[Double-A]

With iPhone volume buttons there seem to be 16 steps with APM’s digital crown 127.

That is an oddly specific number.

 

[tinyman392]

That is an oddly specific number.

That would be 128 volume levels (including 0) or 7 bits.

 

[tinyman392]

So listening to these a little closer... I hear a lot less (vocal) sibilance than I remember. Not sure if it was the update or something else...

Edit: specified vocal sibilance.

 

[tkddans]

So listening to these a little closer... I hear a lot less sibilance than I remember. Not sure if it was the update or something else...

Interesting. I’m getting a new pair soon (after originally returning them). That’ll be interesting to listen for!

 

[nunomeneses]

Am I imagining things or do the AirPods Max sound better now after the firmware update?

Perhaps I’m imagining things and I can’t A/B test for obvious reasons, but I’ve been feeling over the past couple days that my APM have been more airy and textured.

One of the weak points of the APM’s sound has been that they lack micro detail. So even though they excel in certain categories (especially tonality and sub bass), they’ve also had a sort of smoothness to them that had removed some detail.

I’d analogize it to how certain smartphone cameras have a tendency to overprocess, often making skin tones seem a little too smooth, thus removing subtle textures and blemishes in your face. The Chinese smartphone manufacturers are known for that, whereas iPhone cameras are specifically *not* known for that, in that they aim for realism.

Anyways, the APM sound signature has reminded me more of the Huawei or Xiaomi style photo processing, as opposed to Apple’s own photo processing. It’s not extreme by any means, but it’s enough that you feel like you’re losing some texture.

Well, over the past couple days, I feel like some of that processing has been scaled back a little and some of the sound naturalness and texture has been improved. It’s not a gigantic difference, but I’ve definitely been noticing something over the past couple days.

Has anyone else noticed this change or am I imagining things?

I don’t think you are imagining. I’m getting the same feeling so I guess is not imagination... but can’t be 100% sure since I can’t compare but I remember beginning to really dislike the lack of micro detail and now I get some... so I notice some changes...

 

[Bytor123]

What is 'micro detail'? Why would this have been left out (whatever it is) until the update?

 

[MayaTlab]

What is 'micro detail'? Why would this have been left out (whatever it is) until the update?

If it happened, either improvements to the audio over bluetooth implementation (unlikely) or much more likely some small tweaks to the FR curve. The APM is quite restrained if not deficient somewhere in the 2000-5000hz range relative to most target curves and relatively to that range perhaps a little too elevated above. Particularly for rather broad EQ adjustments, even small differences in dB can be picked up by people so it wouldn't take much for us to notice.
0db followed quite closely the APP's firmware updates impact on FR curves, so it's entirely possible that they'll do the same for the APM. If they publish an article on the subject it will appear here : https://www.0db.co.kr/REVIEW_0DB

 

[Heyyoudvd]

What is 'micro detail'? Why would this have been left out (whatever it is) until the update?

The way I understand it, micro detail means exactly what the term sounds like - small, subtle details. Think textures.

A good way I’ve previously described the APM in reference to some other headphones is that if you’re listening to a track with many different layers of instruments playing, you can hear every layer and each individual note. So there may be a background piano and with the APM, you can hear every key being pressed. However, if you listen to each one of those keys, they sound kind of flat.

When comparing the APM to my 6XX, a piano note on the APM would just sound a lot more one dimensional, in that you can hear all the subtle echoes and vibrations and textures with the 6XX, and that was all just missing on the APM. All the notes are present, but each note sounds less textured.

My guess is this is the result of processing being done. It’s like my previous analogy to photography. An overaggressive camera ISP (image signal processor) will try to make an image look perfect, and so it will smooth everything out, to the point that your skin loses its freckles and pores and textures. Think of an Instagram filter, but to a lesser degree. Well, it’s the same thing with audio. When it’s processed, the DAC may be overaggressive in trying to make the audio sound ‘perfect’, ands it ends up smoothing over the subtleties and textures.

That’s how I’ve felt about the APM since release. They sounded good, but not great. The over processing resulted in a lack of micro detail.

And this firmware update seems to have scaled things back and made the processing less aggressive. That’s a very good thing in my opinion.

 

[pablohoney]

So is the general consensus here that the APM sound good and are trying to cater for as many musical tastes as possible but are overly expensive? For me to buy them here they retail at €629! Would I be happy with them vs. My current go to headphones of the B&W P7W and PX7?

 

[Gamerlingual]

So is the general consensus here that the APM sound good and are trying to cater for as many musical tastes as possible but are overly expensive? For me to buy them here they retail at €629! Would I be happy with them vs. My current go to headphones of the B&W P7W and PX7?

I listened to the P7W and I would say no. In the same respect, it's best to listen to them first since they're so expensive to make sure these will be worth your hard earned cash. Best wishes with whatever you decide

 

[Double-A]

That would be 128 volume levels (including 0) or 7 bits.

Noob question: What is a “bit”?

 

[tachen77]

Noob question: What is a “bit”?

"Bit" in computer science terms is the smallest quantity of data possible, which can be equal to 0 or 1.
So 7 bits would be equal to 2^7 = 128 total possibilities.

 

[tinyman392]

Noob question: What is a “bit”?

Computers store things as 0 and 1s; binary. Each 0 or 1 is called a bit. So the number 3 could be represented by the bits 11. The number 127 is represented as 1111111. Hence you get that oddly specific number.

So is the general consensus here that the APM sound good and are trying to cater for as many musical tastes as possible but are overly expensive? For me to buy them here they retail at €629! Would I be happy with them vs. My current go to headphones of the B&W P7W and PX7?

In the US market I’d say that the P7W might be priced slightly north of where they should be. The APM in the US market is in the same vain. For the feature set it has, it’s not stupidly overpriced, but could run a bit cheaper. If you’re buying purely for audio quality there is better out there. I did a comparison earlier in this thread (and in the P7W thread too I think) between the two. In short I felt the P7W and APM either was a wash or the P7W had a slight edge over the APM, but I would put them on the same tier.

 

[yticolev]

So is the general consensus here that the APM sound good and are trying to cater for as many musical tastes as possible but are overly expensive? For me to buy them here they retail at €629! Would I be happy with them vs. My current go to headphones of the B&W P7W and PX7?

What is your focus? Purely sound quality? If so, get the least expensive of your choices here as they are fairly well matched.

Features? That's a very personal and subjective choice (as is sound quality I guess) but could be swayed by current involvement in the Apple ecosystem, ANC, or wireless headphones. Read the entire thread for many takes on both these subjects.

 

[pablohoney]

What is your focus? Purely sound quality? If so, get the least expensive of your choices here as they are fairly well matched.

Features? That's a very personal and subjective choice (as is sound quality I guess) but could be swayed by current involvement in the Apple ecosystem, ANC, or wireless headphones. Read the entire thread for many takes on both these subjects.

I suppose my focus is sound quality, comfort and features. The P7W sound amazing. I have them since 2016 but the clamping force on my head (which is large) makes them uncomfortable after say 30-40 mins. I have the PX7 too as I like the sound signature. They are more comfortable than the P7W but they do not sound as good.