[angelom]

@angelom Chill out.

Don't worry, I'm 100% ok. For me is always very interesting the posts that people paying attention to. Audiophiles paying attention to little details in the sound, but not reading posts that giving important details even when the person saying they owning more than 30 (anc) wireless headphones and owing hd800 and hd600 in the post.

 

[angelom]

More impressions.

Apple is giving a very good soundstage experience with the APM. I think I never listening to other closed back headphone doing this. For average people this is really 'amazing', but I'm sorry but I must saying this: the frequency response isn't correct or close to reference at all. I know 'audiophiles' will waiting for all the graphs/measurements. I want seeing this too because I'm curious. BUT this isn't a reference/neutral sound, and this is VERY clear for me. Is good, yes, maybe very good even, but the midrange, the principal part of the frequency range, is NOT right. But Apple still achieving a sound that is very attractive, even for people that knowing good sound.

And for the people that don't liking touch interface, the h95 touch interface is impeccable compared with the APM dial. In the 3 hours I'm using this, 5 or 6 times I pressing for 'repeat'/previous track and is going to next track. I'm appreciating the h95 more now today. I'm not a person that thinking more expensive is better, I'm very critical of all headphones/earphones independently of the price.

 

[Gammon2004]

Sitting here listening to them as I type this. Quick background for me - professional audio engineer for the past 15 years, I've cycled through most of the well-known high-end headphones at various points. I also ended up selling most of them and just using my previous airpods because I'm lazy and they're so much easier to just pick up and start listening to music on. So these are very much exactly what I was looking for: the ease of use of well-designed Apple ecosystem products combined with a more audiophile sound quality.

Comfort - best I've experienced. The pads breath more than any others I can remember. Feeling like my head/ears are getting hot is a big reason I take headphones off and stop listening to music, so the fact that this is less likely to happen means I'm much more likely to use these regularly. My understanding of pad material like this is that it leaks more sound (especially bass), and I'm guessing that's why it's not used as often in other headphones. I'm assuming that the technology in these headphones that listens for seal is at least partially there because it allows them to use this more breathable material without losing bass.

Sound - generally very good. Reminds me quite a lot of the Meze 99 Neo, though without nearly as much of a mid-bass bump. I don't have those anymore so I can't directly compare but I'd be interested in seeing measurements of both together once measurements for this are available. They both have broadly recessed mids that I think serve to eliminate any harshness, but at least in the APM case vocals don't sound recessed or covered up by other frequencies. The big difference between these and the 99 Neo and possibly every other headphone I've had is the BASS. It has a ton of slam and rumble, but still has clarity and isn't overly elevated. It sounds like a subwoofer in my tuned/treated mixing room. It's really just extremely enjoyable to listen to.

So these definitely aren't 'reference' in terms of flat EQ, but I think the technical details are all extremely good and distortion is nonexistent. I wouldn't use them for mixing, but I think this is very much the Platonic Ideal of an 'Audiophile Fun' tuning. Which I think is exactly what I would have aimed for if I was designing these headphones for their intended market. So all of that combined with ease of use and best comfort I've yet experienced means these are probably the only headphones I use for music listening for pleasure from now on.

 

[SilverEars]

More I look at the APM, I'm getting used to it. Then again, this has been the case with the iWatch as well. To me, this is like the 'Beats' for Apple folks. Very expensive priced that tied to a brand image? But, much more expensive than Beat were, but also better built.

Is the SQ much much better than XM3/4 and also the Bose QC NC series? How's the microphone quality?

Are there any wireless headphone you guys believe has better SQ than APM?

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.



EpT1TyRXcAE7A9K.jpg

I hope it don't require DMP to sound good. lol. That's serious overkill.

 

[Medikill]

Alright got my hands on them.

A/B’d against the campfire cascades and Audeze LCD 2

the max has better separation and vastly better sound stage. No silibance.As others have said mid bass over sub bass. Vocals a bit veiled The cascades have better sub bass.

APM is better than the CA cascades easily.

Compared against the LCD2C - the Audeze actually has a similar soundstage and seperation. Better upper mids on the Audeze. The bass as expected better on Max.. The technicalities on the Audeze are better, but the APM has better speed and highs. I liked the APM more than the LCD2C (take with a grain of salt I have preferred closed backs for a while)

 

[angelom]

Are there any wireless headphone you guys believe has better SQ than APM?

Is obvious from my previous posts, the b&o h95 is the best, in my opinion. But I think too the shure aonic 50 and sennheiser m3 are the only anc headphones I considering buying if sound quality is your main priority. The factory sound of the aonic 50 is better than sennheiser m3, but the m3 is having now (not before) a better eq and having other advantages than aonic 50 (very better construction definitely).

 

[awisemanoncesaid]

Alright got my hands on them.

A/B’d against the campfire cascades and Audeze LCD 2

the max has better separation and vastly better sound stage. No silibance.As others have said mid bass over sub bass. Vocals a bit veiled The cascades have better sub bass.

APM is better than the CA cascades easily.

Compared against the LCD2C - the Audeze actually has a similar soundstage and seperation. Better upper mids on the Audeze. The bass as expected better on Max.. The technicalities on the Audeze are better, but the APM has better speed and highs. I liked the APM more than the LCD2C (take with a grain of salt I have preferred closed backs for a while)

Yo this is a crazy statement. So excited to get mine.

