[Griff65]

Great review of the feature set.

 

[bedlamite]

The last few pages of the thread have been very interesting (having the APM be anywhere competitive with Audeze freaking blows my mind), with impressions coming in thick and fast. No doubt everybody’s still in the honeymoon phase, but it’s clear the APM is no stinker.

The APPs are already ubiquitous and the APM looks set to capture the high-end wireless ANC market, if Apple made an SE version of the Max, you’d have the likes of Sony and Bose on high alert.

 

[MayaTlab]

if Apple made an SE version of the Max, you’d have the likes of Sony and Bose on high alert.

I believe that it makes more sense to consider the version we have now as Apple's future "SE" model. They've removed enough features from what they had in mind originally and I don't see what they'd do to make an "SE" version of these that isn't very un-apple like. I don't see Apple re-engineering the headband to avoid using stainless steel, and I don't see Apple using plastic on the earcups. What I can see though is Apple releasing at least a year from now (probably longer) the gen 2 version of these and the current version receiving a price cut and the "SE" label.

If these are reasonably successful two-three years from now I could see the following happening :
$550 : AirPods Max (II) - with smarter sensors inside the cup, left / right agnosticism, etc.
$450 : AirPods Max SE - current version
$350 : AirPods "on ear" / more portable version.
$250 : AirPods Pro
And the AirPods (III) slotting in from below.

Beats would land in between these prices and be Apple's "plastic" and cheaper brand.

 

[RamGuy]

Good to hear others are having the same experience with the sound quality as I am. I was fearing my Apple bias was getting the best of me. But these do sound great and for being closed-back wireless ANC headphones there really is no contest. I've heard them all more or less, besides the BeoPlay H95 as I've been rather disappointed with various BeoPlay offerings like the H9 and H9i so I didn't ever consider the H95 with its price tag.

Regarding various forums that are not into audio it's baffling to see the amounts of people claiming WH-1000XM3 an WH-1000XM4 to actually sound better. I fully understand how the AirPods Max and XM3 and XM4 sound very different. One is wide and spacious with great amounts of clarity. The other is much more v-shaped and in-your-face with a much more narrow and dense sound signature and I suppose there are a lot of people preferring that style of sound.

For me personally, there is no contest. I prefer wide, spacious and clear over dense and narrow any day. I suppose it might also be a matter of musical taste? I guess things like hip-pop tends to sound better with v-shaped, narrow and dense headphones as it's typically not about width, separation and clarity and more about impact? Unless you really appreciate the extra amount of width and clarity the AirPods Max are able to offer you are basically wasting your money compared to just going for the XM4.

 

[awisemanoncesaid]

Good to hear others are having the same experience with the sound quality as I am. I was fearing my Apple bias was getting the best of me. But these do sound great and for being closed-back wireless ANC headphones there really is no contest. I've heard them all more or less, besides the BeoPlay H95 as I've been rather disappointed with various BeoPlay offerings like the H9 and H9i so I didn't ever consider the H95 with its price tag.

Regarding various forums that are not into audio it's baffling to see the amounts of people claiming WH-1000XM3 an WH-1000XM4 to actually sound better. I fully understand how the AirPods Max and XM3 and XM4 sound very different. One is wide and spacious with great amounts of clarity. The other is much more v-shaped and in-your-face with a much more narrow and dense sound signature and I suppose there are a lot of people preferring that style of sound.

For me personally, there is no contest. I prefer wide, spacious and clear over dense and narrow any day. I suppose it might also be a matter of musical taste? I guess things like hip-pop tends to sound better with v-shaped, narrow and dense headphones as it's typically not about width, separation and clarity and more about impact? Unless you really appreciate the extra amount of width and clarity the AirPods Max are able to offer you are basically wasting your money compared to just going for the XM4.

Fwiw, and its all subjective, but I only really listen to hip-hop and the clarity on the APM is eye-opening compared to my PX7s (which sounded better than the XM4s to my ears). I think bass is overstated when it comes to hip-hop - these have plenty to enjoy the genre imo, and the clarity and spaciousness does way more for the music than the darker/smaller nature of the XM4s. The PX7s sound comparatively congested compared to these.

Testing them whilst working today - they do feel a tad tight on my glasses which surprised me as the clamping force is not bad at all.

 

[Coztomba]

Testing them whilst working today - they do feel a tad tight on my glasses which surprised me as the clamping force is not bad at all.

Update after wearing them most of the night. Yeah... these things are clampy. I’m really feeling pressure above my ears, which i feel like is a strange place. Also feeling headband pressure despite it initially feeling fine. I’ll keep using these as much as possible this week to see if it gets better otherwise I might return at the end of the week.

