So first, AirPods pro.
The ANC isn’t bad on a plane once in flight, but it lets in this bassy hum that makes it not great. The hum feels louder than with ANC off. Not sure why but it just can’t silence the hum of the engines properly. Because of the bassy hum in the background, music quality drops. You lose a lot of the bass response compared to a quieter environment. It almost sounds like the non pros, or a quieter transparency mode.
The Studio 3s don’t have this problem. It’s much quieter with nothing playing, and music sounds as crisp and responsive as on the ground. With that, I decided to try something different...
Double ANC lol. It’s surprisingly quiet even with nothing playing. With iOS 13.2 you can play music from both sets, and after a bit of tweaking found my optimal setting. Full volume on the Studio 3’s, a bit dialed back on the Airpods Pro and voila, great bass, even response across the board and zero noise listening to Beethoven, or the intro to Money for Nothing.
So ya, silence is yours for around $800.