New AirPods Pro 3 Firmware IMPROVED Sound Quality (Firmware 8A358)
So we have the first ever firmware update for the AirPods Pro 3 dubbed 8A358, which replaces 8A357. As usual, no update notes from Apple to confirm what it contains, but some people have been reporting changes to the AirPods Pro 3’s sound which some regard as an improvement.
And it’s not only that the tuning has changed, the way the DSP behaves at different volume levels appears to be different too. Apple, or any good audio company, always tries to keep the AirPods bass mids and highs consistent to the listener whether at low or high volumes.
So at, say 25 percent volume, a bit of boosting is applied in the bass and highs because humans are generally less sensitive to those frequencies, but at high volumes a limiter is applied to keep the bass and highs from distorting.
What we’re seeing here is a general reduction of bass at low or mid volume levels, but at a high 75 percent volume, we’re seeing even more bass boosting compared to before. This means when you’re listening at mid to low volume, the sound is going to be a bit less bassy, but also less bloaty, more in line with the AirPods Pro 2’s signature.
But at high volumes, you’re going to get more bass than before the update which should please bassheads, because bassheads often prefer listening at higher volumes. My advice is NOT to do it often and if you do, keep it to short listening sessions. Hearing loss is permanent.
👉 Listen to the sound quality samples
Microphone Quality
In terms of mic pickup, on both iOS and Android it is still quite comparable to the previous firmware, but noise gating in noisy situations have gotten a bit more aggressive. On Apple devices applying voice isolation mode, it cuts into my voice more, and on Android with the AirPods Pro 3 applying its own noise reduction it also cuts more of my voice out.
👉 Have a listen to the mic quality samples
Active Noise Cancelling
In terms of active noise canceling, frequency sweeps show that the new firmware didn’t have any significant impact at all, any variations seem to be within a small margin of tolerance, and users shouldn’t expect to hear any difference at all.
👉 Listen to the ANC quality samples
Transparency Mode
Transparency mode is where there seems to be some change. The spike of brightness in the 1.7khz region seems to be a bit more tempered, which could impact the shoutiness of voices when having verbal exchanges, and ambient sounds may seem a smidge darker. But using them in transparency, it’s still very good at passing through ambient sounds for awareness and verbal exchanges.
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