 

[RamGuy]

I'm not having any issues with comfort. I can't really understand people complaining about them being heavy. Sure they are heavier than most of my other wireless headphones but it's not something I notice during use. I went for a 2 hour walk outside using the headphones yesterday and they didn't really feel any different compared to using my Bose NC 700. They actually feel better as the earpads are much more breathable when compared to the leather on my Bose NC 700.

 

[awisemanoncesaid]

I'm not having any issues with comfort. I can't really understand people complaining about them being heavy. Sure they are heavier than most of my other wireless headphones but it's not something I notice during use. I went for a 2 hour walk outside using the headphones yesterday and they didn't really feel any different compared to using my Bose NC 700. They actually feel better as the earpads are much more breathable when compared to the leather on my Bose NC 700.

No I don’t get the weight comments either. Feel fine.

 

[carloshacecosas]

I've been able to buy them right now with local pick-up in an Apple Store in Madrid. Not in the one closer to my home, but... well, it's just a 25 minute drive.

I currently have Sony XM3, Sennheiser HD598 and Airpods Pro, and use them all depending on the situation.

I was sold on buying a pair of Audeze LCD-2 Classics but then this got announced and I decided to give them a try before. My idea was to mainly use them for music listening with my MacBook Pro and watching movies in my Apple TV, so the Airpods Max might be easier for that.

I'll be trying them tonight, and will keep or return depending on my impressions.

 

[Coztomba]

I have no problems with weight but they definitely less comfortable than Focal Clear / Elear, Beyer DT series, Sundara, 6xx etc after the first night. It was the pressure above the ears that really got me. I'll see how they hold up over the next couple of days.

 

[awisemanoncesaid]

One thing that struck me was how soft the mesh on the headband is. Was expecting a similar material to the mesh on a HM Aeron, but it’s waaaayyyy softer.

 

[3Putter]

So I have a mildly interesting story of how I received mine. Before today, I had made up my mind that I was going to wait on reviews before I decided on a purchase. So I get up this morning around 8am and decide to check the Apple Store. I really just wanted to see if they had any. Pretty much all Apple stores within a 20 mile radius of me here in Maryland had all the colors available. So I go and get ready for work, took me a little less than an hour. I go upstairs to my office and check again because I'm curious on whether these are really as popular as the quick sell out of preorders suggest, and I now see that all colors but the Space Grey and Silver are sold out. So I decide to check Headfi, MacRumors, Twitter, and Reddit and see if there were any early impressions out there. I'm now seeing some pretty favorable impressions and am thinking to myself instead of waiting on reviews, why not just dive in and try them myself. If I don't like them I can always return them. I go back to the Apple Store and every single one of them is sold out. It's around 10am now. But at this time I'm still reading different impressions and getting more and more eager to try them myself. Something tells me to just keep randomly checking the Apple Store to see if I get lucky and any more pop up. Keep in mind that I only want the Space Grey. I may have settled for the Blue. I'm checking the Store literally like every 10 mins or so. Around 11 am, all of a sudden a single Space Grey becomes available at the store closest to me. I jumped on it and now have them sitting with me now waiting to try them out. It was obviously meant for me to have these today . I knew it was the only one available because right after I purchased them I checked the store again out of curiosity and it said sold out. I told this little story to encourage those who may not have been able to find one in their area, or checked late after they had sold out, to keep checking. I'm sure they will pop back up. I would especially check tonight and in the morning. I'm sure people will change their mind and cancel.

Only 1 store in Des Moines, Iowa. It's been closed for months. Taking curb-side orders the site says but no demo. No stock either.

 

[awisemanoncesaid]

I suspect early adopters will praise the SQ in defense of their purchase. Some will love it and some will not but still praise the product. I'm thinking for $600 it's best to wait for the next product in 2021 that will actually be a great sounding can. The APP sound mediocre to me and I suspect the more people buy these I'll be able to purchase secondhand for 60%. I'll stick with my free B&W Px7 for now...

Only 1 store in Des Moines, Iowa. It's been closed for months. Taking curb-side orders the site says but no demo. No stock either.

I don’t think you’re wrong at all, but I get awful buyers remorse, and I still think these blow the PX7 out the water (maybe not free PX7s ha)

 

[3Putter]

I don’t think you’re wrong at all, but I get awful buyers remorse, and I still think these blow the PX7 out the water (maybe not free PX7s ha)

I took that post down, didn't want to be a negative Nancy type. I liked the Px7's I had previously and sold but my company credit card rewards had a set on there that translates to $250 worth of points so I got them. I usually listen to my Grados and Periodic Audio IEMs which I still love. This hobby is like crack...LOL

 

[snapandslide]

Update after wearing them most of the night. Yeah... these things are clampy. I’m really feeling pressure above my ears, which i feel like is a strange place. Also feeling headband pressure despite it initially feeling fine. I’ll keep using these as much as possible this week to see if it gets better otherwise I might return at the end of the week.

Try the Shure Aonic 50s (which is what I have) - no issues as a glasses wearer.