AirPods Max Volume low

[Bravia3d]

I got a chance to test the AirPods Max at the store today, I first tried it on my iphone with normal music I copied over. The sound wasn’t very loud even on full volume. I checked the settings and volume limit was off. Tried EQ settings and the volume just got a bit lower and didn’t sound great. Didn’t have much punch either, not even much bass. Tried with noise canceling and without “same results”

So then I tried it on an iPhone 12 Max the store had using Apple Music. Much better sound and volume, but still not loud enough.

Pulled out my iPad 12 Pro, connected them and tried watching a few movie trailers on Apple TV app. I watched Alita Battle Angel and Batman Begins trailers and the volume was just to low even though it was on max. Disconnected them, played through iPad speakers and cut the volume all the way down. Reconnected and tried again with same results, the volume was just to low to give me a theater like sound experience. Heck, my AirPods 2, cheap Sony headphones or for that matter any headphones are louder and sound better for movies.
I usually use my cheap Sony in ear headphones and crank the volume and it’s pretty dang good.

Tried a few other Max’s all with the same results. Spacial Audio seemed to work for the movie trailers “I guess” I would turn my head and the sound would move, but nothing that special. The trailers are using spacial audio correct?
Maybe if the volume had some dang umph to it with bass it would have been so much better. At home my Sony 9.1 surround headphones just blow AirPods Max outa the water, absolutely no comparison to the amount of theater like sound, bass and surround.
After all the reviews I watched about spacial audio and how it’s so good and theater like, I wasn’t impressed.

Is there a way to crank them up, if not I will stick with my AirPods 2 as they are loud enough.

 

[Absrnd]

It could be the store headphones are limited in max volume, to prevent other people putting it on and damaging their ears with max volume from the previous user.
70% of max volume is the loudest I can stand, but they are pretty loud for me.

 

[Bravia3d]

It could be the store headphones are limited in max volume, to prevent other people putting it on and damaging their ears with max volume from the previous user.
70% of max volume is the loudest I can stand, but they are pretty loud for me.

Don’t think that’s the case, tried so many settings and the volume was just meh

 

[Absrnd]

Don’t think that’s the case, tried so many settings and the volume was just meh

Most, if not all Apple products on display, are special versions, not the regular commercial versions.
It has nothing to do with using your own iPhone, they are probably hardware capped at a certain volume level.

Apple really does not want to be sued by visitors having they eardrums blasted out, because the previous user thought it would be funny to leave them on full volume for the next guy.

 

[Bravia3d]

Most, if not all Apple products on display, are special versions, not the regular commercial versions.
It has nothing to do with using your own iPhone, they are probably hardware capped at a certain volume level.

Apple really does not want to be sued by visitors having they eardrums blasted out, because the previous user thought it would be funny to leave them on full volume for the next guy.

So they are actually pretty loud, and when watching movies do give a good theater like sound?

 

[Absrnd]

So they are actually pretty loud, and when watching movies do give a good theater like sound?

Like I said, beyond 70% volume is too loud for me

The spacial audio give a better sound experience then stereo, and makes movie watching a lot more fun, but it is not a real surround 5.1 or more, sound experience,
I have a good surround setup at home, and this give a pretty good simulation of surround sound.

I watched The Mandelorian and some movies with it, and I don't want to go back to stereo on my iPad any more

 

[Bravia3d]

Like I said, beyond 70% volume is too loud for me

The spacial audio give a better sound experience then stereo, and makes movie watching a lot more fun, but it is not a real surround 5.1 or more, sound experience,
I have a good surround setup at home, and this give a pretty good simulation of surround sound.

I watched The Mandelorian and some movies with it, and I don't want to go back to stereo on my iPad any more

That’s interesting, I’d probably use them much to watch movies on my ipad. Is the bass really deep and good for movies?

 

[Absrnd]

That’s interesting, I’d probably use them much to watch movies on my ipad. Is the bass really deep and good for movies?

It depends on the movie, you can't add more bass when there is not much to begin with, most action movies have more bass sounds then other movies.
I watched Blade Runner 2049, and the bass was amazing deep thundering in some scenes, also all Marvell movies have great sounds.

 

[Bravia3d]

that is some great news, thank you!

It depends on the movie, you can't add more bass when there is not much to begin with, most action movies have more bass sounds then other movies.
I watched Blade Runner 2049, and the bass was amazing deep thundering in some scenes, also all Marvell movies have great sounds.

 

[macnmac]

think this might be the same way commercials are much louder than the actual shows to capture attention, these are done intentionally when recording so it might depend on what youre listening to

 

[LeonPro]

Apple for demo purposes might have activated the volume limiter in order to not get sued. Did you check if it was enabled and set to a certain decibel?

As for the actual performance, the APM can get pretty loud but I agree not loud enough. It limits the volume to ensure no distortion even at the maximum volume setting.

Still I can't get to listen at the loudest setting with mine knowingly it can damage my hearing.

 

[yticolev]

I picked up mine two days ago (Monday) and literally the first thing I noticed was the loudness. I am not that guy who blasts music - and I have to wear earplugs at a concert. From the Apple Store, I went to the gym and listened to my shuffled main playlist of all my favorite popular songs (4,000 mostly 60's and 70's). Left the volume on 100% and it was just barely adequate on most songs. I did listen to some classical music that I couldn't play at full volume such as a recording of Beethoven's Fifth.

No such issues with standard wired Apple earpods. I also received the AKG K671BT headphones today to compare (some online audiophiles think these sound comparable the APMs at $115). They play plenty loud.

