[HiFiHawaii808]

It is also quite interesting that he thinks the LCD-2 Classic are far better than the APM while on head-fi, the APM is considered better than the LCD2-C.

Just shows how reviews are meaningless in the end as they are all over the place.

Are you seriously comparing early adopters who want for this product to be the next coming of the iPhone for the headset to the guy who measures every single headphone in the industry and who has a widely recognized systematic evaluation criteria for headphone and IEM rankings? I'd say this thread is a textbook case of confirmation bias.

I've heard these headphones. They are not even close to as good as the perception you get when reading this thread. They are good noise cancellation headphones. What Crinacle did was paired them up with the headphones in its class.

The ratings may improve when he does the full review of the APM with an iPhone instead of an Android device. But, one could argue that the true objective test of sound quality is in an environment where the sound isn't modified by the ecosystem and all its trappings. If you buy a product for its trappings, then that's fine, but you should be aware of it.

 

[buzzlulu]

Agreed. Absolutely no comparison when compared to every offering from Sony, Bose, B&O and B&W - the Airpod Max jumps directly to the front as the new leader in ANC

 

[cosplayerkyo]

I have the Empyreans so even though i understand they're not in the same league would you mind giving some comparative notes? Would help me get a better sense of the APM since I own the Empys. Thanks

Hmmm, think of the Empyreans with the leather pads and everything sounding a bit compressed and more closed in.

 

[mainguy]

Are you seriously comparing early adopters who want for this product to be the next coming of the iPhone for the headset to the guy who measures every single headphone in the industry and who has a widely recognized systematic evaluation criteria for headphone and IEM rankings? I'd say this thread is a textbook case of confirmation bias.

I've heard these headphones. They are not even close to as good as the perception you get when reading this thread. They are good noise cancellation headphones. What Crinacle did was paired them up with the headphones in its class.

I think it’s also important to note a lot of us want these to be great performers, so we don’t have to lug portable DACs, Dacs or wired cans around. The can contribute to the bias, the simple relief that one can have a convenient audio solution.

That said I wouldn’t put Crinnacle on a pedastal, he’s another guy with opinions, taking relatively simple measurements doesn’t make his opinion more weighty imo, the response curves are just a useful service for the commmunity. He definately has his tastes, and they won’t match up with everyone (I think he overrates the focal clear for instance, having owned them). Everybody differs and im sure there’s some valuable opinions here about the apm.

 

[Ilomaenkimi]

Focal Stellia measurements by Crinacle. I owned Stellias. Just looking measurements APM seems to be pretty good...even better than Stellias?
I dont think so...

 

[amoeba1126]

Some quick questions for those who own the AirPods Max...

• How is the bluetooth connection quality on PC? Specifically, do you notice any latency drops?
• Does using the lighting-to-3.5mm adapter mean that one has a DAC to convert the signal to analog and then the adapter converts it back to digital or does the adapter somehow have a way of passing an analog signal?

 

[klyzon]

i sure hope Crinacle used SBC instead of AAC on his Android device since AAC’s measured performance varies wildly among Android models

 

[davidmolliere]

^^ Crinacle wasn't particularly impressed

I won't loose too much sleep over it

 

[Sp12er3]

from the headphone show.
honestly so far in impressed, even on Crinacle's impression where he said its at best comparable to 100 usd headphone, with the DT770 mentioned, yeah that'd be enough for majority of people buying these, heck it'd probably be one heck of an upgrade from what they had before.
What I want is for them to not sound like ass like many other anc wireless headset headphone and they're doing it.

 

[tkddans]

I know this could be taboo here but:

You guys are aware that you can tweak the sound in iOS Accessibility Settings, right? That could compensate for some of the shortcomings based on individual preference.

Can be found in Settings > Accessibility > AirPods > (Select AirPods Model) > Audio Accessibility Settings > Headphone Accommodations (On) then go from from there, you can do custom audio setup which has you A/B test a sound clip or you can select your own tuning preferences (fine print explains what you're modifying).

My god. After playing around with that setting, I have discovered how much I love using a certain setup as alternative to the default signature. Check out the attached picture for my preferred, almost clinically analytical and beautiful sound (IMO of course)...

basically set it to “balanced” and “strong.”

wow

EDIT: I've since grown to dislike the "strong" setting for most situations. I veer now to "slight" and on only some music. I now prefer the default for most music.

