AirPods Max

[MICHAELSD]

This is the case. The convenience is amazing and it's tuned to be an incredible first impression. I'm warming up to them so much that I'm about to sell my trusty Senn 6xx's. The sounds from these is better than my imac->peachtree->Senns. Once you add in the seamless iPhone integration (still getting bad quality from my imac) and incredible noise cancellation, and even better transparency mode**, I'm starting to think that these are going to be killers. They remind me of a way way way better version of the Audeze iSines that I loved years ago, but better in every way.

**Transparency mode -- The most overlooked feature of these headphones. I feel like I have superhuman hearing when on this mode. Every tiny noise is brought to attention in a way that I can't describe. But the swooshing of my pants, or typing on my keyboard, are all very clear and obvious without being intrusive. It's really really impressive and totally different than Transparency mode on the Airpod Pros.

Are you referencing the on-ear Audeze Sine or in-ear iSine? Either way that’s an impressive impression, since both are excellent headphones. The Sine in particular was practically perfect for critical music listening that still remained lively and enjoyable.

Transparency Mode was incredible on AirPods Pro and even better on Beats Solo Pro, and I’m sure it’s improved further here. Still, I don’t like living in a technological bubble all the time so I tend to prefer headphones with a semi-open design when I’m out and about (such as Powerbeats Pro) rather than noise-canceling headphones.

 

[Medikill]

Are you referencing the on-ear Audeze Sine or in-ear iSine? Either way that’s an impressive impression, since both are excellent headphones. The Sine in particular was practically perfect for critical music listening that still remained lively and enjoyable.

Transparency Mode was incredible on AirPods Pro and even better on Beats Solo Pro, and I’m sure it’s improved further here. Still, I don’t like living in a technological bubble all the time so I tend to prefer headphones with a semi-open design when I’m out and about (such as Powerbeats Pro) rather than noise-canceling headphones.

i have the Audeze sine (the one with the lightning connector) the Max sound substantially better, that’s why I didn’t even bother comparing them

 

[MICHAELSD]

Wow! I'm shocked to hear this from you. MICHAELSD you've been waiting on Apples Wireless ANC Over Ear Headphones for a while. I remember you saying you were riding the Momentums and Solo 3 until Apple released theirs. I'm not sure what your portable headphone lineup is today, but I think you will REALLY like these. I picked them up today and my early impressions are amazement to say the least. Excellent build and to my surprise, comfort. Features are top notch if you have Apple products. Sound is very clear, detailed, and open. Noise cancelling is at the very least right up there with Sony and Bose. I feel it may even be better but since I'm not flying right now I can't fully test this. The mic for calls is top notch just like the AirPods Pro. And the Transparency mode is by far the best I've heard on a set of over ears and it's not close. The Spatial Audio on iPhone and iPads is nuts. You can take the Max plus an iPad on the go and have a convenient portable movie theatre setup with you. I believe these headphones are going to shock a lot of people. Especially the "overpriced" camp

For Apple to decide to create its own headphone I would have expected a product that seems more innovative and revolutionary upon first impression, rather than simply a well-built pair of noise-canceling headphones.

I don’t even necessarily think these fit under the AirPods branding. So I’m hoping for the sound quality to blow everything else in the category away. The killer feature of AirPods Max should be a level of sound quality that rivals or even surpasses wired headphones in the same price range.

 

[lowrider007]

People thinking of selling their amped Senn 6xx's for a Apple wireless ANC headphone!, kinda scary but exciting at the same time, I guess it was inevitable that one day 'tech' would catch up with old school desktop hi-fi, I'm definitely grabbing a pair, wish I would've jumped on earlier but truth be told I had absolutely no faith in these initially, thought they would be some v-shaped mess with good functionality.

Seems like these could genuinely be a disrupter in the marketplace, hope this means other headphone manufacturers take heed of this shot across their bow and start tuning their headphones better, I have B&W PX7's and they are crying out for more clarity, the mids are lost in the woods overshadowed by bass bloat, really hope the APM's are as good as people say they are.

 

[SilverEars]

For Apple to decide to create its own over-ear headphone I would have expected an end-product that seems more innovative and revolutionary upon first impression, rather than simply a well-built pair of noise-canceling headphones. I don’t even necessarily think these fit under the AirPods branding. So I’m hoping for the sound quality to blow everything else in the category away.

If they can work out the case issue and add a way to shut it off, it would be better. After getting used the look, I can see why the design was made that way. It just looks complete with iWatch and a macbook. It looks something Apple user would have to complete their ecosystem. lol I think that's important part of Apple marketing. Their ecosystem.

Just out of curiosity, the spatial audio, is it pretty much like what Audeze Mobius did or different?

 

[MICHAELSD]

If they can work out the case issue and add a way to shut it off, it would be better. After getting used the look, I can see why the design was made that way. It just looks complete with iWatch and a macbook. It looks something Apple user would have to complete their ecosystem. lol

Just out of curiosity, the spatial audio, is it pretty much like what Audeze Mobius did or different?

