[AxelCloris]

Most of what I saw were unboxing reviews which I don't like in the first place even from experienced reviewers. They should have skipped that and listened critically from the first minute they got them.

There's an audience for unboxing videos, and it's something that can be filmed quickly and uploaded to generate views. Folks will undoubtedly be listening to the headphones afterwards, so give it a little time and impressions will keep rolling in.

I think if Apple included an EQ, then you can really dail it in to get it more close to the B&W P7W.

Yeah, I'd love a full-fledged system-wide EQ from Apple. Most of their presets are... not great.

 

[Bobbetybob]

To be fair, the tech youtubers did a fine job describing as much as they could. They just don't have the experience of critically listening to many different systems across the entire personal audio ecosystem. I'd even settle for a Z Reviews at this point.

@BoardC3: Sounds like they're missing something in the midrange, good to know.

The tech Youtubers had an embargo until today, I know we're all waiting on some more in depth reviews but people can't honestly think they just barely mentioned anything about the headphones sound because they don't know better?

 

[noper]

The tech Youtubers had an embargo until today, I know we're all waiting on some more in depth reviews but people can't honestly think they just barely mentioned anything about the headphones sound because they don't know better?

Oh I wasn't aware. Thanks

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Interesting . The easy explanation would have been an iPhone vs. a Windows laptop but this introduces an interesting twist.
Now what I could think of perhaps :
- Apple's own chips feature their own DSP, perhaps it plays a part in the decoding of AAC files and reencoding in AAC over bluetooth after mixing the music file with the system's audio ?
- AAC has a number of extensions that could theoretically enhance the quality (look for AAC SLS), now I'd be surprised that this is what Apple does as they never mentioned it anyway. But it could make sense for them to implement it first on a controlled platform before transposing it to the Mac, as they frequently do.

I think Apple doesn't care about catering to the audiophile community. It's too small of a segment. Most people don't want to do whatever it takes to get the last 1-3% quality improvement out of their gear. Apple is great at delivering products that are easy to use and work as you would expect them to work. They will spend most of their time getting the usability 100% right and the sound quality to good enough levels or just better than their closest competitors. They want their technology to either be used where it has never been used before or where previous implementations were poorly delivered. None of their product roadmaps suggest they want to dominated sound quality. If their technology enables ever improving sound quality great, but they aren't going to enhance their brand by being known as the best audio quality products. They don't actually need to do that to dominate markets.

 

[tiptongrange]

Is it possible to charge these with a wireless charger?

 

[Heyyoudvd]

It is quite funny what Apple did. They managed to make an ANC headphone version of the old B&W P7W. Not even B&W themselves managed to do it.

So Apple really has hands down the best ANC as it has minimal impact on the sound quality and it sounds like a non ANC headphone.

I think if Apple included an EQ, then you can really dail it in to get it more close to the B&W P7W.

It's funny that you say that, as Apple's VP of Acoustics is Gary Geaves, who they hired from B&W, where he worked for nearly 16 years, including 7 years as B&W's Head of R&D.

That's how Apple managed to do what they've done here. Apple's audio team did not come from their Beats acquisition. It's a completely separate team they built up internally by hiring impressive people from across the audio industry.

 

[Bobbetybob]

Oh I wasn't aware. Thanks

No worries, wasn't aimed directly at you by the way, I've just seen so many people around the internet complaining that the unboxing videos were just unboxing videos and they didn't talk about sound. Mainstream tech reviewers can all be a bit samey and uninformed on certain subject matter but they're not all quite that useless.

 

[ubs28]

[

It's funny that you say that, as Apple's VP of Acoustics is Gary Geaves, who they hired from B&W, where he worked for nearly 16 years, including 7 years as B&W's Head of R&D.

That's how Apple managed to do what they've done here. Apple's audio team did not come from their Beats acquisition. It's a completely separate team they built up internally by hiring impressive people from across the audio industry.

That is funny indeed, because I was really scratching my head where the B&W influence was coming from. According to my ears, the APM is the ANC headphone that B&W should have made but failed to do it everytime.

I guess that explains it.

 

[cosplayerkyo]

Been listening to these for about an hour or so. Very fun sound with quite a boomy bass though some of the female vocals sound a bit too artificial at times. I was curious to see if the aux made any difference and was rather surprised. I hear some of the DMP sound through these so very happy about that.

 

[Luc9488]

One really strange issue is that they sound way better with my phone than over Bluetooth connected to my computer.

I've noticed this as well using my AirPods Pro with my 2018 MacBook Pro & iPhone 11 Pro. I'm not sure what's going on but the Mac sounds more muted and less detailed at all volume levels vs the iPhone. I'm surprised more people haven't been talking about this...

