[SparkOnShore]

After the h95, my favourite headphone with factory sound is the shure aonic 50 (sa50). The sa50 is having a very good linear, almost reference sound from mid-bass to treble, and the treble is probably the best in any bt/anc headphone I hearing before (you can putting the volume up and is never fatiguing, this is rare happening in very revealing headphones). The problem with the sa50 sound is that sometimes is missing sub bass presence (this is principally where the h95 is winning clearly for me in the sound category in complete sonic picture) but this isn't a big problem for me in general.

The comfort of sa50 is very good, BUT is having some problems for me. The number one problem is the artificial leather (plastic) earpads making my ears hot when the temperature is more than 23-25 celsius and I getting sweat too sometimes (but isn't so bad like sony xm3 that is more quickly this problem). For this reason specially (and more reasons) I buying second time the momentum 3 (m3) because is having leather earpads (not getting hot or sweat for me), is having better construction (more solid), is foldable for travels (sa50 isn't), and now is having 3 band EQ; before is only having a very bad gimmick EQ that isn't working well at all (the factory sound is little too bassy). With the new m3 eq I can decreasing the factory bass and the sound is very, very good, and the eq setting is saving in the headphone so you can using this eq change in all devices (the sa50 eq is available only if you're using the shure app and isn't saving the settings in the headphone like majority of eq in other headphones).

BUT I returning the second pair of m3 because the volume control is driving me crazy because is making very big jumps, more than sa50 (that I'm don't having complete satisfaction), very big jumps that never happening with all the other headphones in my experience. For me volume control is extremely important, and here the APM and h95 are the best.

thanks a lot for coming back to me. Is sa50 making your ears hotter than other closed back headphones? I gather the xm4 makes you feel even hotter than sa50, is it true? i know sa50 is rather heavy; is it a problem to walk with them on and having them on while walking for 2 hours lets say? I gather they miss sub bass. How can you describe it? Is it bass shy in general? Is there a sense of seriously missing low end and punch in electronic music for example? Finally is senn m3 lighter and more comfortable than sa50? Thanks again!

 

[angelom]

thanks a lot for coming back to me. Is sa50 making your ears hotter than other closed back headphones? I gather the xm4 makes you feel even hotter than sa50, is it true? i know sa50 is rather heavy; is it a problem to walk with them on and having them on while walking for 2 hours lets say? I gather they miss sub bass. How can you describe it? Is it bass shy in general? Is there a sense of seriously missing low end and punch in electronic music for example? Finally is senn m3 lighter and more comfortable than sa50? Thanks again!

I think is better you ask this questions in the sa50 thread because you're asking only about sa50 and m3 and this is APM thread. I can answering in the sa50 thread if you copy or quoting the posts here maybe for the other thread.

 

[SparkOnShore]

I think is better you ask this questions in the sa50 thread because you're asking only about sa50 and m3 and this is APM thread. I can answering in the sa50 thread if you copy or quoting the posts here maybe for the other thread.

ok i will do so. Thanks.

 

[tkddans]

I feel theres an element to the sound signature or something that my ear is missing. It’s almost there. I’m pretty sure it’s not the bass. For example, I think I want to here the snares snap a little harder or something.

It has relatively lower mids. So many instruments and vocals in that range can feel like they don’t punch through as much as you may like or expect.

It’s a weakness they have, it seems, in order to let their impactful sub bass and airy treble have more effect.

 

[tinyman392]

I’m deep in the Apple ecosystem. I have the iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Mac. I also have the APP. I bought the APM, Mobius and Panda to compare. I like just about everything about the APM and I haven’t had any condensation problems. The sound is good but it seems to be missing something. Something that makes me want to nod my head, because of the other features I’m trying to make it work.

I’ve posted on here that I prefer the sound of the Mobius but hate the form factor. So much so that it’s a deal breaker for me. I probably enjoy the Pandas a little more musically, but feel it can sound a little bloated sometimes. Drop released another update that the eq app will come soon.

They've stated this since October/November. I wouldn't get too excited. Apparently the app has been done since that time period too. I personally don't believe them.

Has anyone who’s deep into the Apple ecosystem decided to return the APM just because of the sound?

To summarize my long rant, I feel theres an element to the sound signature or something that my ear is missing. It’s almost there. I’m pretty sure it’s not the bass. For example, I think I want to here the snares snap a little harder or something. Maybe it’s to smooth. My ears have been experiencing a coming of age with headphones and I’m still trying to understand what I like also I’m understanding that involves some for of compromise.

