Got mine on Sunday and really like em. I compared them with my Sony XM4’s but for me they are better so the Sony’s are going back. Not knocking the XM4’s at all though, they are solid, oh and Sony have the decency to throw in cables that cost pennies to make and not charge £39 for them.
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AirPods Max is here! First impressions and photos thread
- Thread starter Boardiesboi
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I have the cable. Don't keep your hopes up. Apple didn't include the cable because they know it's not meant to be ultimately used with a cable except for airplane use, if ever.
Unlike my other bluetooth pairs that allow cables through passive power, the APM needs batteries to function with a cable. Also using the cable means dual multi-conversion from analog to digital (in the cable) and then from digital to analog (in the headphones).
The only way I use my APM with a cable is on a desktop with a balanced DAC output and not through a powered headphone port.
I may need to return these....
I put on Boston's Amanda and was singing along with it. I could not hear myself AT ALL! WOW amazing noise cancelation!!!
The problem is that I was recorded by a household member and I was killing it! (NOT not the way a singer kills it, I was literally killing the song, like bloody massacre of screeching cats.) It was really bad and I had not been able to hear myself AT ALL... I am now mortified
I put on Boston's Amanda and was singing along with it. I could not hear myself AT ALL! WOW amazing noise cancelation!!!
The problem is that I was recorded by a household member and I was killing it! (NOT not the way a singer kills it, I was literally killing the song, like bloody massacre of screeching cats.) It was really bad and I had not been able to hear myself AT ALL... I am now mortified
I literally only want the cable to connect to my PS5 and Series X controllers. I think there is a 3rd party Bluetooth dongle that also works which I will have to have a read up on.
I guess you weren't told about the even more awesome Transparency mode...
Did the Sony Cables (or anyone elses') have a DAC/ADC built in though?
$39 is only pennies more than most other manufacturers charge for 4 generic strands of copper.
I guess they probably could have charged $599 added a cable, ditched the case altogether and everyone would have been happier.
Apples' approach to this project appears to be: Build the device to require the tech rather than build some decent sounding headphones and then add the tech. Which is pretty much what Bose have done with all their speakers since forever, requiring silly amounts of "special" eq to sound remotely normal.
I could be wrong, but I'd take a wild guess that the APM might sound absolutely horrible if they were wired directly to the drivers - maybe some youtube lunatic will give it a shot.
DAC = Fancy powered headphone port
Serious question though. The APM cable doesn't have a balanced jack does it ?
Latency via a BT dongle would be very problematic for gaming.
DAC = Fancy powered headphone port
Serious question though. The APM cable doesn't have a balanced jack does it ?
No it doesn't. But it's the only available pre-out port I have that isn't over-powered by a headphone port.
OKAY Spacial audio is ruining me! I have a homepod stereo pair for my TV audio on the Apple TV and I thought the sound was amazing, NOW i realize that I am only hearing a fraction of what the movies are actually putting out for audio...
If I get a few HomePod Mini can I make a home special audio system LOL
Dam these AirPod maxs’
If I get a few HomePod Mini can I make a home special audio system LOL
Dam these AirPod maxs’
If you’re planning to game with them, I’d definitely go wired. I tried them with my Series X and the 3.5mm cable - worked well enough. Your ears WILL get a bit spicy if you’re playing for hours at a time, though. Just fair warning. I’ll stick with the Arctis 7X and 7P for gaming.
Woah, do you have reduce loud sounds on by any chance? (settings / sounds and haptics / headphone safety / reduce loud sounds)
The hearing widget in control centre is pretty awesome for seeing the DB level when using AirPods, anything over 75 is going to cause hearing damage long term.
Couple of pics, love the space grey closely followed by the blue.
Just snagged a pair in SG at my local Target (of all places!). I’ve gots lots of ear and headphones from all sorts of brands and like quality but also a bit of fun in my music, just so y’all have a little background on yours truly. I’m not a technical listener (I have no idea what “sibilance” means nor what frequency range I should be listening for it in, for example!), but I know what sounds “fun” to me.
Anyway, here’s a quick and dirty first impressions list after a couple hours of use:
Anyway, here’s a quick and dirty first impressions list after a couple hours of use:
- Comfortable - weight and clamping force are is not issues for me - I really don’t feel them on my head. Equally comfortable with or without glasses.
- Setup was a little iffy - connected to my iPad quickly, but farted out trying to connect to my iPhone. Factory reset helped.
