[Mouseman]

Anyone using spatial audio with iOS 16?

Yes, although I haven't set up the personalized version yet.

 

[jasonb]

Yes, although I haven't set up the personalized version yet.

I’ve used the personalized spatial audio with the AirPods Max. It still only sounds good with certain music. I think it sounds great with the older jazz that’s in Atmos on Apple Music, but nothing at all that’s rock/metal.

 

[DeTinux]

6 hours of battery life (like recent AP 3) is good upgrade and very sufficient for a lot of people.

Volume control (not available in AP 3) is great, this is the only aspect I'm really want in AP 3.

BUT, 2 x better ANC than APP 1?! If this is really true, and is difficult believing is really 2 x better, then the APP 2 is not only better than all ANC IEMs today but is better too than all the big ANC headphones (including AirPods Max) because APP 1's ANC is very good already.

If ANC is 3 dB more effective, then it is literally twice as effective, so it doesn’t take that much to make this statement.

I just hope the shrieking noise will be gone in v2.

 

[rasmushorn]

If ANC is 3 dB more effective, then it is literally twice as effective, so it doesn’t take that much to make this statement.

I just hope the shrieking noise will be gone in v2.

When they said 2x as good as v1, I am sure they meant the frequency of the H2 chip.

 

[angelom]

A lot of reviews in YouTube today / now for APP 2, but ANC isn't comparing properly yet, but one person is saying that is similar with sony (earphones) wf 1000m4 and very close with sony (headphones) wh xm5 and one person saying that maybe new Bose QC earbuds II maybe only very little better. The sound everybody saying is better than APP 1. I will receiving my pair tomorrow and I will posting my impressions tomorrow too. I only having Sony (headphone) XM3 for comparing best ANC, and will comparing the sound quality with recent AP 3 and with my favourite (BT ANC) headphone (the expensive 1000 euros Mark Levinson 5909).

 

[tiagopinto]

A lot of reviews in YouTube today / now for APP 2, but ANC isn't comparing properly yet, but one person is saying that is similar with sony (earphones) wf 1000m4 and very close with sony (headphones) wh xm5 and one person saying that maybe new Bose QC earbuds II maybe only very little better. The sound everybody saying is better than APP 1. I will receiving my pair tomorrow and I will posting my impressions tomorrow too. I only having Sony (headphone) XM3 for comparing best ANC, and will comparing the sound quality with recent AP 3 and with my favourite (BT ANC) headphone (the expensive 1000 euros Mark Levinson 5909).

Looking forward to your impressions on sound quality for the APP 2.

(Better than Free Byrds? Better than MTW3? Better than ATH-TWX9?) I know you may not be able to compare with these but, anyway, I trust your opinions.

 

[Surf Monkey]

A lot of reviews in YouTube today / now for APP 2, but ANC isn't comparing properly yet, but one person is saying that is similar with sony (earphones) wf 1000m4 and very close with sony (headphones) wh xm5 and one person saying that maybe new Bose QC earbuds II maybe only very little better. The sound everybody saying is better than APP 1. I will receiving my pair tomorrow and I will posting my impressions tomorrow too. I only having Sony (headphone) XM3 for comparing best ANC, and will comparing the sound quality with recent AP 3 and with my favourite (BT ANC) headphone (the expensive 1000 euros Mark Levinson 5909).

I had the exact right amount of Apple Cash back in my wallet to get a set for “free.” Mine come tomorrow as well.

I’ve been completely unimpressed by the sound quality of the APP 1.0. For one thing the largest tips they ship with it are too small for me so I can’t get a reliable seal with them. They got better when I put AZLA Xelastic tips on them, but they have such a weird tune on them that even a reasonably good seal didn’t make them much better. To my ears. They don’t suck, but they’re near the bottom of my list for SQ.

What I DO like them for is listening to podcasts while I walk the dog or do errands. The transparency mode works great and the ANC isn’t half bad. So, when I hear that the APP 2.0 has improvements in both of these areas my curiosity is peaked. If they have a better tuned and better sounding driver? Bonus.

I’ll write up some impressions when I get mine as well.

 

[mainguy]

I know a lot of people are looking for tws comparisons here so hopefully this MW08 vs APP one might be handy for someone.