The dip in the upper midrange/lower treble is likely what you're hearing here.

 

[rbmusicman]

It has relatively lower mids. So many instruments and vocals in that range can feel like they don’t punch through as much as you may like or expect.

It’s a weakness they have, it seems, in order to let their impactful sub bass and airy treble have more effect.

True! That’s it. I’ve tried playing around with the accommodations but to see if I could improve it. I’m definitely on the fence, primarily because of the cost. But the power of the ecosystem is strong with this one.

 

[Soundizer]

Sometimes I feel the urge to be a bit dirty and head into SBC territory - playing YouTube on my TV and I hear no issue with the APM...

Comparing to the Ananda BT is interesting - Closed back, ANC and adaptive EQ on the APM versus fully open and stock tuning on the Ananda BT - the tuning is ultimately better on the Ananda, richer, more coherent, the adaptive EQ on the APM tends to go for more of a fun listen - but - the ANC kills it for me, having occlusion from outside noises for me is a winner.

Bass is very obviously boosted on the APM, and the midrange is slightly hollow in comparison to the Ananda - I have the luxury of having both, but if I could only have one, it would be the APM, yes - the Ananda has far better codec support and does sound the better of the two, but that open backed nature doesn’t lend itself well to me and my listening area - not to mention the LED that you can probably see from space - takes away from the immersion slightly.



what I personally want to see (apologies if this has already happened) is a comparison between the APM and the NuraPhone.

Thank you for the comparison. I was very interested in Ananda BT vs AirPod Max. If you only listen indoors in a quiet room which would you choose regardless of price - Ananda BT or AirPod Max?

 

[Ilomaenkimi]

I need rarely ANC and wireless at at home . And i have APP's if i do.
I cancelled my Max order and used that money to buy used OPPO PM-3 and Audeze Sine with Cipher-cable.
Both are still on they way to me but i'm very happy with my decision.

 

[tinyman392]

Thank you for the comparison. I was very interested in Ananda BT vs AirPod Max. If you only listen indoors in a quiet room which would you choose regardless of price - Ananda BT or AirPod Max?

Ananda if you have no need for ANC and don’t mind sound leak.

 

[clerkpalmer]

Ananda if you have no need for ANC and don’t mind sound leak.

I’m gonna own both of these as my home office setup. Ananda BT on order.

 

[alidark3000]

Greetings. First post here. I've read the entire thread in my research into whether the APM would be right for me. I hope this will be interesting to audiophiles as the APM is my first real attempt to recover sound as I used to know it.

I grew up with my Dad's early 90s CD player and JVC amp, and some huge headphones - can't remember what they were - with which I used to lie on the floor lost in sound, especially U2's Zooropa which to this day remains one of the most colourful albums I've heard.

I bought my own system which was a hopeless thing but didn't stop me enjoying The Downward Spiral. But since then but I have never really experienced music in the same way. Even when getting into music production in my 20s, it was all about the obvious sounds and less about the nuances of the production.

Only in the last few years I've been thinking about how to get back into *listening*. I've experimented with Apple Music, tidal, a retro amp or two with Dad's old BnW bookshelf speakers, all being fed from iPhones. And stereo HomePods which are doing the job in our small living room. I wasn't really thinking about headphones until the APM announcement, I was pretty content with the Solo3s that came with my Mac - thinking it was good enough.

Then I tried APM in the Apple Store and the sound seemed to drip around me. It made me want good headphones instantly. I read through all the comparisons here, all the very divergent opinions on the sound, and weighed up the pros and cons of building an entry level stack or the APM.

In the end I trusted my ears. I realised that attempting to build a stack that beat the sound of APM might result in a lot of money spent and potentially some disappointment, whereas the APM is clearly a step up from where I am and would give me an immediate chance to start listening. Whatever premium the price is lathered with is OK if I enjoy it (and I'm all Apple here anyway).

The songs that convinced me to get the APM are:
- Smells Like Teen Spirit
- Evil Spider (Beenee)
- Stay & Zooropa (U2)
- Hush Boy (Basement Jaxx)

Just a few hours in now and happy with my choice (although my wife is not). The upper mid's issue folks have mentioned seems to be a thing, but not always apparent, and as someone mentioned recently, might be necessary to achieve the overall effect. My audiogram (as does the balanced/slight hearing accommodation) seems to correct it at the expense of some of the body that the stock sound has, so I've chosen to stick with stock.

