[Gamerlingual]

I agree but there are wireless cans that get you closer quality wise at least in terms of bitrate IMO, I have not tried them of course but surely the Bluetooth codec has to be a bottleneck on the APMs?

Which of those cans would you recommend?

 

[neil74]

I am not a fan of the Sony or Bose options but I think both the B&W PX7 and Shure Aonic 50s are excellent, the ANC is not great on the Shures though but both of these sound very good to my untrained ears.

 

[MayaTlab]

I agree but there are wireless cans that get you closer quality wise at least in terms of bitrate IMO, I have not tried them of course but surely the Bluetooth codec has to be a bottleneck on the APMs?

The main bottleneck right now, by far, with headphones, regardless of whether they're wired on not, is their actual FR curve at your own eardrum.
An interesting primer on bluetooth codecs (in short : bitrate doesn't tell you much about the actual SQ) : https://habr.com/en/post/456182/
I would add to that that some headphones will exhibit more or less significant artefact differences with the same codec at the same bitrate.

 

[Tenlow]

So these came to the home yesterday. The only competition that I still have here right now (as far as ANC headphones is concerned) are the Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless.

Let's see how they stack up against each other. I'm excited!

 

[3Putter]

Thanks for all the feed back everyone! Im starting to think I want convenience over quality. And if we are starting to compare the APM to high end headphones, they must be decent.
I’m curious if anyone has hooked the APM to the Fiio BTR5 with an apple 3.5 to lightning and used it that way? Would it improve the sound or would the built in DAC on the APM try to cancel it out?

Yes, but the Apple design, software and access to their unique supply chain (with their volumes of requirements) is what sets them apart.

I have to take your word for it! They are good headphones. I'm glad you like them!

 

[tinyman392]

I agree but there are wireless cans that get you closer quality wise at least in terms of bitrate IMO, I have not tried them of course but surely the Bluetooth codec has to be a bottleneck on the APMs?

To be honest, AAC 256 is already really transparent compared to lossless formats. Most users, even on here, would likely be hard pressed to hear the differences. To add to that, none of the existing BT codecs can hit the bitrate required for lossless transmission (1.411 MB/s). Now, this is coming from Apple's implementation of AAC 256; your mileage may vary on different devices and implementations. That said, the lack of other codecs is seen as a bottleneck if you're on other non-Apple devices as AAC tends to be flakey depending on the manufacturer of the phone (assuming supported) and if not available, you default to SBC which could become a pretty large bottleneck.

 

[Maukey]

So these came to the home yesterday. The only competition that I still have here right now (as far as ANC headphones is concerned) are the Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless.

Let's see how they stack up against each other. I'm excited!

Looking forward to hearing your comparisons to the Momentum 3 Wireless.

 

[Maukey]

I agree but there are wireless cans that get you closer quality wise at least in terms of bitrate IMO, I have not tried them of course but surely the Bluetooth codec has to be a bottleneck on the APMs?

Not on Apple devices. I don't have time to pull the articles, but it has been discussed many times about Apple's implementation of AAC. In short, you will hear no audible difference between Apple's AAC and something like AptXHD. I've heard most of the top wireless ANC headphones out right now, and I can tell you to my ears, outside of the NAD Viso HP70 and B&O H95, none of them can touch the AirPods Max. That's to my ears though.

I am not a fan of the Sony or Bose options but I think both the B&W PX7 and Shure Aonic 50s are excellent, the ANC is not great on the Shures though but both of these sound very good to my untrained ears.

I just recently demoed the B&W PX7 against the Max, not close in my opinion. Tonality and Technicalities are better on the Max. The PX7 sound harsh, inconsistent, and muddy in comparison. But I agree I prefer the PX7 to the Bose 700 and Sony 1000XM4. The Shure is technically great, but I wanted more. Wasn't musical enough for me. Maybe I couldn't get a good seal when I owned them, but I felt that certain songs didn't have enough bass. Great highs and mids though. I still rank it below my top 3 I named above.