So, normal behavior, or defective? I'd suspect iTunes sound leveling feature (which I cannot figure out how to adjust manually), except that it plays sufficiently loud enough on two other devices.

 

[LeonPro]

I picked up mine two days ago (Monday) and literally the first thing I noticed was the loudness. I am not that guy who blasts music - and I have to wear earplugs at a concert. From the Apple Store, I went to the gym and listened to my shuffled main playlist of all my favorite popular songs (4,000 mostly 60's and 70's). Left the volume on 100% and it was just barely adequate on most songs. I did listen to some classical music that I couldn't play at full volume such as a recording of Beethoven's Fifth.

No such issues with standard wired Apple earpods. I also received the AKG K671BT headphones today to compare (some online audiophiles think these sound comparable the APMs at $115). They play plenty loud.

So, normal behavior, or defective? I'd suspect iTunes sound leveling feature (which I cannot figure out how to adjust manually), except that it plays sufficiently loud enough on two other devices.

Name a music you're listening to that is obviously quiet to you via the APM. I'd like to see if I experience the same.

 

[yticolev]

Name a music you're listening to that is obviously quiet to you via the APM. I'd like to see if I experience the same.

Again, listening to a 4,000 strong playlist from 60's and 70's ripped to iTunes (most of which were later "matched" and replaced by Apple). I have not come across a song yet that is too loud with volume at 100%. Yes, there are some that are too quiet, most are just about right. I have not saved the names of particularly quiet ones, with the ANC, all are clear, but I cannot turn them up to where they are even too loud for my sensitive ears.

 

[MGLXP]

Again, listening to a 4,000 strong playlist from 60's and 70's ripped to iTunes (most of which were later "matched" and replaced by Apple). I have not come across a song yet that is too loud with volume at 100%. Yes, there are some that are too quiet, most are just about right. I have not saved the names of particularly quiet ones, with the ANC, all are clear, but I cannot turn them up to where they are even too loud for my sensitive ears.

I agree. The AirPods Max to my ears are much quieter than other headphones I have used, including the regular AirPods and Sony 1000XM3. It is especially no contest when compared to wired headphones with a dedicated amp (like the HiFiMans which can be hard to drive). You can particularly tell when playing classical music.

 

[LeonPro]

Again, listening to a 4,000 strong playlist from 60's and 70's ripped to iTunes (most of which were later "matched" and replaced by Apple). I have not come across a song yet that is too loud with volume at 100%. Yes, there are some that are too quiet, most are just about right. I have not saved the names of particularly quiet ones, with the ANC, all are clear, but I cannot turn them up to where they are even too loud for my sensitive ears.

Yes, I know that. I was asking for a specific song to audition myself to see if it was the song, your perception of volume, or the Max.

I agree. The AirPods Max to my ears are much quieter than other headphones I have used, including the regular AirPods and Sony 1000XM3. It is especially no contest when compared to wired headphones with a dedicated amp (like the HiFiMans which can be hard to drive). You can particularly tell when playing classical music.

The Max have bigger drivers compared to smaller sets that are more efficient. Compared with computational audio this is a feat to achieve to balance in terms of volume, quality of sound, and battery life.

 

[ALW1026]

Any luck with getting the volume raised on these

 

[UKapple73]

It depends a lot on the max db of the actual aac files themselves
Some older music is only mastered at 80db or below, more modern stuff can be 90db. Causes a massive difference when listening
With my library, admittedly only 5000 songs, I have increased the db in a program called mp3gain which also does aac files, to around 87db max
This made a massive difference to perceived loudness and also had the benefit of normalising the volume of all tracks in my library
I’d already done this for other headphones and mainly to normalise as I hate having to keep lower and increase volume

 

[doolar]

Like I said, beyond 70% volume is too loud for me

The spacial audio give a better sound experience then stereo, and makes movie watching a lot more fun, but it is not a real surround 5.1 or more, sound experience,
I have a good surround setup at home, and this give a pretty good simulation of surround sound.

I watched The Mandelorian and some movies with it, and I don't want to go back to stereo on my iPad any more

Same - I can’t stand more than about 70% volume. I was surprised about how loud the APMs are after reading threads like this prior to receiving my APMs.

And I do enjoy loud listening at times, especially when I listen to EDM.

 

[spartan1967]

I have read some countries are obligating Apple to CAP the highest volume? I'm in the US, which I can say is not true.

 

[Paninnguaq]

My music plays at about 80dB at 75% volume.

If one values having good hearing in their old age, 80% volume or so should be good enough.

 

[AppleZombie]

Any luck with getting the volume raised on these

Listen to music with ANC off, Go to Headphone Accommodations in Settings on iPhone, and move the slider under balance to Moderate.

Like others have said, it will depend on what you are listening too and where it came from. I find that music I transferred from old CD's sound low in volume, the same song downloaded from Apple Music is a lot louder.

 

[Paninnguaq]

This might be an obvious thing to state, but it is possible to overlook it. "Sound check" in the music settings lowers the volume if ticked.

 

[Bazooka-joe]

I like my music loud and have my AirPods Pro set to around 60% volume. With the Max, I find anything above 50% too loud.

 

[Branmonkey]

Listen to music with ANC off, Go to Headphone Accommodations in Settings on iPhone, and move the slider under balance to Moderate.

Like others have said, it will depend on what you are listening too and where it came from. I find that music I transferred from old CD's sound low in volume, the same song downloaded from Apple Music is a lot louder.

Oh wow! This helped me a ton! I didn't have it turned on and was afraid by turning it on it would be worse but nope... so much better! Definitely recommend APM owners do this. It customizes to your preferences which helped a ton... especially classical music which was really quiet for me.