Airpods Max vs my old Beats Solo 2s - surprised

[jab234]

Don't have any over the ear wireless headphones. Just got my Airpod Maxes. I have APPs which I absolutely love and a pair of old wired Beats Solo 2s. To preface, I'm a bass guy.. EDM and hip hop primarily.

Connected my Airpod Maxes to my phone and started listening to some music (youtube) and compared them with my old Solo 2s which are plugged into my laptop (listened to the same songs on youtube). Some songs actually sound significantly punchier (both treble and bass) on my Solo 2s.. which is really mind boggling. I am a fan of the Beats signature sound but previously returned the newer Studio 3s which were terrible.

Could it be that I don't prefer neutral sounding headphones (disliked QC 35s very much)?. Could this be an issue of wired versus wireless? On their own the Airpod Maxes sound good. It's just shocking how they don't really sound better than and in some instances sound worse to my ears when compared with the ancient Solo 2s. I also have to turn up the APMs to a higher volume. Am I losing my mind?

I'm actually waiting on the Sony WH-1000XM4s to arrive to do a true wireless comparison with the APMs. Wondering if I'll like them more than APMs bc of bass.

 

[Absrnd]

What sounds good is very subjective, and you don't have to worry.
choose what you think sounds best, and gives the best wearable experience.

I also was a heavy bass listener, I always wanted more bass....more bass,
now bass is nice, but I look for a more overall good/nice sound quality.

 

[jab234]

What sounds good is very subjective, and you don't have to worry.
choose what you think sounds best, and gives the best wearable experience.

I also was a heavy bass listener, I always wanted more bass....more bass,
now bass is nice, but I look for a more overall good/nice sound quality.

True.

I love the APMs premium look and am not having any issues with clamping force as others have described. I am having some neck strain due to the weight but will continue to use em for the next couple of weeks before deciding on anything.

 

[Absrnd]

You should listen (a lot) to only the Max for at least a week, then switch back the older/other headphones,
you will hear they will sound different.

Always when I buy new headphones, I will listen to the old headphoes a few weeks later, and most of the time they will not sound as nice as I thought they did, and sometimes even really bad

 

[jab234]

update - turned on Headphone Accommodations on my iPhone in setting and set them to "Vocal range"... damn night and day difference. Really brings out the mids and sounds less "airy." But this only works on the phone I guess.. not on PC.