 

[sceleratus]

Wow ! You guys are sommeliers I’m some guy in a booth at Ruth’s Chris ordering “some red”

 

[3Putter]

Not on Apple devices. I don't have time to pull the articles, but it has been discussed many times about Apple's implementation of AAC. In short, you will hear no audible difference between Apple's AAC and something like AptXHD. I've heard most of the top wireless ANC headphones out right now, and I can tell you to my ears, outside of the NAD Viso HP70 and B&O H95, none of them can touch the AirPods Max. That's to my ears though.

I just recently demoed the B&W PX7 against the Max, not close in my opinion. Tonality and Technicalities are better on the Max. The PX7 sound harsh, inconsistent, and muddy in comparison. But I agree I prefer the PX7 to the Bose 700 and Sony 1000XM4. The Shure is technically great, but I wanted more. Wasn't musical enough for me. Maybe I couldn't get a good seal when I owned them, but I felt that certain songs didn't have enough bass. Great highs and mids though. I still rank it below my top 3 I named above.

I wanna try the NAD's but they're what? 3+ years old since release? I'd rank the PX7's higher on SQ but I want to avoid disparaging the APM's. They're good.

 

[MICHAELSD]

AirPods Max are becoming easier to find in-stock at retailers such as Amazon. I think it’s safe to say we’re approaching the point where almost everyone who wants it (at MSRP at least) already owns a pair or has one on order.

Admittedly I’m over AirPods Max. In a post-pandemic world I’ll likely try a demo at an Apple Store then be persuaded to purchase them on-sale like I did with Beats Solo3, AirPods, Beats Solo Pro, and Powerbeats Pro. For now I’ve all but lost interest in them. Apple is probably going to see a consumer slump with these once they stop being the shiny new over-ear Apple headphones.

Side note: it’s probably grammatically correct to refer to AirPods Max as a singular item, but it’s more satisfying to pluralize just as it is with most other headphones.

 

[tinyman392]

I wanna try the NAD's but they're what? 3+ years old since release? I'd rank the PX7's past the APM's. None of them are enough for me to give up the wired gear I have included a couple of IEM's that blow them all away for less than $400.

Interesting, I rank the PX (not PX7 since I haven't heard it) far worse than the APM and the P7W edging out the APM. NAD's HP70 has a very good sound signature to it; it's reminiscent of the HP50, however it's volume control has weird hops and jumps in it which made getting my preferred volume level a bit difficult to do.

Edit: I was able to pick up the HP70 for 250 bucks from Drop (which keeps lowering the price).

 

[sceleratus]

AirPods Max are becoming easier to find in-stock at retailers such as Amazon. I think it’s safe to say we’re approaching the point where almost everyone who wants it (at MSRP at least) already owns a pair or has one on order.

Admittedly I’m over AirPods Max. In a post-pandemic world I’ll likely try a demo at an Apple Store then be persuaded to purchase them on-sale like I did with Beats Solo3, AirPods, Beats Solo Pro, and Powerbeats Pro. For now I’ve all but lost interest in them. Apple is probably going to see a consumer slump with these once they stop being the shiny new over-ear Apple headphones.

Side note: it’s probably grammatically correct to refer to AirPods Max as a singular item, but it’s more satisfying to pluralize just as it is with most other headphones.

Well Excuuuuussssse mee!!

 

[neil74]

I get that if your material is Apple Music on an iPhone there is no bottleneck and APM are likely as good or better than anything else out there at the same price or less.

Let’s assume though that your source is an android device capable of LDAC or APTX-HD and you have Tidal Hifi/Amazon HD/local flacs.

 

[3Putter]

Interesting, I rank the PX (not PX7 since I haven't heard it) far worse than the APM and the P7W edging out the APM. NAD's HP70 has a very good sound signature to it; it's reminiscent of the HP50, however it's volume control has weird hops and jumps in it which made getting my preferred volume level a bit difficult to do.

Edit: I was able to pick up the HP70 for 250 bucks from Drop (which keeps lowering the price).

I should buck up and buy a set of NAD's. I'm not gonna trash the APM's. To each their own! I'd have kept both sets of B&W had they been just a bit louder...