AirPods Max vs. Bose 700/Sony WH-1000xM4：Which will win?

[Moyapilot]

They’re great and Sennheiser still sells these to this day. As you noted, they are extremely comfortable. Honestly, if I end up not keeping these, I will likely pickup a pair of 600 series headphones, even if they’re not wireless.

Yeah, thats not a bad way to go. Over the ears headphones that large and heavy aren’t really going to leave the house for me personally, so wired is not a huge deal.

I almost like that the Senn 5x8 line is not uber detailed. It has just enough of everything, but not too much of anything. The 600s also seem to be very well regarded and not fatiguing or sibilant, but just provide a bit more detail.

Some have converted their wired into wireless using bluetooth adaptors. I might look into that if I’m wanting to walk around the house while listening.

I’m curious about the Airpods Max, but no way I’ll buy until I can test them in-store one things open up a bit more. Comfort and sound preference is so personal, kind of like buying shoes.

 

[Jordan921]

First drop of the APM, about 2 feet from a couch unto a hardwood floor. Not sure how they landed. No scratches, dings, or dents.

The right side earpad did fall off.

Same. I pulled them off while sitting on couch when my dad FaceTimed me to talk to his granddaughter. They fell onto wooden floor and I just cringed knowing there should have at least been some scratches. To my surprise there was nothing.

 

[jab234]

Been comparing the XM4s and APMs.

It's weird how the XM4s sound so different wireless vs wired. On bluetooth I need EQ on (bright) to sharpen things up and very happy with the sound but the "sharpness" is very excessive when I plug it into PC (usually listen to Spotify on desktop NO EQ).. however, when I disable Sony's EQ while wired, they sound absolutely AMAZING. Very very impressed. Why is this happening?

With respect to APMs, I absolutely need accommodations on for bluetooth to enjoy the sound... and am not thrilled about having NO EQ while wired - I really don't like the out of box airy sound. Given this wired experience with the XM4s, I wonder if the APMs will have a similar natural sharpness increase wired (don't have the 3.5mm cable to test this out) or should I not count on this?

 

[kirk.vino]

Been comparing the XM4s and APMs.

It's weird how the XM4s sound so different wireless vs wired. On bluetooth I need EQ on (bright) to sharpen things up and very happy with the sound but the "sharpness" is very excessive when I plug it into PC (usually listen to Spotify on desktop NO EQ).. however, when I disable Sony's EQ while wired, they sound absolutely AMAZING. Very very impressed. Why is this happening?

With respect to APMs, I absolutely need accommodations on for bluetooth to enjoy the sound... and am not thrilled about having NO EQ while wired - I really don't like the out of box airy sound. Given this wired experience with the XM4s, I wonder if the APMs will have a similar natural sharpness increase wired (don't have the 3.5mm cable to test this out) or should I not count on this?

The APM sound exactly the same, wired or not.
Sony probably has some software limitations/inconsistencies related to the codecs they use, hence the discrepancy in sound quality.

 

[random person]

I'll chime in here comparing Bose 700 to Apple AirPods Max. I've used Bose noise cancelling headphones since they first came out and have owned every model since. For a time they were the only game in town for excellent noise cancelling on airplanes, which is the only time I used them. You see, as we say on head-fi, "No highs, no lows. That's Bose." Noise cancelling was/is great, music not so much. But you know when I was spending half my life on airplanes that seemed an ok tradeoff. When I got the Bose 700 I found them improved musically, but still that signature muffled Bose sound. Boring, not especially musical to my ears. Plus that damned interface. Swipe up or down for volume -- half the time you are swiping on the wrong place and it doesn't work. Constant need to pair devices -- never seemed to hang onto them. Fussy controls. Even the noise cancelling -- you can in fact customize 11 different levels of noise cancelling. Really? Who needs that! They should be on full noise cancelling or transparency. That's it. Too many buttons, too many choices, frequent disconnects, poor phone quality. And I was constantly forgetting to turn them off, losing lots of battery in the process. As for the music -- well I've got a phenomenal B&W /Krell sound system, expensive Ultimate Ears custom in ear monitors, and Audeze titanium el-8 (featuring an in-line DAC) plus others as my full size cans. I'm a non-obsessive audiophile, if that's possible. Would I say the APM matches the Audeze for music quality ? Hell no!!!! Not even close. But they are infinitely better than the Bose. No contest. No comparison. Nada. The noise cancelling is better, the music quality phenomenal by comparison, and the interface is a dream. Pair automatically, and forget it. Take em off to turn them off, put em on to turn em on. Two simple buttons, that's it for controls. IMHO the price difference would be warranted simply by the build quality, or the music quality, or the interface. They fact that all three are part of the APM experience -- well, I think they are worth the price by a wide margin. They are just better on every level. And they still feature world class noise cancelling. Finally noise cancelling phones that are truly musical. Awesome!

 

[Robbosan]

I'll chime in here comparing Bose 700 to Apple AirPods Max. I've used Bose noise cancelling headphones since they first came out and have owned every model since. For a time they were the only game in town for excellent noise cancelling on airplanes, which is the only time I used them. You see, as we say on head-fi, "No highs, no lows. That's Bose." Noise cancelling was/is great, music not so much. But you know when I was spending half my life on airplanes that seemed an ok tradeoff. When I got the Bose 700 I found them improved musically, but still that signature muffled Bose sound. Boring, not especially musical to my ears. Plus that damned interface. Swipe up or down for volume -- half the time you are swiping on the wrong place and it doesn't work. Constant need to pair devices -- never seemed to hang onto them. Fussy controls. Even the noise cancelling -- you can in fact customize 11 different levels of noise cancelling. Really? Who needs that! They should be on full noise cancelling or transparency. That's it. Too many buttons, too many choices, frequent disconnects, poor phone quality. And I was constantly forgetting to turn them off, losing lots of battery in the process. As for the music -- well I've got a phenomenal B&W /Krell sound system, expensive Ultimate Ears custom in ear monitors, and Audeze titanium el-8 (featuring an in-line DAC) plus others as my full size cans. I'm a non-obsessive audiophile, if that's possible. Would I say the APM matches the Audeze for music quality ? Hell no!!!! Not even close. But they are infinitely better than the Bose. No contest. No comparison. Nada. The noise cancelling is better, the music quality phenomenal by comparison, and the interface is a dream. Pair automatically, and forget it. Take em off to turn them off, put em on to turn em on. Two simple buttons, that's it for controls. IMHO the price difference would be warranted simply by the build quality, or the music quality, or the interface. They fact that all three are part of the APM experience -- well, I think they are worth the price by a wide margin. They are just better on every level. And they still feature world class noise cancelling. Finally noise cancelling phones that are truly musical. Awesome!

100%, i had bose QC3511 and the 700 and agree with all you said, sold both for the Beats studio 3 i got cheap, even they connect better between iPads/iphones/macs.
My 18 year old daughter has them now so a win win.

 

[jab234]

I have to use no EQ plugged in and a bright-ish EQ on bluetooth for the XM4s. Anyone else experience this? EQ settings get a little too excessive when I plug in.