[Thrifty Spender]

Starting new Thread for the Apple Airpod Max

https://www.apple.com/airpods-max/

Just went on sale for a few hours and some models already slipped to 2021 delivery times.

 

[Tenlow]

Very interesting headphones. Looking forward to hearing these as soon as possible.

Btw would you mind changing the topic name to "AirpodS"

 

[Thrifty Spender]

Very interesting headphones. Looking forward to hearing these as soon as possible.

Btw would you mind changing the topic name to "AirpodS"

Thanks. Good catch. Yeah. I ordered a pair. and actually just returned the B&O H95 yesterday. 100% sure that i can't do real comparison between the two as i don't have it with me anymore. I am going to compare the Airpods Max with B&O H9i, Shure 846 with BT2 bluetooth adapter.

 

[leo253]

I (like many others) was shocked when I saw the price. It's going to be hard for them to compete with a headphone of the caliber of the Sony XM3 or XM4. With that said, I'm willing to give them a fair shot. Just don't know how long it'll be before we're in a post-COVID world again where you can try on / sample headphones.

 

[Thrifty Spender]

I (like many others) was shocked when I saw the price. It's going to be hard for them to compete with a headphone of the caliber of the Sony XM3 or XM4. With that said, I'm willing to give them a fair shot. Just don't know how long it'll be before we're in a post-COVID world again where you can try on / sample headphones.

Personally, not shocked. Just have different expectation at different price point. I expects Apple to punch above it's weight at each price point. So i expect this to rival the headphones in the 6-8 hundred dollars range. Probably can't touch Hifiman Ananda though.

 

[binaryhermit]

Haven't recent Beats headphones been fairly decent sounding?

(That said, does anyone still buy Beats headphones, I don't think I've seen a pair in the wild in a long time, whereas they used to be everywhere)

Anyway, I suspect they'll sound pretty good, perhaps "Good $200 headphones" good, but probably not $550 headphones good.

 

[RYCeT]

Personally, not shocked. Just have different expectation at different price point. I expects Apple to punch above it's weight at each price point. So i expect this to rival the headphones in the 6-8 hundred dollars range. Probably can't touch Hifiman Ananda though.

LOL, I expect this to be comparable to $200-300 headphone, the difference is Apple premium tax. Btw, my household is under apple ecosystem (MBP, Mac mini, Apple TV, iphone, homepod)

 

[rael67]

I ordered them and will Report.

 

[oknidius]

To those who ordered: I’d be very curious to know if these suffer from Chronic Bluetoothitis* as nearly all Bluetooth headsets (except one or two) suffer from.

Looking forward to your reviews.

————————
* Chronic Bluetoothitis: a condition afflicting Bluetooth headphones whereby compression artifacts are audible to this human’s ear. Picture a FLAC file lossy-converted to 192 kbps mp3, then the lossy mp3 itself again reconverted to 128kbps or lower, thus losing even more dynamic range as well as low and high frequencies within the audible spectrum. I’ve found this condition to affect Bluetooth headsets like the Sony WH-1000-XM2 & 3, Bowers & Wilkins PX and P7W, Shure AONIC 50, Bose QC 35-II, Sennheiser PXC550 & Momentum 2 Wireless, Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT, Panasonic RP-HD605N-K, NAD Viso HP70, KEF Space One, Pioneer SE-MS9BN(B), Focal Spirit Wireless, just to shame a few but the list isn’t complete. Wireless earbuds affected include the Jabra Elite 65t, Beoplay E8 (one of the least afflicted), Sony WF-1000X, Samsung Galaxy Earbuds, and various Bluetooth earphone cables from Mee Audio, Westone, and others. The condition is present on all formats tested (SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX-HD, LDAC), with a variety of sources (bluetooth DAPs from Fiio, Sony, Cayin, others; iPhone, plethora of Android devices from Samsung (S9), ZTE Axon 7 Mini, LG G7, Sony Xperia something or other, and Huawei P20 Pro) and occurred regardless of source format (usually FLAC, 320kbps mp3 or 256/320 kbps iTunes/qAAC-converted AAC)

The only headphones which mostly escaped this affliction so far have been the Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless and AKG N700NC

 

[Thrifty Spender]

To those who ordered: I’d be very curious to know if these suffer from Chronic Bluetoothitis* as nearly all Bluetooth headsets (except one or two) suffer from.

Looking forward to your reviews.

————————
* Chronic Bluetoothitis: a condition afflicting Bluetooth headphones whereby compression artifacts are audible to this human’s ear. Picture a FLAC file lossy-converted to 192 kbps mp3, then the lossy mp3 itself again reconverted to 128kbps or lower, thus losing even more dynamic range as well as low and high frequencies within the audible spectrum. I’ve found this condition to affect Bluetooth headsets like the Sony WH-1000-XM2 & 3, Bowers & Wilkins PX and P7W, Shure AONIC 50, Bose QC 35-II, Sennheiser PXC550 & Momentum 2 Wireless, Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT, Panasonic RP-HD605N-K, NAD Viso HP70, KEF Space One, Pioneer SE-MS9BN(B), Focal Spirit Wireless, just to shame a few but the list isn’t complete. Wireless earbuds affected include the Jabra Elite 65t, Beoplay E8 (one of the least afflicted), Sony WF-1000X, Samsung Galaxy Earbuds, and various Bluetooth earphone cables from Mee Audio, Westone, and others. The condition is present on all formats tested (SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX-HD, LDAC), with a variety of sources (bluetooth DAPs from Fiio, Sony, Cayin, others; iPhone, plethora of Android devices from Samsung (S9), ZTE Axon 7 Mini, LG G7, Sony Xperia something or other, and Huawei P20 Pro) and occurred regardless of source format (usually FLAC, 320kbps mp3 or 256/320 kbps iTunes/qAAC-converted AAC)

The only headphones which mostly escaped this affliction so far have been the Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless and AKG N700NC

I have accepted the fact that you are losing something when listening on Bluetooth headphone. Just that the quality is more acceptable these days. Of course quality is still far from wired connection.
From your description, the flaw is just one of the things that you want to compare among the different models.

