spatial audio button. Oh all, right now.

What happens if I'm oh yeah, you're right, the shaker is what you want to pay attention to if you're testing this yourself there's like um, it stays here. The shaker is your phone now it's here, but on this ear you know what I'm saying it's very complicated. What if I turn all the way around yeah it's behind me! Oh, that is a bit creepy! Oh, that's weird! That is a different level of immersion. You can imagine something scary with the creeping up and the sound effect behind all right, don't mind me, I'm just going to get immersive over here, not supported yeah, I got movies. Can I hit up like batman or something? Oh, yeah? I see Dolby Vision.

Should I try it do it? Oh yeah, it's working, whoa, that's so weird hold up. Oh all, right, all right, all right, all right, all right right right, all right! All right! It is so it's cool. It feels uh, quite real for a voice on a screen to not move. I could just be like having talking to somebody responding to someone, and it stays over here. It is a very it's cool.

It's a cool, headphone experience. You know what it feels it just feels like sitting in a movie theater with the sound is mostly coming from the front, and if you were to turn your head, obviously it would change your brain's perception of the source of the sound see headphones. If I got up, and what happens if I get up and walk around ah, are you blind? I sound stupid. It sounds so stupid. I'm saying it feels like I'm in a movie theater, it's like sure, Lou get out of my face, but it does it feel like I'm.

I don't know how the software is so sophisticated. How have they replicated that experience? So exactly in my tiny little ear canals what now I'm on an iPhone. So I don't know this might be a little much for me if I was just on the public transport, and I'm just zoned in over here, but if I was chilling with the iPad or on a laptop, my goodness, what amazing what they can pull out of these tiny little earbuds and some sophisticated software techniques it is holy. I've tried surround sound virtualization in the past on full-scale headphones and, to be fair, I mean these are not the most advanced headphones. I've ever tried, but the combination, the software relationship between the device, the content and the earbuds has created a very uh, realistic, movie, theater like or sit or never mind a movie theater, but like a couch and a big TV, and if you had a big stereo setup, a big surround setup.

It really feels like that, but I just have these tiny earbuds. It also feels like the sound is out here somewhere like there's texture to it. Furthermore, it's very strange. Furthermore, it doesn't feel like it's in my buds. Furthermore, it feels like it's coming from the screen.

Wherever the screen is positioned, it feels like the sound is halfway between me and the screen, and at no point do you feel as though it's coming from your earbuds. It feels like it feels like your earbuds are ear plugs. Your brain is fully fooled. It's incredible! Well done! I don't know. As far as a portable movie watching experience, I think some people, a lot of people, tend to underestimate the sound component, and this just adds a whole different level to the mobile movie watching experience, I don't even really need to try an iPad I might as well since I have it here.

So the fast switching thing is another enhancement. That's been made on the most recent software on the uh AirPods Pro and iOS 14, so I'm gonna just hit play over on the phone and see if it immediately switches, because I was just on the iPad- yes phone loud awesome, and now I'm on the iPad sound coming through. So you don't even have to think about it. I mean, obviously you have to pair it at some point or you have to be logged into iCloud, so it recognizes the devices, but it's no, it's instant. Whatever I love it I mean, like.

I said. I think this is a huge development. Furthermore, I think they totally underplayed it, which is not like apple at all. To be honest, you would think they will make a huge deal of this, but they just rolled it out as an extra feature. They could have uh released a whole different set of earbuds based around this feature, and maybe they will maybe they'll do a studio set.

Something like this that has that feature built in, but with a much bigger driver unit and an over-ear style headphone. If Apple were to do that, you would assume that this experience would get amplified to an even greater level, but as it stands right now, it's in their AirPods Pro earbuds, oh by the way, also check out the later case on AirPods Pro. You might want to pick. One of those up protects them. Plus you get the carbon fiber look, so that just makes me all that much more excited for when Apple does do a real, true over ear headphone and puts this software and in this program inside it I mean that could be.

