[musingclouds]

So my little brother is a self professed Apple fanboy and really likes his Airpod Pros (the 2nd gen with Noise cancellation). For <$500 what is an IEM you think would be a great starter that would wean him off his obsession?

I should add he also has the Airpod Maxes for his headphone set too.

 

[NOoneWillknow]

The AFUL performer 5 is very similar to the AirPods Pro 2nd gen in performance and price. I think.

 

[Luckyleo]

So my little brother is a self professed Apple fanboy and really likes his Airpod Pros (the 2nd gen with Noise cancellation). For <$500 what is an IEM you think would be a great starter that would wean him off his obsession?

I should add he also has the Airpod Maxes for his headphone set too.

I say if he is happy, let him be happy... Why does he need to upgrade? Just wondering on a hot humid day......

 

[musingclouds]

I say if he is happy, let him be happy... Why does he need to upgrade? Just wondering on a hot humid day......

He just doesn't believe anything can sound better lol

 

[NOoneWillknow]

He just doesn't believe anything can sound better lol

Same as my older sister. I really don't know what apple did to them loyal. (them = apple fan boys/girls) It's like they're married to apple and just looking at any other object is cheating. at least my brother isn't that deep into the apple thing yet.

 

[earmonger]

When someone is very used to a particular sound signature -- and loyal to it as a matter of identity -- any change, anything different, may well sound "worse." So unless you're ready to keep that $500 set for yourself after the experiment, you might want to leave the status quo undisturbed. There are many worse sets than the Apples.

 

[WILLJS]

if you wanted to get some wired iems that are an upgrade, you wouldn't have to spend more then $150 at most, a lot of the cheaper Fiios sound really good. that way if he doesn't like them then it won't metter so much

 

[Ioanast]

Apple has done an excellent job in calibrating the sound with both AirPods Pro 2 and Max.
So much so, that, if you do a A/B test with same devices up to 1.000$, you 'd be very much surprised!
(But don't listen to me, I am not objective, I am an Apple super fan too!!!)

 

[WILLJS]

Apple has done an excellent job in calibrating the sound with both AirPods Pro 2 and Max.
So much so, that, if you do a A/B test with same devices up to 1.000$, you 'd be very much surprised!
(But don't listen to me, I am not objective, I am an Apple super fan too!!!)

wired IEMs or headphones which cost less than half as much are still better for sound quality than these models, even being massively improved over the previous ones.

 

[Ioanast]

Dear WILLJS, if we want to compare, I would kindly say,
it's better to compare same things, meaning, wired to wired, wireless to wireless, apples to apples etc..
And also, we must not forget all the extra features and technology included, not just the sound.
Unfortunately, one has to belong to the Apple ecosystem to take advantage of all these.
Anyway, my experience is different than yours but I really respect your opinion, you might have some clues for sure.
Let's all enjoy our hobby with any device everyone likes!!!

 

[Whazzzup]

I have an older iem noble encore and dhc cable 8 braid for it, total cost 8 years ago about 3500 usd, I own Apple AirPods Pro 2. Sure noble has some scaling but Apple AirPods Pro pretty good, let him be.

 

[HipHopScribe]

Honestly, AirPod Pro and AirPod Max are pretty well tuned and competitive for the price. I personally think you can get better, but I don’t think it’s a situation where any wired alternative is going to be some huge, night and day revelation. Personally I’d let him be if he’s not really interested in the hobby and alternatives already

 

[jimbop54]

From The NY Times, after testing over 100 earbuds:

With a combination of excellent performance, abundant features, and low price, the Soundcore Space A40 earbuds outperform the competition. The sound quality is enjoyable right out of the box, plus there are multiple ways to fine-tune the sound using the Soundcore app. The tiny, lightweight earbuds should fit most ears comfortably, and the 10 hours of battery life per charge is impressive.

 

[theveterans]

Apple's tuning is really spot-on to me hence why it's also successful to the masses aside from the proprietary tech. We tend to focus more on the intangibles which most people don't give a iota of care

 

[WILLJS]

Dear WILLJS, if we want to compare, I would kindly say,
it's better to compare same things, meaning, wired to wired, wireless to wireless, apples to apples etc..
And also, we must not forget all the extra features and technology included, not just the sound.
Unfortunately, one has to belong to the Apple ecosystem to take advantage of all these.
Anyway, my experience is different than yours but I really respect your opinion, you might have some clues for sure.
Let's all enjoy our hobby with any device everyone likes!!!

thanks, i should clarify better, what i meant was, if you wanted to try iems purely for sound quality, and not convenience, ANC, etc. then you are better off wired.
i did not mean to discredit bluetooth, it is pretty incredible these days.