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AirPods Max Reviews

People will surely just plug these headphones in when not using them. I know I would.
Btw, I‘d rather have less battery than an ugly plasticky look like the Sony.
 
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Herrpod said:
It puts it into a state where it drains battery still. That's what people want from their wireless headphones right? A device that continues to drain battery when not in use? In a case that you can't safely travel with because it doesn't protect the 550 dollar headphones within. Brilliant design. Right up their with the Touch Bar, butterfly keyboard, and Apple TV remote control.
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Maybe wait for actual reviews. The amount at which it drains while in that case is probably going to be a lot less. But let’s see what reviews say. It’s not going to be an issue tho in my opinion. Certainly hasn’t stopped me from ordering them.
 
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Herrpod said:
If the battery is never completely off, it's constantly wasting battery when not in use.
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My iPhone is never off. Neither is my iPad or Apple Watch. The headphones go into low power mode when not being used and ultra low power mode when in the case. I don’t see what the issue is. I don’t know why someone would buy these if they weren’t planning to use them on a regular/daily basis.
 
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Any iPhone or MacBook, even when off, is still supplying battery voltage to the power button to enable the device to turn on when depressed. Similarly, every modern car when parked and not running is using the battery to supply voltage for the car locks and alarms. I could go on...
 
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yticolev said:
Any iPhone or MacBook, even when off, is still supplying battery voltage to the power button to enable the device to turn on when depressed. Similarly, every modern car when parked and not running is using the battery to supply voltage for the car locks and alarms. I could go on...
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That's Smartphones, Computers and Cars. We are talking about headphones...

My DT1990 Pro and LCD-2C both which are high end headphones do not consume any electricity or power when not in use. Yes I know, they are wired headphones but there is no real reason for even wireless headphones to be powered on at all times.
 
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Neutrality is the holy grail of high-end audio listening. Airpods Max are not aimed at that holy grail, but they are likely to be better than the competition in many ways and bring some unique things also.

Sony XM4 scored 8.1 for neutrality on rtings.com, I wonder what APM will score. I think they will score better.

The problem on sites like this is that most people don’t even know what good sound is. Why do you think awful headphones like Beats and Sony XM4 sell so many? So many people want fake bass and a cheap price.

Let’s take EQs. Most people that use these make music sound worse because they don’t know what good sound is. EQs should only be used to correct the failings of the environment and equipment being used, not for listening “preference”. Added fake bass is like the inflated saturation of TVs on display in retail stores (pleasing to many, abhorrent to those who know better).

The fact that Apple has not provided an EQ app is a sign of quality, as is the use of adaptive EQ.

So real reviews are what I await.
 
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ader42 said:
The fact that Apple has not provided an EQ app is a sign of quality, as is the use of adaptive EQ.
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I find it's a frustrating lack of openness and flexibility, particularly further down the lineup.

I use EQE with my normal AirPods and it's shocking how much better they can sound with EQ.

I wish Apple would enable that optionality, system wide, built into iOS.
 
ader42 said:
Neutrality is the holy grail of high-end audio listening. Airpods Max are not aimed at that holy grail, but they are likely to be better than the competition in many ways and bring some unique things also.

Sony XM4 scored 8.1 for neutrality on rtings.com, I wonder what APM will score. I think they will score better.

The problem on sites like this is that most people don’t even know what good sound is. Why do you think awful headphones like Beats and Sony XM4 sell so many? So many people want fake bass and a cheap price.

Let’s take EQs. Most people that use these make music sound worse because they don’t know what good sound is. EQs should only be used to correct the failings of the environment and equipment being used, not for listening “preference”. Added fake bass is like the inflated saturation of TVs on display in retail stores (pleasing to many, abhorrent to those who know better).

The fact that Apple has not provided an EQ app is a sign of quality, as is the use of adaptive EQ.

So real reviews are what I await.
Click to expand...
There are a small group of people on Head-Fi.org who have received them, and their opinion is generally more positive than it is here. I think that says quite a lot about the target audience.
 
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kmanmx said:
There are a small group of people on Head-Fi.org who have received them, and their opinion is generally more positive than it is here. I think that says quite a lot about the target audience.
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Thanks! Interesting comments there.
 
From head-fi.org:

Apple has clearly aimed for a more high-end audio profile on these. Where the Sony XM3's and XM4's are very dense, v-shaped in-your-face/head kind of audio which tends to bring the lower frequencies into focus that tends to overshadow the mid's and high's the Apple AirPods Max tries the achieve the complete opposite. They try to offer a very wide soundstage, they try to sound very spacious with great clarity.

I prefer the Bose NC 700 over the Sony XM3's back in the day because I don't really enjoy v-shaped audio profile. I tend to prefer stereo separation and clarity over dense and deeper/darker sounding ones. The Apple AirPods Max are leaps above and beyond the Bose NC 700 in this regards as well but for me, these aren't really comparable to the Sony's as they differ so much in their sound profile so if you are one that tends to prefer a more dense and in your head sound profile you won't really enjoy the AirPods Max and if you are one that enjoys and prefer a wide soundstage with great separation and clarity there really is no contest here.

And:

It is quite funny what Apple did. They managed to make an ANC headphone version of the old B&W P7W. Not even B&W themselves managed to do it.

So Apple really has hands down the best ANC as it has minimal impact on the sound quality and it sounds like a non ANC headphone.

I think if Apple included an EQ, then you can really dail it in to get it more close to the B&W P7W.

And a reply to that last post:

It's funny that you say that, as Apple's VP of Acoustics is Gary Geaves, who they hired from B&W, where he worked for nearly 16 years, including 7 years as B&W's Head of R&D.

That's how Apple managed to do what they've done here. Apple's audio team did not come from their Beats acquisition. It's a completely separate team they built up internally by hiring impressive people from across the audio industry.
 
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Since we are posting thoughts from Head-Fi, we should note many there also lamenting the lack of full EQ on iOS.

It’s frustrating Apple won’t enable that through accessibility or something.
 
Thanks for the reference to head-fi. Way more useful than some of the reviews here or the same person complaining over and over.
 
The CNET review seems to confirm the Sony's are better for me. I prefer a more bass dominant sound personally.

The only way I'd consider the APM is I found them on sale down the road.
 
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