I was mostly concerned with dynamics and textured sound, or the lack of. But if the APM is missing it, I don't know it and I'm fine that way for now.

Tidal HiFi definitely sounding better, I think this is a soundstage or separation thing. On HomePods I found highs to be harsher on Apple Music and maybe both of these issues are because of compression but I don't know.

The sound is not quite as luscious as when I first heard it, the treble very occasionally seems just a little thin (Last and March of the Pigs by NIN both display this), but I know nothing is without compromise and I feel setup now. Who knows, a few years down the track I may start experimenting with more audio gear and earn my membership here.

Looking forward to more listening.

 

[mthaynes]

Got my my airpod max yesterday. Been playing with them for about 4 hours now. A huge amount of comparisons have been don with music, but since my application is a little different I thought I would share.

First – I don’t use the max for listening to music. I really only use them for watching video on my ipad. I have a AK2000 that I couple to either JH audio Layla’s or Roxanne’s direct or AK2000 to Bryston BHA-1 to HD800S for serious listening.

I have very sensitive ears. Not sound wise, but pressure wise so while I love IEM’s long listening sessions are a bit taxing on my ear canal. The Layla’s are custom fit, while the Roxy’s are universal. The HD800S are huge and don’t have any interference with my ear so I can wear those for hours.

I bought the sony 1000 xm3. Just for traveling (remember when we use to do that). The idea was they were comfortable and I could watch 4 movies when traveling international with no ear fatigue – they do a great job of this btw. I never intended to use the sony for home use but over the last year they have gotten a lot of weekly use.

So this is a comparison for video only – not music. Between the Sony and the APM via my ipad pro.

The sony works well enough for watching tv via the spectrum app or motortrend on demand. Occasionally the sony will get a bit to base heavy and is noticeable, but its infrequent enough that its no big deal.

I connected the APM and listened to some music on my iphone just to get them configured. Couple of mins at most, then it was on to motortrend on demand. At first the APM was much too base heavy. Activating the accessibility features, I set to voice over balanced and amplified the low noise feature just below the balanced setting to moderate (the middle setting). This significantly helped. Keep in mind that the APM has less than 10 mins of run time when I made this change. The following night I used the APM for more motortrend and ran them for 3 hours or so. Going back to accessibility features I noticed that the APM had reset to balanced, but the low noise was still set to moderate. Video sound was better than the previous night. The base boom was not noticeable. Switching to Spectrum the Spatial audio kicked in while watching forged and fire. Kind of cool and fun. Again no base boom noticed.

Overall they are better than the Sony. The Sony is more like an Amazon Echo while the APM is more like a home pod. Both make sound but the home pod is better. The echo, like the sony is less than half the price. Taking price into account – I would say they are equal. i.e. you get what you pay for.

Will I keep my sony and my APM. Probably yes. I would not travel with the APM. Its not a travel device in my opinion. Sony and bose have nailed this. They are way more compact and come with tons of accessories for integrating into airplane movie screens etc. I am not happy with the lack of accessories with the APM. Accessories cost pennies. For the cost of the APM, I would expect a real case, charger, 3.5 cable. You get none of these.

So why keep the APM? Answer is I have spent way more than $500 on audio gadgets of the years so what’s another toy in the toy box. I think most people here would find themselves in the same spot.

Is the APM or the sony long term keepers? Sony (given my original purpose) probably yes. The APM is more of a toy to me. Like my apple watch, I am not sure I will upgrade and sooner or later may find its way to ebay when the fun wears off. A more travel oriented APM would be of interest. I would then probably sell both the current APM and Sony.



Just my .02

 

[Author]

Thanks for sharing! I bounce around between earbuds (Sennheiser TW 2) and HPs (APM and HD650) and feel like I’ve got all the bases covered. APM are a great addition and are my all-day all-rounders. Enjoy!

 

[tinyman392]

Thank you for the comparison. I was very interested in Ananda BT vs AirPod Max. If you only listen indoors in a quiet room which would you choose regardless of price - Ananda BT or AirPod Max?

I’m gonna own both of these as my home office setup. Ananda BT on order.

I'm going to write up a comparison between them. There actually is a lot to write about due to the way the Ananda is kind of implemented from a UI perspective. So there is more than just sound, but I'll do a quick comparison on sound as well.

 

[tkddans]

Headphone Show compared APM to Panda and Mobius

Keeping in mind he has previously stated dislike for the APM and recommended the K371 ($150) as an alternative!