Can’t say anything about the regular airpods since I haven’t tried them, but the Pros are unparalleled. Impossible to offer anything near that kind of transparency mode without custom silicon, the competition is stuck with what they can get off the shelf.
To shreds, you say?
Maybe more in the “less mainstream” category rather than exotic, but I love ColorFabb varioshore TPU. I really like the texture and slight squishiness it gets at 220°, also floats. I also use it in lots of places where I don’t really need a semi flexible, it’s surprisingly handy.
For exotics, as in “need to scour the internet to find”, eSun ePC is a personal favorite. Prints very cleanly at 270°, looks great, very little warp, super durable. Nasty fumes, though.
Edit: a lot easier to get hold of now, must have been a production hiccup last time I needed some.
Yes, it’s soluble in acetone, quite similar to ABS.
No, it’s not about sound replication, that is the easy part. AirPods have both really good active noise canceling, and a transparency mode that does completely lag-free filtered pass thru, meaning that you can hear everything around you and follow a podcast at the same time. They even switch between ANC and transparency if you start speaking to someone. Nobody has anything similar except on paper, everyone else does it with so much lag that it’s useless.