- Auto-handoff works great, except when it doesn’t. Right now, it works about 80% of the time. This just between my aforementioned iPad and iPhone (both running the latest OS).
- Recorded voice sounds good, so I’m thinking these will sound pretty good on calls.
- However, I was having trouble recording voice texts - I could hear the ANC kick in and out and the sound in the left ear would drop altogether. They’d pick up my voice about 10 seconds into the recording. Using the Voice Recording app though was totally fine. Hmmm...
- Controls fine - I do like having physical buttons, but agree that they’re placed kind of in a strange place and are susceptible to errant activation when taking the phones on/off. Muscle memory will need to be updated!
- Build quality - pretty nice! Solid-feeling.
- OK, onto the most important thing for me, sound quality. As everyone else has pretty much stated, these sound pretty “even”. Not bass heavy, not too bright. But, it all sounds nice. Instrument separation is nice. I played around with the Accessibility settings, but think I prefer the out-of-the-box sound best.
- I have both the Sony XM3s and XM4s and after EQing, especially the XM4s, really like the sound I’m getting out of those. The APMs are “clearer” sounding than the Sonys and lack some of that bloated bass punch, but the bass on the APMs is pretty “tight” and pleasing.
- I’m still deciding if “tight and pleasing” equals the amount of “fun” I get out of the XM4s — so far, I think it does.
- I get a bit of a static-y sound sometimes when a new song starts to play, but only occasionally. The Sonys do the same thing, once in a while.
People have been meticulous about listing their impressions for the APM.
Mine just arrived today and the only, literally, only problem I have with them is comfort, or lack thereof.
I can't leave them on my head for more than 40 minutes at a time. I feel my head is clamped and the weight really isn't offset by the mesh "hammock".
I know, that Apple engineers have researched the perfect size and whatnot as they always do, but the force with which APM hold on to my head is excessive to the point of causing a headache.
I'll give them a chance, since I love the sound, the transparency mode clarity and phone call quality on both sides - I have ceased to use my QC IIs for that purpose as they're terrible as a phone headset.
Mine just arrived today and the only, literally, only problem I have with them is comfort, or lack thereof.
I can't leave them on my head for more than 40 minutes at a time. I feel my head is clamped and the weight really isn't offset by the mesh "hammock".
I know, that Apple engineers have researched the perfect size and whatnot as they always do, but the force with which APM hold on to my head is excessive to the point of causing a headache.
I'll give them a chance, since I love the sound, the transparency mode clarity and phone call quality on both sides - I have ceased to use my QC IIs for that purpose as they're terrible as a phone headset.
i don't what youve had before but i always had to take off headphones like the senn hd650s or the B&W wired P7s after like half an hour since the clamping force is so high. The APM no doubt also "clamps" but for some reason after about twenty minutes it goes away, it may be a function of the mesh cover...and after that point it goes away unless you move your head aggressively. I agree that the heft is noticeable for better or worse and you can tell they did everything could to make it lighter around the fact that the two cups are just huge pieces of aluminum lol.
one more question regarding AirPods Max working on Windows: Does ANC/Transparency mode work when connected to windows? Thanks
Got mine yesterday. I really like the sound overall, but I haven't tried spatial sound with supported video yet.
I'm really hoping ATV supports spatial sound someday, as that would be a way I would use them. I did use them for ~6 hours teaching online using Google Meet, and they worked really well. I had them in transparency mode for most of the time, and students and my EA said my call quality was really good. I'd listen to the recording, but Meet recordings don't sound great to begin with, so I'm not sure if that's a great measure.
I did check for condensation a couple times, but I never did see it, even after having them on for 3 hours. I'm going to buy AppleCare+ for them, just in case.
I like them enough to keep them, even though the price is a bit painful. I can see them getting daily use.
I'm really hoping ATV supports spatial sound someday, as that would be a way I would use them. I did use them for ~6 hours teaching online using Google Meet, and they worked really well. I had them in transparency mode for most of the time, and students and my EA said my call quality was really good. I'd listen to the recording, but Meet recordings don't sound great to begin with, so I'm not sure if that's a great measure.
I like them enough to keep them, even though the price is a bit painful. I can see them getting daily use.
I admit some older music that was mixed quieter needs a bit of cranking, but I still haven't thought that these aren't loud enough. 80+ still gives you a bit more to go. Are you saying 100% still isn't loud enough? Serious question.
not at all.. it's weird that I have to crank these up to even 70-80 while I sit at a little over 50+ with other headphones.