All wireless headphones kind of disappoint me. That said, I want to give these a try. They look like they are among the best you can get with wireless and they appear to have been really meticulously designed.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Is anyone else a bit disappointed by AirPods Max?
- Thread starter Brookzy
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Already have a few headsets (premium beyond Bose and were review units). So nope no real desire for APM but was curious enough to try them. Wasn’t sold. My existing ones are still better. Aonic50 for one. But this set has wire, usb-c, all the codecs, transparency, a case, an off button, dedicated app, sounds better and is more premium (to me) than the APM.
Apple needs to do more on its Apple Music end. Hardware plus software. To sell me the APM. Especially with its intentional limitations. Lightning. Crap case. No off button. Bad controls. No app. I mean cmon I want an app just for AirPods.
Apple needs to do more on its Apple Music end. Hardware plus software. To sell me the APM. Especially with its intentional limitations. Lightning. Crap case. No off button. Bad controls. No app. I mean cmon I want an app just for AirPods.
Design and weight are fine for me, I don’t even mind the case. What bothers me is I genuinely don’t hear any difference in audio quality over lets say a pair of sub £50 in ear headphones. I was really expecting to be blown away, and I’m like...meh, these are absolutely nothing special.
I totally agree with what you say in terms of having the choice whether we buy expensive products or not, but the £35 cable is a bit off. It won’t be so bad when they start appearing on Amazon for £8 but Apple are taking the mick a bit with the price considering it’s short and apparently not a premium quality cable. I suppose those buying these ear defenders, I mean headphones will have to factor this all in lol.
It’s cool to see Apple enter the over ear headphone market and hopefully the product will improve on the next release and maybe they’ll attempt to release a pair for the mass market at around £100-200? Until then i’ll happily skip these as there are plenty of decent headphones currently on the market already
The only thing I am disappointed by is watching all those nitpicking Youtube videos, they made me think I bought a €629 lemon.
But guess what, they look fantastic, they sound better then what I had before (you can change the sound a bit with the presets and Headphone Accommodations in the settings)
And although others might disagree, best ANC. (yes they are slightly better then the Bose's and Sony's)
No problems with the weight, the "purse" is fine, switching between devices is quick and painless.
And Spacial Audio is a gamechanger how I watch movies on the train
But guess what, they look fantastic, they sound better then what I had before (you can change the sound a bit with the presets and Headphone Accommodations in the settings)
And although others might disagree, best ANC. (yes they are slightly better then the Bose's and Sony's)
No problems with the weight, the "purse" is fine, switching between devices is quick and painless.
And Spacial Audio is a gamechanger how I watch movies on the train
I think as long as you are satisfied with your purchase, nothing else really matters. Considering sound quality is so selective and subjective based on a persons age and hearing abilities, the best headphones for anyone are the ones they personally like. Let’s face it, you can get an excellent pair of headphones at pretty much any budget right now and that is the beauty of having an immense amount of choice. Enjoy yoursThe only thing I am disappointed by is watching all those nitpicking Youtube videos, they made me think I bought a €629 lemon.
But guess what, they look fantastic, they sound better then what I had before (you can change the sound a bit with the presets and Headphone Accommodations in the settings)
And although others might disagree, best ANC. (yes they are slightly better then the Bose's and Sony's)
No problems with the weight, the "purse" is fine, switching between devices is quick and painless.
And Spacial Audio is a gamechanger how I watch movies on the train
They were meant for travel, they just aren't conducive to it due to the weight of them.
The only thing I am disappointed by is watching all those nitpicking Youtube videos, they made me think I bought a €629 lemon.
But guess what, they look fantastic, they sound better then what I had before (you can change the sound a bit with the presets and Headphone Accommodations in the settings)
And although others might disagree, best ANC. (yes they are slightly better then the Bose's and Sony's)
No problems with the weight, the "purse" is fine, switching between devices is quick and painless.
And Spacial Audio is a gamechanger how I watch movies on the train
Agreed. The reviews from the audiophile’s always point back to recommending wired headphones with an amp. Well jeez, sort of defeats the purpose of what we want out of buying a wireless headphone. What matters is how they perform against other ANC wireless headphones. If they want to rant against the price because the XM4’s or 700’s are not that much worse or the same as the APM’s that’s fair. But to go, “ Well you’re better off going the wired route” is just pointing to their own biases against wireless headphones.
As a recently self proclaimed audiophile (since AirPod Max's) release. I feel that the sound is so rich and so good that they deserve the price of $550. Not really but its amazing how fast the scalped prices are coming down. Lots of buyers remorse.