It’s similar. It seems like AirPods Max offloads the spatial processing to the device itself rather than the headphones, which has its advantages since it enables decoding of 7.1 and even Dolby Atmos in real-time wirelessly. The drawback to this is that it’s currently only limited to working on iOS devices.

 

[SilverEars]

It’s similar. It seems like AirPods Max offloads the spatial processing to the device itself rather than the headphones, which has its advantages since it enables decoding of 7.1 and even Dolby Atmos in real-time wirelessly. The drawback to this is that it’s currently only limited to working on iOS devices.

Yeah, Mobius didn't have Atmos. I recall Mobius has point source like sounds fixed in position while I moved my head. Based on the way Apple spatial audio is being described, it sounds similar.

Personally, I don't care about fixed position of sound, but care mainly about actually spatial audio of sounds seemingly coming from 360 direction like in reality. If sounds could be mixed that way for headphones, it would be pretty neat. I found Mobius 7.1 gimmicky.

 

[BoardC3]

i have the Audeze sine (the one with the lightning connector) the Max sound substantially better, that’s why I didn’t even bother comparing them

Have both Sine and iSine w lightning and this has a very similar audio signature but more refined. That combined with the convenience factor means that I offload the iSines and Senn 6xxs just recoup the cost of these. I told the wife that I was just testing these and didn't need more headphones buuuuut now am happy to make the switch.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

I was at the mall for lunch, so I decided to stop by the Apple Store to see if I could hear the Airpods Max headphones. I was a bit rushed since I had my wife with me and we both had to split the time with the headphones. I got to hear 3 tracks from Apple Music. I couldn't pair it with my iPhone because I needed to download the latest ios version and I didn't before I got there. So, I didn't listen with my normal set of demo songs. This could have an impact on my impressions of the Airpods Max.

Overall impression? I don't like them. They sound and feel like noise cancellation headphones. Maybe slightly better, but nothing to write home about. I don't like the bass at all. There is a lot of it, but It sounds rubbery to me. I don't like the mids either. It could be that my IEMs specialize in that area. The spatial audio is interesting, but I think it is messing with my perception of the imaging. Maybe I just need to get used to it. It might work better watching movies. There was no time for that and all I got to hear was a demo of spatial imaging rather than experiencing it with real content on an Apple TV which they sales person who helped me said would support it even with content like HBO Max. Not sure if she was just misinformed, but that is what she said.

The APM were heavy on my head. The feel a lot heavier than the 54 gram difference between my Sennheiser HD800S headphones. Now, this isn't a fair comparison because both the cost of my amp and headphones are far more than the APM. I don't like the claustrophobic feeling of closed back headphones. I much prefer open backs for listening to music. Transparency mode worked well as I expected. I am used to that feature with my Airpods Pro. I am sure that many people will like this sound. It's not for me. I'll stick with my Sony WF-1000XM3 for now.

My wife liked them, so we will probably get a pair and then I can do much more testing with them. The only issue is that there is about a 12 week backlog building up.

 

[BoardC3]

Quick note. I got these because I saw that they were available this AM when I woke up, but expected to not like them. I bought them because the return policy is clear through Jan 8. If you want to try them out and you can snag a pair locally consider them an open trial until Jan 8! On the other side, you might end up wanting to keep them...

 

[CharlesL]

If they can work out the case issue and add a way to shut it off, it would be better. After getting used the look, I can see why the design was made that way. It just looks complete with iWatch and a macbook. It looks something Apple user would have to complete their ecosystem. lol I think that's important part of Apple marketing. Their ecosystem.

I'm not so opposed to the case. I guess I kind of like something that packs down super small, but I haven't actually seen it yet. I do have hope that Apple will add an option to hold a button or some other combination to put the headphones into deep sleep immediately, or at least set a different timeout. Considering how fast most Apple devices wake it seems like I'd be fine with something shorter than two hours until deep sleep.

 

[mangamonster]

Please consider auditioning them with this track. Wowza!

 

[BoardC3]

Please consider auditioning them with this track. Wowza!

wow. wowowowowowowow.

 

[SilverEars]

Please consider auditioning them with this track. Wowza!

Is it one of those tracks that sounds good on any headphone? ;D

 

[torifile]

This is nuts. I've got a pair of Audeze LCD-2C connected to my Modius/Asgard 3 stack running through Roon with Audeze LCD-2C preset grouped with my system audio (connected via bluetooth to my AirPods Max). I've been A/Bing them for a bit and I swear I can't tell which I prefer. With no EQ, the AirPods Max give the LCD-2C and Schitt stack a run for the money. At less than half the price and infinite more convenience. I'll continue testing but if it's this close, I may be listing some stuff in the for sale forum.