 

[lowrider007]

Alright got my hands on them.

A/B’d against the campfire cascades and Audeze LCD 2

the max has better separation and vastly better sound stage. No silibance.As others have said mid bass over sub bass. Vocals a bit veiled The cascades have better sub bass.

APM is better than the CA cascades easily.

Compared against the LCD2C - the Audeze actually has a similar soundstage and seperation. Better upper mids on the Audeze. The bass as expected better on Max.. The technicalities on the Audeze are better, but the APM has better speed and highs. I liked the APM more than the LCD2C (take with a grain of salt I have preferred closed backs for a while)

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting your post but are you saying that the APM's are of a similar pegging to the LCD2C's? I'm kinda trying to work out what do we compare the APM's to, and where to they sit on the headphone ladder in terms of SQ, if your saying these trade blows with the LCD2C and they are wireless with ANC then Apple truly have cracked it imo.

 

[musicisthekey]

If APM's sound as good as LCD2C's, then why spend an extra grand in the best case scenario on a good source to drive them? You can use your iPhone instead. Apple will save the audiophile community money. It's a win-win.

 

[kazsud]

I wonder if there will be firmware updates or ever profiles.

More impressions.

Apple is giving a very good soundstage experience with the APM. I think I never listening to other closed back headphone doing this. For average people this is really 'amazing', but I'm sorry but I must saying this: the frequency response isn't correct or close to reference at all. I know 'audiophiles' will waiting for all the graphs/measurements. I want seeing this too because I'm curious. BUT this isn't a reference/neutral sound, and this is VERY clear for me. Is good, yes, maybe very good even, but the midrange, the principal part of the frequency range, is NOT right. But Apple still achieving a sound that is very attractive, even for people that knowing good sound.

And for the people that don't liking touch interface, the h95 touch interface is impeccable compared with the APM dial. In the 3 hours I'm using this, 5 or 6 times I pressing for 'repeat'/previous track and is going to next track. I'm appreciating the h95 more now today. I'm not a person that thinking more expensive is better, I'm very critical of all headphones/earphones independently of the price.

 

[Maukey]

So I have a mildly interesting story of how I received mine. Before today, I had made up my mind that I was going to wait on reviews before I decided on a purchase. So I get up this morning around 8am and decide to check the Apple Store. I really just wanted to see if they had any. Pretty much all Apple stores within a 20 mile radius of me here in Maryland had all the colors available. So I go and get ready for work, took me a little less than an hour. I go upstairs to my office and check again because I'm curious on whether these are really as popular as the quick sell out of preorders suggest, and I now see that all colors but the Space Grey and Silver are sold out. So I decide to check Headfi, MacRumors, Twitter, and Reddit and see if there were any early impressions out there. I'm now seeing some pretty favorable impressions and am thinking to myself instead of waiting on reviews, why not just dive in and try them myself. If I don't like them I can always return them. I go back to the Apple Store and every single one of them is sold out. It's around 10am now. But at this time I'm still reading different impressions and getting more and more eager to try them myself. Something tells me to just keep randomly checking the Apple Store to see if I get lucky and any more pop up. Keep in mind that I only want the Space Grey. I may have settled for the Blue. I'm checking the Store literally like every 10 mins or so. Around 11 am, all of a sudden a single Space Grey becomes available at the store closest to me. I jumped on it and now have them sitting with me now waiting to try them out. It was obviously meant for me to have these today . I knew it was the only one available because right after I purchased them I checked the store again out of curiosity and it said sold out. I told this little story to encourage those who may not have been able to find one in their area, or checked late after they had sold out, to keep checking. I'm sure they will pop back up. I would especially check tonight and in the morning. I'm sure people will change their mind and cancel.

 

[ubs28]

If APM's sound as good as LCD2C's, then why spend an extra grand in the best case scenario on a good source to drive them? You can use your iPhone instead. Apple will save the audiophile community money. It's a win-win.

The APM is not that good really. Mid-fi headphones like the AFC 2 are alot better (atleast from the Hugo 2) while the AFC 2 is also portable and provides great noise isolation (ANC is not even needed).

While the APM is good enough for the vast majority of Apple customers (since the best selling headphones in the world are those tiny Apple Airpods), it is not a replacement for proper headphones.

 

[Medikill]

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting your post but are saying that the APM's are of a similar pegging to the LCD2C's? I'm kinda trying to work out what do we compare the APM's to, and where to they sit on the headphone ladder in terms of SQ, if your saying these trade blows with the LCD2C and they are wireless with ANC then Apple truly have cracked it imo.

On par with the Audeze In most aspects. Again the technicalities are better on the Audeze. But yes so far a very good set.

 

[kazsud]

Damn, not shipping till March

 

[Medikill]

The APM is not that good really. Mid-fi headphones like the AFC 2 are alot better (atleast from the Hugo 2) while the AFC 2 is also portable and provides great noise isolation (ANC is not even needed).

While the APM is good enough for the vast majority of Apple customers (since the best selling headphones in the world are those tiny Apple Airpods), it is not a replacement for proper headphones.

I’m my opinion they are better than the cascades and on par with the LCD2C through an E30 and atom - getting fed the same Apple Music files.
Can’t comment on the AFC2