Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
No way am I returning my AirPods Max, I really love them! The style, sound quality, noise cancelling, comfort and integration with my Apple devices. I have never previously been a big headphone user, but have used the APM every day since receiving. In these days of lockdown I am also using them in transparency mode to play music to click tracks to make isolation recordings. I can listen to the click track from iPad, then immediately afterwards listen to my performance recording on iPhone and they magically change back and forth between devices. Watching films the Spatial audio is incredible. I know when I start travelling again, these will be my constant companion for which I have bought the Waterfield case.
 
Looks like I will probably return the Airpods Max mainly because of sound quality. Out of box sound is simply lacking in clarity of mids/highs. With accommodations on iPhone, I'm able to get them to sound pretty darn good and the difference is very dramatic. However, I use them with multiple devices and the non-transferable EQ/accommodation settings are a deal breaker. The XM4s outperform on pretty much all music I listen to with the exception of movie soundtracks which I listen to occasionally (airpods destroy XM4s.. not even close). It's a shame because the Airpods are very comfortable, better looking, and would have kept them if it weren't for the EQ issues :/
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.