If you are a musician who is heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem like I am, the idea of wireless earbuds that connect seamlessly to your devices is very tempting.
I have now used my first generation AirPods Pro for around 18 months. During that time, I have listened to music with them, used them for podcasting, done rough mixes on the road, and even used one while playing electronic drums live.
So, are AirPods Pro actually good for musicians?
I would say yes, with a few important caveats.
This is not a sponsored post. I bought these with my own money, and everything here is based on my own experience.
Also, I am using the first-generation AirPods Pro, so this is not a review of the newest model. Apple has since released newer versions with better noise cancellation, fit, battery life and other features. However, the basic question is still the same: are AirPods Pro actually useful for musicians, or are they just convenient consumer earbuds?
What Are AirPods Pro?
AirPods Pro are Apple’s premium wireless earbuds designed to work especially well inside the Apple ecosystem.
The main selling point is not just sound quality. It is the full package: easy pairing, active noise cancellation, transparency mode, decent battery life, and the kind of convenience that makes you actually want to keep using them every day.
For musicians, that convenience matters more than you might think.
What I Like About AirPods Pro
The first thing I like is simple: they sound good.
Music sounds good on them. Podcasts sound good on them. YouTube videos sound good on them. To my ears, they do not color the sound too aggressively, which is one of the main reasons I have kept using them for much longer than I expected.
The noise cancellation is also genuinely useful. Pair that with solid overall sound quality and you get a listening experience that is enjoyable in everyday use.
Another thing I really like is comfort. These are light, easy to wear, and I can keep them in for a fairly long time without feeling like I need to rip them out of my ears after twenty minutes.
I also love how well they work with Apple devices most of the time. I use them with my MacBook, iPhone, and Apple TV, and maybe 95 percent of the time they connect exactly where I want them to. When that happens, it really does feel like Apple magic.
Battery life has also been good in my experience. I typically get around 3 to 4 hours of playback time on my first generation pair, and because the case charges them quickly, I have rarely felt limited by battery life. If you throw them back in the case for a few minutes, you can get a surprising amount of extra use out of them.
I also like the built-in controls. Being able to control playback and switch noise cancellation modes directly from the earbuds is genuinely useful. Small things like that make a big difference in everyday use.
What I Do Not Like About AirPods Pro
As much as I like them, these are not perfect.
The weirdest issue I have experienced is occasional syncing glitches between the left and right earbuds, especially while moving around. When that happens, the sound feels slightly out of sync between your ears, which is very distracting. It does not happen often, but when it does, it is annoying.
I have also not enjoyed Apple’s spatial audio with these at all. Every time I have tried it, it has sounded strange, phasey, and just wrong to me. Maybe some people love it, but I definitely do not.
Another frustration is the case. If you drop it, there is a good chance it opens and sends both earbuds flying in different directions. That is a fantastic way to have a small heart attack.
I also would not call these the best option for running. At least for me, they can start slipping out if I get sweaty, and the idea of dropping one on a trail somewhere is not exactly appealing.
There are also times when the automatic device switching becomes more annoying than magical. If they connect to the wrong device, figuring out what happened can be surprisingly infuriating. For example, if they decide to connect to an Apple TV in another room, it can take way too much effort to get them back to your phone.
One more annoying thing I have noticed is that sometimes one or both earbuds seem to lose battery while sitting in the case. I have had mornings where I grabbed them, put them in on the bus, and realized one earbud was basically dead for no obvious reason. It does not happen often enough to be a deal-breaker, but it is definitely a real annoyance.
And finally, the microphone on the first generation model is just not very good. For phone calls and Zoom calls, it sounds thin, artificial, and generally worse than I would expect at this price point.
Listening to Music With AirPods Pro
From a musician’s perspective, this is where AirPods Pro make the strongest case for themselves.
The overall sound is balanced, there is enough low end to make music enjoyable, and there is enough detail to hear what is going on in a mix. No, they are not on the same level as proper in-ear monitors designed for stage use, and they are obviously not replacing a great pair of studio headphones either.
Still, they are much better than cheap basic earbuds.
I would not describe them as the most immersive listening experience in the world. Even with noise cancellation on, they still let in some outside noise. In some situations that is actually a good thing, especially when walking outside. For mixing in noisy environments, though, that can be a limitation.
Even so, for everyday music listening, I think AirPods Pro sound very good.
Are AirPods Pro Good for Podcasting?
For my kind of podcasting, yes.
When I am doing online podcast sessions, I like using transparency mode because it helps me hear my own voice more naturally. That might sound like a small detail, but it actually matters a lot. If you cannot hear yourself properly, it is easy to start speaking too loudly and wear out your voice too quickly.
That is especially important if you are recording for an hour or more.
In my setup, AirPods Pro have worked well for this kind of use. If I were recording a podcast with someone in the same room, I would use a different setup. But for remote podcasting, they have been genuinely useful.
Can You Mix With AirPods Pro?
This is where things get interesting.
Would I do my final mixes on AirPods Pro? No.
I know my studio monitors extremely well, and that is still where I want to make final decisions. But there are situations where you need to do a rough mix on the road or work on something away from the studio. In those situations, I think AirPods Pro are surprisingly decent.
My workflow is usually to do a rough mix with the AirPods, including EQ moves and general balance decisions, and then check the mix again through laptop speakers. Going back and forth between those two has actually given me pretty usable results when I have not been able to work in my normal studio environment.
So no, I would not call them a professional replacement for proper monitoring.
But yes, I do think you can make decent rough mixes on them once you get used to how they sound.
A Surprisingly Useful Live Use Case
One of the most interesting ways I have used AirPods Pro was while playing electronic drums at church.
At the time, we did not have a proper in-ear monitoring system. What I ended up doing was using a floor wedge on one side and placing one AirPod in my other ear. From my phone, I would run a metronome and get the click directly into one ear while still hearing what was happening around me.
It was a surprisingly practical setup.
Because the AirPod was wireless, I did not have to deal with extra cables. The battery lasted long enough for the full set. And with noise cancellation on, I did not have to run the click as loud, which probably helped save my hearing a little bit as well.
I would not say this replaces a real in-ear monitoring system.
But as a temporary workaround, it actually worked really well.
Are AirPods Pro Good for Musicians?
Yes, I think they are.
If you are a musician who wants a convenient pair of wireless earbuds for listening to music, doing rough mixes on the go, remote podcasting, and even some creative live-use scenarios, AirPods Pro make a lot of sense.
They sound good. They are comfortable. Battery life is solid. And when the Apple ecosystem integration works properly, it is honestly fantastic.
At the same time, they are not flawless. The microphone is not great, automatic switching can occasionally be annoying, and they are not a substitute for proper studio monitors or dedicated stage in-ears.
Still, I really enjoy the freedom they provide.
Being able to move around without cables, quickly connect to different Apple devices, and use them in more than one musical situation has made them genuinely worthwhile for me.
So if you are already in the Apple ecosystem and you have been wondering whether AirPods Pro are useful for musicians, my answer is yes.
Just do not expect perfection.
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