 

[angelom]

It's funny that you say that, as Apple's VP of Acoustics is Gary Geaves, who they hired from B&W, where he worked for nearly 16 years, including 7 years as B&W's Head of R&D.

That's how Apple managed to do what they've done here. Apple's audio team did not come from their Beats acquisition. It's a completely separate team they built up internally by hiring impressive people from across the audio industry.

Is funny that nobody noticing my post about the APM and the P7W a few hours ago, the first person that mentioning this similarity: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/airpods-max.949152/page-22#post-16039053

 

[noper]

Enjoying the impressions so far, might not be my cup of tea since I prefer sub-bass to mid-bass. Also seems like the mids are recessed.

 

[3Putter]

I sure hope Apple is able to beat the B&O BeoPlay H9 and H9i. I have not tried their latest offering with the more expensive H95 but I've had the H7, H9 Gen1, H9i and H9 Gen2 and they sure look and feel premium and the H7 and H9 was really comfortable until they started featuring slimmer ear pads on the H9i.

But the audio quality wasn't really that impressive all things considered. And when you see frequency measurements from them you start to realise that the are not focused around sound quality. They don't really offer much in-terms of computational audio or anything else either. They just look and feel premium and that's basically what you are paying a premium for.


I've pre-ordered the AirPod Max. I'm not sure if I will be keeping them but I don't really mind the price tag to be honest IF the quality is matching. I don't expect them to compare to my Sennheiser HD 800 + Hegel HD12 DAC setup. But I've been through so many wireless headphones over the years. Apple AirPods, AirPods 2, AirPods Pro, Audeze Mobius, B&O BeoPlay H7, H8, H9, H9i, H9 Gen2, Bose QC35, QC35 II, NC 700, Beats Studio 2 Wireless, Beats Studio 3 Wireless, , Sony WH-1000XM2, WH-1000XM3 and most likely some I can't even remember at this point.

The one thing common with them all is that every single option has at list something that is mediocre about them. I'm currently using the Apple AirPods Pro and Bose NC 700. I find the AirPods Pro to simply strike a unique mix of ease of use and overall quality that all the others can't really achieve. My one problem with them is how they are in-ears and in a lot of scenarios, I simply prefer over-ear/around-ear headphones for obvious reasons.

Currently I find the Bose NC 700 to be the best as I don't really enjoy the sound quality of the Sony WH-1000 series. They are a bit boomy to me, they almost feel like what Beats feel like back before they got purchased by Apple. Their frequency response doesn't feel balanced or neutral at all if you ask me. The Bose NC 700 is far from perfect either, but I just find them much more preferable from a sonic standpoint and they are comfortable, have multi-point and good ANC.


Judging by the Apple AirPods Pro and Apple HomePod, Apple seems to be on top of their game when it comes to bringing their A-game into audio. Not claiming the AirPods Pro to sound great. But it's really impressive to me how they are able to achieve such a great overall product in such a small and convenient form factor and whatnot. And the Apple HomePod is just such a great sounding device. Being able to get such amazing audio from such a tiny device at that price point is beyond me. Not saying you can't get better-sounding speakers out there, but they did a really great job all things considered if you ask me.

This gives me great hope for the AirPods Max. Only time will tell, but I'm eager to put these to the test and hopefully, they will feel like the first-ever wireless headphones without any noticeable sacrifices and drawbacks. And if that is indeed the case I'm more than happy to pay 550 USD.

I enjoy apple products but I draw the line on audio. If I want convenience and so-so SQ then apple products are just fine. But I have to think that if you're reading this, you're like me, and can't abide by mediocre SQ for the sake of convenience. I tried to use my AirPod Pro's at the gym, office, home, and when buying groceries. Can't do it. Just made me realize how good my existing headphones are and I'd rather deal with the dongle and cords and enjoy my music.

 

[Somnambulist]

It is quite funny what Apple did. They managed to make an ANC headphone version of the old B&W P7W. Not even B&W themselves managed to do it.

So Apple really has hands down the best ANC as it has minimal impact on the sound quality and it sounds like a non ANC headphone.

I think if Apple included an EQ, then you can really dail it in to get it more close to the B&W P7W.

As it happens, the head of engineering at B&W (a guy called Stuart Nevill) left the company a couple of years ago to be Apple’s ‘Audio Acoustic Manager’.

EDIT - already pointed out by someone else!

 

[BoardC3]

I've noticed this as well using my AirPods Pro with my 2018 MacBook Pro & iPhone 11 Pro. I'm not sure what's going on but the Mac sounds more muted and less detailed at all volume levels vs the iPhone. I'm surprised more people haven't been talking about this...

Exactly!