Title says it. Is it worth upgrading to the airpods max for better sound quality if I'm just sitting at home in a silent room? Is the soundstage wider and imaging better on the airpods max than the hd599? Are the airpods max clearer and more audiophile?
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Will the airpods max sound better than my sennheiser hd599 in a silent room?
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You're comparing an open-back wired to a bluetooth closed-back. Hmm.
Also depends how you're driving your Sennheiser. I know it's a measly 50 ohm, but I have headphones down to 32 ohms which I'm driving with a DAC + amp when on my desktop or a portable DAC/amp combination and they sound their best when connected to these versus straight to an audio port.
I also have the AirPods Max. While I do enjoy them for what they are in terms of being wireless and bring the future of computational audio, I have no plans on returning them at all as I'm adding it to my headphone collection.
Sound quality is what I expect from higher priced bluetooth audio. It sounds a bit better than my favourite Dali iO-6 headphones. But feature-wise, the Dalis can't match it.
For my wired sets, even my cheap AKG K371 headphones run circles around the APM. But that's also because I'm using a DAC + amp combination more expensive than the APM alone. So that's no contest.
Your ears will be the final judge. If you're used to the sound signature of the HD599, the APM will sound different. And that's up to you whether you like that more or less.
Also depends how you're driving your Sennheiser. I know it's a measly 50 ohm, but I have headphones down to 32 ohms which I'm driving with a DAC + amp when on my desktop or a portable DAC/amp combination and they sound their best when connected to these versus straight to an audio port.
I also have the AirPods Max. While I do enjoy them for what they are in terms of being wireless and bring the future of computational audio, I have no plans on returning them at all as I'm adding it to my headphone collection.
Sound quality is what I expect from higher priced bluetooth audio. It sounds a bit better than my favourite Dali iO-6 headphones. But feature-wise, the Dalis can't match it.
For my wired sets, even my cheap AKG K371 headphones run circles around the APM. But that's also because I'm using a DAC + amp combination more expensive than the APM alone. So that's no contest.
Your ears will be the final judge. If you're used to the sound signature of the HD599, the APM will sound different. And that's up to you whether you like that more or less.
Thanks! You're the first one who has given me any useful information about this. It's very dissappointing to hear that the airpods max don't even sound better than the akg k371. Can you explain what's better about the akg? do the akg have better soundstage? I guess I will stick with my sennheisers then. And instead of spending the money on airpods max, I'll invest in a amp and dac or something.
Wow, @LeonPro thanks for dropping some knowledge bombs!
I have the HD598s (prior versions), and they are one of my favourite sounding headphones. A closed headphone will never give you the soundstage of an openback. Imaging will also likely be better as these Senns punch well above their cost for that too.
Get the Maxs for other reasons. Spatial audio, ANC, portablity, and Apple eco-system is where they will shine.
I have the HD598s (prior versions), and they are one of my favourite sounding headphones. A closed headphone will never give you the soundstage of an openback. Imaging will also likely be better as these Senns punch well above their cost for that too.
Get the Maxs for other reasons. Spatial audio, ANC, portablity, and Apple eco-system is where they will shine.
Let me clarify further:
1. The AKG K371 is built by the Harman Group and therefore follows the Harman curve. And for a $150 headphone without deviating from that curve, that's no small feat. Now whether you like the Harman curve is personal preference so I can't say it's any better or worse. To others it may sound a bit bright versus flatter curved headphones.
The AirPods Max follows closely this Harman curve. Whether or not their drivers are made by the Harman Group doesn't matter because the final tuning of the APM is from Apple's DSP. So Apple's team has decided the consumer sweetspot listening experience and tuned it accordingly with a similar curve.
So in terms of sound quality alone, if you're expecting the AirPods Max to beat all other headphones below it's price range. The answer is no. But buyers who have the budget to spend $550 will also need to put this headphone into perspective.
2. The AKG K371 does not have better soundstage, unfortunately. Although the driver size (50mm for the K371 vs 40mm for AirPods Max) and the ear cups are pretty generous, the placement is too close to the ear. The sound is in-your-face.
I would put soundstage as far as closed-back headphones towards the APM. But nothing will beat any open-back headphones if soundstage is what you're after.
3. So what is the AirPods Max good for?
These APM is a technology monster. The future is bright for these cans if Apple plays their cards right.
