OK... Well...
I'm not going to wait for the firmware to be sorted out. I'm going to return the AirPods Max today.
I wanted to like them and I was excited to try them out when Apple announced the wired audio input options last week. However, in the end, these are not headphones that I want to keep, and I certainly can't justify the price if I am constantly bothered by them.
One annoyance to me is just some things that Apple is trying to enforce in the way that you use them. They are obviously designed wireless-first. If you use them like Apple wants, then I'm sure it is a pretty great experience. Obviously they have built a slick system to have them easily switch between your phone and your Mac depending on which device you are using.
Here's a sticking point to me. Apple's system of using them really only makes sense if you leave "head detection" turned on. I can't leave that turned on. If I pull one of the earcups away to adjust my glasses or something, the headphones think that they're not on my head anymore and the OS takes action. It would be one thing if it just paused media playback and I had to hit the play button again. But, if I'm using CrossOver to play a game on my Mac and Apple messes up the game's audio output by trying to switch the audio output device because I pulled one of the earcups two inches away from my ear, and I have to close out and restart the game to get things working right again... head detection has to stay off.
Alright, so, you can't turn "head detection" off on the Mac but keep it on for your iPhone. The setting sticks between all of the devices that the headphones are paired with.
This means that if the headphones are out of the case, they're paired to a device (my Mac or my iPhone) and are the default audio output option for that device. I can't take the headphones off, set them on a table, and
turn them off. You have to put them in the case to turn them off. Every other set of headphones has either a button or a slider switch to turn them off.
Then there's the fact that if you use them wired, you still have to put them in the case to turn them off, and that means disconnecting the cable every time too.
OK. This is all stuff that I could learn to live with. What's killing me is the
cable noise.
If you plug a cable into the headphones USB-C port,
any physical interaction with the cable seems to cause "noise" in the right earcup. That includes if the cable brushes on anything like clothing. If I adjust my head or shift my body position, well, the cable has to be draping across me and it makes cable noise.
I know that this is a "normal thing" for wired headphones, but AirPods Max is really the worst I have ever experienced. With my Sony XM4's, I have to actually sort of "try" in order to hear any cable noise.
And the whole point for me getting nice ANC headphones is to have a sort of immersion/isolation experience without unwanted outside noise. If I'm annoyed by the noise any time I am not sitting completely still, it is not serving its purpose. Different people have different levels of sensitivity to this, I'm sure, but I have a bit of sensorimotor OCD so this is exactly the sort of thing that would drive me nuts.
I tried to solve this by using a "cable clip" at my right shoulder.
It helps, and allows me to turn my head at least without causing cable noise. But, it's still bothersome. The cable will hit whatever is behind me, or full body shifting causes the cable to touch or rub something else that makes noise, or I have to "remember" to also detach the clip if I want to take the headphones off of my head.
This is my experience from using them with using the USB-C/3.5mm cable for a few days. However, even though USB audio is not enabled yet, I tried multiple USB-C cables and the cable noise issue seems to be the same across the board. Doesn't matter if the cable is braided or not.
So, back they go. I'll take a look if/when Apple ever releases a proper updated version of AirPods Max and see if they have done anything to solve this problem. I don't expect that there will be an update in the near-term — they just put out the USB-C refresh, and there is nothing in the rumor mill about any newer version. In the meantime, I'll probably check out the Sony XM6 set (expected to drop within the next few months), or, maybe check out whatever Bose has on offer.
