Got my APMs, now what should I listen to?

[Superman730]

So now that I finally have my APMs in hand, what should I listen to really get the full effect of them? I've listened to some Amazon music and they have sounded fantastic but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions that will showcase the sound capabilities as these are my first pair of premium headphones.

I have access to: Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Apple TV+, iTunes movies/tv shows, Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, HBOMax, and Disney+. Are any of these better than the others in terms of audio capabilities? I also haven't tried out the spatial audio with my iPP yet but I'm curious to see if I like using that or if it makes it seem odd to have the audio coming from a random point in the room as I move around...

 

[daveishere]

Interested to see the replies on this... got some APM a couple of weeks ago myself, very tempted to try a trial of Tidal, however put off by their Trustpilot reviews

Is ALAC or ALAC-HD the the source of material to show them off?

How much of a difference does the Lightning to 3.5mm jack adaptor have? I'm reading that audio transmission over bluetooth has its limitations?

 

[Bexx]

Some forum members have made a few track suggestions here, if it’s of interest:

Suggested songs to demo on AirPods Max

I am picking up my Airpods Max later this morning. What are some initial songs you would suggest to demo the full capabilities of this headset? I can listen to anything so feel free to suggest your favorites.

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Wild idea: Shouldn't you listen to the music you own and like? ?

 

[Superman730]

Wild idea: Shouldn't you listen to the music you own and like? ?

Wild response: Since different services use different compressions and interfaces, I was asking the more experienced/smarter community if they've found better sounding audio across the different services. I also would definitely listen to music that I don't traditionally listen to just to hear the capabilities of the headphones fully. The first time I was in a car with a good stereo system, the person demoing it used the track Belle from the "Beauty and the Beast" CD since it bounced between the different speakers when the "crowd" sings their different parts. I would have never thought to do that, but it was a cool demo.

Also, if people say, "X concert on Netflix sounded great" or "Netflix doesn't sound any different but Endgame on Disney+ uses Spatial Audio really well!" then I'd check that out. Just want to learn from other's experiences.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Wild response: Since different services use different compressions and interfaces, I was asking the more experienced/smarter community if they've found better sounding audio across the different services. I also would definitely listen to music that I don't traditionally listen to just to hear the capabilities of the headphones fully. The first time I was in a car with a good stereo system, the person demoing it used the track Belle from the "Beauty and the Beast" CD since it bounced between the different speakers when the "crowd" sings their different parts. I would have never thought to do that, but it was a cool demo.

Also, if people say, "X concert on Netflix sounded great" or "Netflix doesn't sound any different but Endgame on Disney+ uses Spatial Audio really well!" then I'd check that out. Just want to learn from other's experiences.

Do the headphones sound good/nice/great with your favorite music/movie/whatever?

 

[kuietstorm]

Try this track. You see the power of the device.

 

[Tdevilsg]

Amazon hd is quite nice. But I think the aac codec limits at 256kb at maximum through bluetooth?

 

[matrix07]

Easy. Dark Side of the Moon. ?

 

[Coltaine]

So now that I finally have my APMs in hand, what should I listen to really get the full effect of them? I've listened to some Amazon music and they have sounded fantastic but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions that will showcase the sound capabilities as these are my first pair of premium headphones.

I have access to: Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Apple TV+, iTunes movies/tv shows, Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, HBOMax, and Disney+. Are any of these better than the others in terms of audio capabilities? I also haven't tried out the spatial audio with my iPP yet but I'm curious to see if I like using that or if it makes it seem odd to have the audio coming from a random point in the room as I move around...

I would recommend to listen to the self-titled album of a largely unknown band called Groundbreaker (Steve Overland on vocals), they have only one album out in 2018 (not to be confused with another band called Groundbreaker on Apple Music). The album is pretty much of a fun ride, if you are into melodic hard rock / AOR. Especially the song "Eighteen Til I Die". So full of warmth and nostalgia.

And of course the new AD/DC album POWER UP.

 

[panjandrum]

Sgt. Peppers, (if nothing else, simply one of the greatest sounding albums of all time)
Heart of Saturday Night (or, if too old, Bad as Me, or both)
Film Noir Dreams (lovely voice and delicate acoustic jazz guitar etc.)
You Want it Darker (the deepest bass is the voice. Oh, that voice!)
Planet P Project Pinkworld (possibly the best concept album of all time)

 

[Cashmonee]

I don't think a different service will provide better audio. The limiting factor is going to be the codec support. Apple only supports AAC and SBC. Neither are known for being all that great. If you go with one of the hifi services, the Apple device is just going to compress it as AAC and send it off to the AirPods. The best bet on paper is going to be Apple Music since Apple has end to end control and can put their special sauce in the AAC compression.

As for fun stuff to listen to when testing headphones, I like to start with these:

Anything from Yosi Horikawa. In particular, Letters and Bubbles.
Time from Pink Floyd.
Way Down We Go from Kaleo
Human from Christina Perri
The National Anthem from Radiohead (although this one kinda shows where the APM are lacking).