The build quality on the AirPods Max and AirPods Pro is 10/10. The QC Ultra Headphones are actually a 9/10 but they feel like a 7/10 due to the lightweight materials and sharp edges.

I bought both the QC Ultra Earphones and Headphones. I returned the Earphones and kept the Headphones. The Earphones randomly played static noise in the left channel, and the battery drained unevenly while idle. The build quality of the both the case and earphones was not up to par compared to...

The ADPCM algorithm is improved in aptX Adaptive, so you do get better quality at a lower bit-rate. However the latency of aptX Adaptive in low latency mode is still higher than aptX Low Latency. I believe the low latency mode still requires a dedicated antenna, so you will probably see it only...

Audeze Maxwell or Bose QuietComfort Ultra Heapdhones. The Maxwell is overall the best headphone out of the box I have heard at any price point. The QC Ultra is a close second as it also has hardware EQ and can be tuned to sound like the Maxwell, though it's not as resolving and doesn't have the...

The Maxwell is 90% as good as all of the high-end gear in my signature. Considering that it doesn't require external EQ or amplification, it sounds better out of the box than all my other gear.

My Maxwell seems to stay connected to 3 devices at once - USB dongle, MacBook Bluetooth, and iPhone Bluetooth. Both Bluetooth devices take priority over the USB dongle when they start playing. However the second Bluetooth device takes over from the first Bluetooth device only when audio is...

How do I edit the custom EQ profiles 1-4? I don't see a graphic EQ in the Audeze HQ app on Windows.

Does the Maxwell fit in the Mobius carrying case? Is there a new carrying case planned for this?

There is a 2nd generation TW2 with hardware EQ across all sources and calls in both ears.

Most sources with combined Wi-Fi + Bluetooth antennas will probably never support low latency due to interference. That's the reason there is no mobile phone with aptX Low Latency. With a dedicated transmitter, it's yet to be seen if aptX Adaptive in low latency mode will have the same audible...

The Penrose is the best headset. Listen to something with sub-bass and you'll see the superiority of the DSP corrected planar magnetic drivers.

It's USB 2.0 and works fine with a 10-foot cable.

No.

The Bluetooth Headset Profile is buggy on my Mobius as well. Sometimes the audio starts buzzing like it's at the wrong sample rate, or the other side hears a distorted sound. The A2DP profile is fine.

Spatial Sound virtualizes 7.1 by default now - you don't need that checkbox. The 3D on the Mobius has a bigger sound stage, but there's a distinct echo at the default setting of 30, and significant reverb even at 15. Below 15, the sound stage is quite small and diminishes wow-effect of the...

Hardware surround on headphones is obsolete. Use Atmos for Headphones on stereo headphones.

The Sony cannot be fixed with EQ. The sub-bass is weak and distorted no matter what. The headphones are just incapable.

With a 0 dBFS beat, mine clips at anything louder than the Bluetooth volume level. If the content isn't 0 dBFS, you can get away with a small amount of additional gain.

I thought I was imagining things. Mine sounds like it has sped up for a second, multiple times, when I put it on and start playing music.

Apparently some latency remains even with the Lightning to 3.5 mm Audio Cable. The cable itself is probably instant like the adapter, so the latency must be in the DSP. https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/kdrjny/airpods_max_linein_latency_is_too_high_for/

The standard Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter has a mono ADC for the microphone. It's a standard TRRS connector with a microphone input. I tried plugging this into the AirPods Max but it wasn't detected at all - the Bluetooth connection remained active. I sent a line level signal on...

Any headphone that rolls off the bass above 20 Hz is objectively inferior by the very meaning of the word hi-fi. Fidelity is reproducing the original waveform as closely as possible. If a headphone is -6 dB at 20 Hz, it's failed. I explained AAC vs LDAC in my previous post. The AAC encoder is...

Psychoacoustic codecs like AAC & MP3 cannot be compared to non-psychoacoustic codecs like aptX & LDAC using test tones. So the SoundGuys test is flawed and invalid anyway. With a waveform of actual recorded audio, AAC will win in a double-blind test. Bit rate is irrelevant when comparing a...

Those perceived shortcomings are irrational. Apple does not need to resort to pseudoscience to sell products to audiophiles. AAC is transparent, and other codecs are objectively inferior marketing bull. There is zero tangible improvement to be had with a different codec. Wired is supported...

The ADC is likely in the cable, as the Lightning port has no analog pins. The cable is bidirectional and is detected as a Lightning to 3.5 mm DAC if plugged into an iOS device. The output characteristics of the Lightning Audio Module are top of the line as previously measured. Presumably the...