 

[u2u2]

Thoroughly enjoyed day one with my AirPod Max. Some eight hours of use and no issues. Expectations met and I will not be returning to my Sony wireless.
Was looking forward to evaluating their performance when fed from an early 2013 nMP vs an M1 MacBook Air and recent iPad Pro. Some earlier comments on Mac OS performance I found interesting as I had not noticed a difference between my iPad and M1 MacBook Air (discounting spatial audio).
Further exploration and enjoyment were not to be... The noise cancellation stopped functioning on the right side APM. Couple of hours in phone calls with Apple support = no ability to get them repaired, nothing available for an exchange. Keep them (NOT) or return and re-order with a 12-14 week wait... (Pink had been available for over 24 hours but they are 100 miles away and I don't do pink!)
Back to my trusted WA22 and WA6 and rolling wired headphones and tubes. Old school reliability.

 

[ubs28]

Thoroughly enjoyed day one with my AirPod Max. Some eight hours of use and no issues. Expectations met and I will not be returning to my Sony wireless.
Was looking forward to evaluating their performance when fed from an early 2013 nMP vs an M1 MacBook Air and recent iPad Pro. Some earlier comments on Mac OS performance I found interesting as I had not noticed a difference between my iPad and M1 MacBook Air (discounting spatial audio).
Further exploration and enjoyment were not to be... The noise cancellation stopped functioning on the right side APM. Couple of hours in phone calls with Apple support = no ability to get them repaired, nothing available for an exchange. Keep them (NOT) or return and re-order with a 12-14 week wait... (Pink had been available for over 24 hours but they are 100 miles away and I don't do pink!)
Back to my trusted WA22 and WA6 and rolling wired headphones and tubes. Old school reliability.

Did you try a factory reset? I had a similar issue (transparency mode on the right side stopped working) and a factory reset fixed it.

 

[RamGuy]

My god. After playing around with that setting, I have discovered how much I love using a certain setup as alternative to the default signature. Check out the attached picture for my preferred, almost clinically analytical and beautiful sound (IMO of course)...

basically set it to “balanced” and “strong.”

wow

Hmm.. These settings are acutally sticking for all my AirPods. I have already set my AirPods Pro to balanced + slight and this has been automatically set on my AirPods Max as well. No wonder why I can't fully understand why many reviews seem to claim that they sound darker compared to my own experience. I've been listening to my AirPods Max tuned with balanced + slight all this time.

EDIT:

Disabling this tuning and I find them to sound less spacious and sparkly. I prefer to have the tuning set to balanced, no doubt about it. I find strong to be too much, I love the additional width and liveliness it adds but the sibilance is too apparent for me.

 

[tkddans]

Hmm.. These settings are acutally sticking for all my AirPods. I have already set my AirPods Pro to balanced + slight and this has been automatically set on my AirPods Max as well. No wonder why I can't fully understand why many reviews seem to claim that they sound darker compared to my own experience. I've been listening to my AirPods Max tuned with balanced + slight all this time.

EDIT:

Disabling this tuning and I find them to sound less spacious and sparkly. I prefer to have the tuning set to balanced, no doubt about it. I find strong to be too much, I love the additional width and liveliness it adds but the sibilance is too apparent for me.

Yea, this is definitely a taste difference. People find the HD 800's sibilant, but I kind of eat it up. Maybe after long listening I'll change my tune. For now, it gives it an experience I love. Love the analytical.

But yea...I can imagine lowering that setting so it's more relaxed.

 

[torifile]

The PX7 and the H95s have been the only two wireless headphones I've considered buying before the APMs. Didn't like the lack of leather/metal on the PX7s and couldn't stomach the cost of the H95s without waiting to see what Apple had in store.

Really glad to hear you think these blow the PX7s out of the water.

I'm planning to replace my B&O H6 + AudioQuest Black with APM's which should arrive tomorrow. If they don't blow the H6's out of the water, I'll be taking them back.

Has anyone tested out higher resolution audio from Tidal/Qobuz etc either via wireless or via the 3.5mm to lightning connection? I know the AAC bluetooth codec maxes out at 320kbps but I'm curious to hear if anyone is hearing a perceivable difference in sound quality, especially hardwired.

I'm going back and forth between wired and wireless and I'm having a hard time telling any difference. Source: Tidal Hifi. MQA version of Lush Life by Coltrane played through Roon -> Modius -> Asgard 3.