If you already have your own beloved "audiophile" setup (regardless of price) and you're looking for something to supplement your Apple devices. These headphones will:
- untether you from the desk and provide you as close to the Harman curve signature
- attenuate the environment (as good as other top ANC headphones)
- hear the environment albeit perfectly (perfect volume match, perfect position placement)
- Spatial audio when watching movies (for now...I won't be surprised when music follows)
- Computational audio (allows for accurate Apple sound signature curve regardless of type of ear)
What makes these $550 worth is not because of sound quality alone, but the technology packed into these headphones as well as the build quality and engineering put into it.
As much as my other audiophile-grade headphones can sound better, that's expected because that's all those headphones are built for - to sound great. Apple has created this technological headphones that will be able to do much more next year if I understand what they are capable of doing - spatial audio for music and the ability actually tune each music file according to the creator's perspective (ie sound producer/mixer/artist).
In fact if Apple wanted to change the sound signature of these headphones and make it sound like the $50,000 Sennheiser HE-1 in terms of sound curve and sound stage, the computational audio can achieve this. That's the future of these headphone tech built inside. If only Apple allows uploading of files to match a certain headphone sound signature.
Who this is not for:
- an audio purist looking for that Holy Grail of sound alone with no technology tricks. This is not for you.
- If you're an Android and Windows user. Not for you. In fact because you will not enjoy the actual features of the APM, you will get angry and say these are the worse sounding $550-priced headphones you heard.
- If you hardly have the budget to shell out $550, then you expect it to beat everyone else in all aspects. You will also be disappointed.
This is for someone who can dispose of $550 on a set of tech headphones without regrets, are deep into the Apple eco-system, and is looking forward to how this can simplify their everyday headphone/headset usage.
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I enjoy the way they sound. My favorite go to setup until APM was a pair of HD600s off an amp.
I think these sound comparable for cheaper and less cable mess.
Spatial audio and dynamic eq are sorcery! Noise canceling doesn’t have a detrimental effect on sound. Soundstage is pretty impressive for a closed back. They managed to put the drivers pretty far away for such a slim pair of cans.
These are probably my favorite to use headphones but sound is pretty subjective. You can look at all the charts and read all the reviews but you won’t really know if it’s your cup of tea until you try it yourself.
I think these sound comparable for cheaper and less cable mess.
Spatial audio and dynamic eq are sorcery! Noise canceling doesn’t have a detrimental effect on sound. Soundstage is pretty impressive for a closed back. They managed to put the drivers pretty far away for such a slim pair of cans.
These are probably my favorite to use headphones but sound is pretty subjective. You can look at all the charts and read all the reviews but you won’t really know if it’s your cup of tea until you try it yourself.
My AirPods Max sound better than my HD 650 so I'd say absolutely they will be better than the 599.
That's a bold statement indeed! I'm waiting on my APM, and I will put them to the test against my HD 555 modded to 595 spec. I use a Hegel amp/dac for them - but not one of their fancy ones, I still use their "Super" amp/dac that I enjoy a lot. This is of course by today's standard an old and outdated setup, but it's enough for me. It will be interesting to see what Apple can do with computational audio!
I have the audioquest dragonfly dac and got an Apple usb to lightning adapter for it. I can listen to Qobuz using the app with my iPhone and store offline higher fidelity audio files.
i am unsure what software Apple uses that the dragonfly works. I did not need to download a file from the App Store, it just works. Android uses usb pro audio app which I had to download from Google store. It pales in comparison to what I hear with Qobuz with Android smartphones versus my iPhone.
i am unsure what software Apple uses that the dragonfly works. I did not need to download a file from the App Store, it just works. Android uses usb pro audio app which I had to download from Google store. It pales in comparison to what I hear with Qobuz with Android smartphones versus my iPhone.
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What you have done is basically convert digital signal from iPhone to analog via the Dragonfly DAC. After which you are using the Apple adapter to convert that analog signal back to digital. And then the AirPods Max converts that digital signal back to analog via the internal DAC.
Not a good idea really.
The only reason why I'm using my AirPods Max with an Apple adapter is because I'm lazy to switch over to better sound quality headphone while editing in my computer.
Not a good idea really.
The only reason why I'm using my AirPods Max with an Apple adapter is because I'm lazy to switch over to better sound quality headphone while editing in my computer.