That could be a very immersive experience. I brought this headphone over. Actually, I'm kind of amazed. I haven't looked at it yet because the previous version, the xm3, was my go-to over-ear style headphone. I still prefer an over-ear to an earbud in most circumstances uh now this has something in it called 360 reality audio, which is going to kind of mimic the experience I just had, but without the same level of sophistication.

However, it's not tapping into the various sensors on the phone itself. It doesn't have that that type of tie-in and therefore, if I just turn my head away from the source, it's not going to really change the experience, which is such a key part of that AirPods Pro spatial experience. This is not a cheap headphone. This is well within the premium segment, it competes with the likes of the various Bose products and the Microsoft headphones that are out there, and I don't know, maybe even some beats products and definitely whenever apple decides to do their own over ears. Of course, there is an application to go with it that lets you control all the various configurations for the sound signature which you can modify and the noise-canceling and the rest of it.

Everything fits into this handy carrying case. It also has this mesh pocket on the outside. It's a nice little touch with the Sony zipper here which has like a kind of plating on it. Furthermore, it looks bronze or rose gold, so we crack that open, and we have our headphones once again. These are the blacked out version, but the same color that you sort of saw on the zipper is carried through on the Sony logo and a couple of the headphone elements.

These things I can wear these things for hours on end without ear fatigue. It is a lightweight headphone for what it is, and also you have these super comfortable cushions in there. You have a right and left designation, one of the rumors with the upcoming apple studio headphones. Is that you'll be able to put them on either way and based on once again the involvement of the phone it will be able to tell which ear should be fed the left channel signal and which ears should be fed the right channel signal. We have some buttons on the outside.

There's a custom configurable button over here. Your power switch with a LED light up above that here is the mini jack connector. If you do choose to use this in a wired fashion, there is an USB type c connector over there and also a LED right beside it. Also in the package, the tiniest little type c to USB a cable, a little pocket for your airline adapter and your mini jack cable as well. It all fits in very nicely and then the control scheme.

This is a touch panel on the side later, okay, next, oh playing 360 on your headphones, enables audio immersion yeah. So this is cool this. This sort of spreads out the sound. So it's a much bigger stage, and it feels as though you are more like at a live venue, I suppose, as opposed to being enclosed in a headset. Oh, that's, very upsetting, that's very upsetting! I mean it's very upsetting.

Why? Because software is so powerful man holy once you've had the experience once you had the spatial audio experience now I know I'm a b testing, I literally I just did it, and it's important to note. These are probably my favorite headphones and certainly in most circumstances, if I'm just listening to music or something I'm gonna rather have these on than these, but just a b testing the avengers end game audio experience that spatial thing is for real. I mean it's not these. Don't they don't sound bad? I need explosion or something they sound good. The problem.

Are they sound like headphones? These things trick your brain completely. Let me just hold up yeah, that's just stereo. The 360 component is only supported in certain music applications and even there it's not as sophisticated, because it's just surrounding you it's doing some guesswork, whereas this is using real math yeah, it's a different. It's a different experience. I mean this is still a full-fledged headphone, so everything has a little more, maybe richness or bass to it.

But this feels like a movie theater. It feels like I'm sitting in a movie theater, and it's addictive. If you have an iPhone, if you have an iPad, if you're, if you're fully in the thing- and you don't have AirPods Pro, this is as soon you get you can get these for Christmas. I guess, and the first thing you need to do is try out this spatial audio thing, because it really is much different from the other headphone experiences that I have. This is not for music, it's specifically for watching content that supports it, but uh it takes even a champion status.

Headphone like this and makes me want to put it down when I boot up the movie that supports the spatial audio. That it is a pretty significant thing. So anyways, I'm still going to use these on the day-to-day, but man when you pop a movie on all of a sudden. What now I'm reaching for uh an iPad is that what's going on here, sheesh spatial audio apple did something cool.

Source : Unbox Therapy