Airpods Pro audio quality "garbage"? That is beyond harsh, and a quick search will find countless reviews extolling their audio quality.

e.g. https://www.soundguys.com/apple-airpods-pro-3-review-close-t...

The problem with earbuds is that to have good quality, you need to create a seal, like IEMs do. Most professionals who use IEMs have them custom molded to their ears.

If you are lucky and have a good ear shape, then airpods sound good. Still not as good as IEM because IEMs have more space for better drivers without needing a battery or bluetooth hardware.

But if you are a person like me who has very hard time with any earbud staying in, then its gonna sound like garbage because you are never going to get a perfect seal.

The measure of audio is what comes out of the speakers not what is written on the web.

My Airpod Pros are the most convenient personal audio device I have ever used. Sound wise they pale in comparison to my Sony MDR-ZX100 which I bought on sale for $9.99 at Best Buy...unfortunately the new model is about $15 regular price and maybe not as good (but I doubt it).

Sure the Airpod Pros sound better than ordinary Airpods or the wired Airbuds, but that's a really low bar for an audio device.

Yes, objectively Airpods Pro audio quality is not good if you're comparing it to a high-end IEM setup that uses multiple driver types, balanced armatures, electrostatics, etc. Also the tuning on the 3 vs. the 2 is worse.

Airpods Pro have great audio quality considering they are wireless bluetooth earbuds. Remove that qualifier, and if you're sitting at a desk all day and wired becomes an option, you can get far better sound quality/longevity for a fraction of the price.