Read your review and sad to say it’s very accurate I ordered them on Best Buy’s web site on 12/08 and they were delivered and I felt like a kid waiting for my present. Think it’s been about 3 years apple has been teasing the head phones and was really disappointed. I have air pods which are great for running but not for deep sound and bass so Ive always used my stock head phones that used to come with your new phone lol I even tried beats by Dre still not as good as the stock apple head phones I accepted the fact over the ear headphones wouldn’t work for me, and would wait for apple to finally release the airpro max and wow I listened to several songs and albums on both and tv shows and I wouldn’t pay 200 for them let alone over 550 retuning them today first time I’ve been disappointed with an apple product ??
In find it fascinating how people feel the need to spread their disappointment over a purchasing decision they made to the rest of the world. Headphone perception is as subjective as it can be and no two ears or heads are the same.
Try them, keep them or return them, but your personal judgement is completely irrelevant to anyone else.
Try them, keep them or return them, but your personal judgement is completely irrelevant to anyone else.
This is a forum for enthusiasts. We’re all here giving feedback.
Exactly...and if no one complained or offered criticism, this would just be an ego massage fest for Apple. I appreciate the critical reviews even more because then I can have a realistic expectation of an expensive (to me) product.
I find it fascinating that you find it fascinating that people are discussing their purchasing decision in an Apple exclusive forum. What else are people supposed to talk about in here. If we didn't have that it would be an apple support site because we'd only ever talk about issues someone's device was facing.
Do you think the airpods max would sound better than my sennheiser hd599 in a silent room? Is the soundstage and imaging better on the airpods max?
I was extremely optimistic about them in the beginning. Unfortunately after a week of listening I just can't justify the sound quality for the price. I never thought of myself as an "Audiophile" but I've come to realize I'm very picky when it comes to sound quality. The AirPods Max and all of it's competitors sound equally mediocre, and I've tried them all. I have a nice set of speakers that I've been spoiled by so it really ruins the experience of anything else. What I'm going to do is return the Max's and start doing research on a proper wired pair of headphones. It's obvious that headphones at this level are never going to cut it for me, not even the AirPods Max.
im disappointed in the pricing honestly... i really think a $399-449 price point wouldve knocked this thing out of the park...
I think will start to see some discounts from third parties come February time. This is the initial honeymoon period and once the first batch of orders are done, I think there will always be plenty of stock around
haha! not quiet... I posted a few post, but yeah blew me away, they are just very unique and stunning (quality and IMO sound wise). I really like them... I just look at it this way, sure I would have the Bose 700 I had before but I couldn't do conference calls on those even, sound quality for calls was awful. These are great, thus far. No regrets! I DO think they are going to be very popular.... I wore them out for a run, nothing but complements, was a bit annoying.. lol
Attachments
Same. I tried wearing them around the house, washing the dishes. They were excellent at killing the sound of running water, but every time I turned my head I could definitely feel the weight of the ear cups swinging around. It's not quite as noticible sitting at a desk, but I have still ended up feeling like I've got a headache each time I've worn them for an hour or so. I've only had them a few days, but if comfort continues to be a big issue after a bit longer I'll probably send them back.
I haven't had any problems accidentally activating them, but I do not at all understand why they're at the top. Other headphones I have put the controls at the bottom where it's the closest to reach for -- roughly where your earlobe would be if you weren't wearing headphones. That's a pretty natural reach to make casually. No idea why I'd want to grope around at the top of my head to change the volume.
I'm quite satisfied with the noise-cancellation, myself. I'm coming from an older pair of Bose that I thought were pretty good but the APM definitely handle intermittent stuff much better and just generally isolate me quite well -- even when people are talking pretty close by.
Transparency mode, on the other hand, I'm not as blown away by. My hope for these was that I could replace my open-backed Grado GW100s and my old noise-cancelling Bose QC-15s in one go, using the button to toggle between modes instead of having to swap headphone as circumstances change. The APM technically let in as much of my surroundings as the Grados, but it's not a natural feeling sound at all. That's probably an unfair comparison because the Grados are just letting the room tone in without having to reproduce it via mics and speakers. But still, I can't see why Apple didn't offer a simple slider to dial in the amount of "transparency". I'm typing right now on a Magic Keyboard, for instance, in a quiet room, and the sound of the keys is amplified in a harsh and rattly way, and (subjectively) seems about 50% louder than they sound without headphones on at all. If there was a slider, I'd pull it back and bit and be happy. But there isn't.
Overall, I'm happy with the connectivity and integration with my Apple devices, (so far) turned off by the weight, and not really enjoying the experience of transparency mode as much as I thought I would. I've only had them for a couple days, but I'd say I'm leaning about 70% toward sending them back. If they'd cost $400 or so, I'd probably be more inclined to shrug and keep them, but at this price point any flaws are a lot harder to take.
Last edited:
Good input. Will see if I have the same experience over the next few days walking about -
Had mine since release day, they’ve gone in the box and waiting UPS Pickup.
Apart from the superior build quality, in my opinion there’s not much of a improved sound compared to Bose QC35 also not very comfortable
Apart from the superior build quality, in my opinion there’s not much of a improved sound compared to Bose QC35 also not very comfortable