 

[originalsnuffy]

To those who ordered: I’d be very curious to know if these suffer from Chronic Bluetoothitis* as nearly all Bluetooth headsets (except one or two) suffer from.

I will admit to a limited case of Apple Fan Boi in the sense that I do like the iphone, Apple Watch, and Airpods Pro. But in the case of the Airpods pro at least I would say that Apple does not suffer from Chronic Bluetoothitis. One of the joys of these is the strength of the connection, at least when paired with an iphone. And they sound quite pleasing. I prefer uncompressed music but when it comes to true wireless compression is part of the territory. The Airpods Pro handle that very nicely so I presume Apple over the ear units will at least do the same if not more. I will also add that AAC is pretty good as codecs go in terms of audible artifacts.

 

[leo253]

Looks like reviews are out 4 this one already...All of them (besides Brownlee's) just look like shill reviews, but I think that's typical for early apple product reviews.

 

[binaryhermit]

and it's not like Bluetooth reliably has enough bandwidth to do lossless stereo...

 

[originalsnuffy]

There are codecs like LDAC that are supposed to improve on AAC etc. My experience is that headphones tend to be less reliable with LDAC. And LDAC (and HiBy's version) are still lossy. So what exactly is the point of these codecs? Wake me when we get reliable wireless lossless redbook (or better).

 

[MrSixwing]

I have them on my head right now, wired connection to Chord Mojo, fiber cable, AK 100 II Abbado Berlin Beethoven 5th 24/96kHz. No Transparency or Noise Canceling activated. First impressions: Apple's claim of "no distortion even at high volumes" works for my old ears. I have to listen for distortion in my signal chain professionally in a studio environment daily in my function as a recording engineer for mostly acoustic music. My setup for work is a HD-800 fed by Benchmark DAC/SPL phonitor, a few years old, but in good shape. At home I enjoy my RS-1 for Rock and Pop, AKG 701 or HD-650 for Classical and Folk. The Airpod Max are a miracle for what they cost, imho. For a closed headphone they sound very open, and even in the loudest passages of the last movement of the 5th never sound closed in or tubby. Bass is realistically presented, with visceral weight, tight and precise. The low mids have fluidity and are smooth, high mids are keeping the music tightly together, and the treble is silky, with enough definition to represent a great sense of space and definition. The only other closed headphones I can compare these with are the Sony CD-900 I have been using for tracking forever, and a pair of Audeze LG-1's. The AirPod Max are a huge step above both of them. The built-in amp is quiet enough to be inaudible to my old ears, and whatever Apple added in the processing chain, it works. Even with the Noise Cancelation Function or the Transparency setting activated, these cans never lose their ability to resolve minute details in the recording. Without processing, they do Piano better than most of my gear (Lilya Zilberstein, Beethoven, 24/96kHz), again, very clean and no audible distortion. Very Enjoyable. These cans get out of the way and let the music breathe naturally. They also seem to reveal flaws in a recording mercilessly. Now to Eric Clapton, "Just One Night" (remaster 24/192kHz), a recording I know since I first got a Sony Walkman in 1979..Ok, old people music...I am virtually on stage with the band. I can hear Albert Lee's slightly scratchy pickup selector. That is enough resolution for me. It is quite amazing how well I can locate the bass amp, and the presentation of the sound stage is indeed very precise all around, coherent and clean.
Well, I am by no means an "Audiophile" listener, I have spent my life mostly on live stages and in recording studios. I had to live and with a lot of different sound gear in the past 40 years, starting in the analog age. Digital sound reproduction seemed to lack fluidity and warmth for a long time until technology finally got up to speed in 20-teens. Tonight I am introduced to the latest development in consumer electronics, once again, and I feel that these Apple Phones will stay with me for a while. They are truly amazing for what they are. I had them on my head now for four hours, my ears are getting tired, but the cans still sit comfortably on my head, no sweaty earcups, no pressure on top of my head, no creaking, no mechanical noise. They are closed, I hear no outside noise, and I don't disturb anybody with leaking sound. Even the infamous case is very easy to use and does a good job at protecting the cans in my bag. Of course, when I use them wirelessly, with Apple AAC files from my Iphone, the precise sound of the phones is revealing the limits of the format. But even without AptX, they sound better than my Shure 846 with the newer bluetooth cable. The active noise cancellation turned my F-150 into a Bentley, and FaceTime calls were well executed. No dropouts or hickups. Handling is easy and intuitive, no fumbling with touchpads and such, Battery capacity sits at 86% after 4 hours of listening wired, and I am a happy camper. I hope that I have not wasted your time, as this is not a review, and I am not a reviewer either. But I am having fun listening to these, a generous and unexpected present from a friend who knows my obsession with all things Apple and sound. I hope to hear from other forum members soon about their verdict. I can't say anything bad about them right now, but if you should get them, buy the audio cable from Apple as well. These Phones deserve better than AAC only... It is worth the extra expense. The people at Apple love good sound. These AirPod Max are a testament to that. Well done! Thank you.