Been using the MW08 exclusively for 3 weeks, took them on holiday and probably clocked 100+ hours on them now. Airpods Pro I've used for longer, I wanted to compare the sound for you guys. I'm quite an experienced listener and have used a lot of high end iems, own high end gear, etc, so to a some extent I think I know what to look for.

Detail

In the treble and midrange the Airpods Pro are more detailed than the MW08. Treble detail is moderately improved, mid range slightly, but APP have such better tonal balance that they seem far more detailed, simply because they bring details more to the fore, especially in the treble region. The MW08 have a more detailed bass region.

Tonal Balance

Airpods Pro crush the MW08 in this category. MW08 have a very good bass response, but they lean on this, and the mid range and treble is slightly masked. The APP have a poorer bass response, but the gains in the mid range and treble presentation are tremendous. Music sounds much fuller, and dare I say, more complete. It feels as though things are missing on MW08, sadly, due to the poor tuning. The Airpods Pro are much closer to a neutral presentation.

Soundstage

Unexpectedly APP sound bigger, they also go louder, which is besides the point. The soundstage is more cohesive on APP, on MW08 it feels like there are gaps, weirdly. The bass on MW08 sounds very grand an impressive, but the overall soundscape is not well presented.

Conclusion

It's always intriguing to try a premium product and find...It's not that good. I'm am very suspicious of people reviewing these and saying they're better than Airpods Pro, I have a strong feeling they did not do a rigorous side by side comparison.

I tested them side by side using 30 second clips from rock, vocal heavy and electronic music. I looked carefully at each part of the FR response.

There is no two ways about, the Airpods Pro are a much more accurrate earbud. The tonal balance is so poor on the MW08 that the bass destroys the soundscape, and treble detail is sacrificed for oomph. The result is a feeble sounding earbud, that can't compete with the APP technically, nor does it get as loud, nor does it come close to APP in comfort or features.

Disclaimer, when I didn't have APP on hand on holiday I was very happy with MW08 and enjoyed them plenty, because music is always good. It is only in comparisons that they've been revealed as...poor.

 

[yrstruly]

My new Airpod Pro 2nd Gens arrived just a while ago. Initial impressions: there has indeed been a sonic improvement over the last gen - mids sound more natural / upper mids less peaky and a bit more subdued, I'm hearing better bass definition/quality too. ANC also sounding better although need to test outdoors to see how it stacks up against other models. Will try and follow up with more detailed impressions but I’m sure angelom has that covered…!

 

[angelom]

The people that know me know that I'm trying being as objective as possible and I trying not exaggerating even when I'm exciting with a new product. BUT, I'm sorry that this time with the new APP 2 I must saying this: WOW! and WOW again! I explaining now. WOW x 2 is because of the ANC and sound quality.

I am lucky AND very unlucky because I have construction workers only 30-40 meters away from my house. Unlucky because this will ending in more than one year from now, maybe even 2 years. Lucky because I can going outside in the balcony and can comparing the different frequencies for ANC in a real life loud environment. So, this post is specially about the APP 2 and the Sony XM3 headphone. The XM3 I only keeping because the ANC is VERY good. I buying the XM4 and the ANC is very similar so I returning it. I never trying the new XM5, but I seeing review saying that ANC is only little better than XM4/XM3.

So, the first WOW! is because I testing ANC for 30 minutes and ANC in APP 2 is better than XM3 in ALL frequencies. I can't remember the APP 1 100% correct now because I selling long time ago, but I remember the ANC is very good in that time, but definitely isn't so good like XM3. When I testing today, I changing constantly because I can't believing how excellent the ANC in the APP 2 is, specially because the construction noises are changing very constantly. This test is very good because the noises outside including low, mids and high frequencies. The APP 2 is better in ALL frequencies.

I taking my 1000 euros Mark Levinson 5909 last month in the airplane and the ANC is mediocre comparing with XM3 and now more even with APP 2. I think even the ANC in 5909 is little more bad than b&o h95 because with h95 I thinking "yes, isn't so good like xm3 but is sufficiently good for me". With the 5909 I'm thinking "this really isn't sufficiently good because I must playing music more loud than I wanting for eliminating airplane noise". When I buying the AirPods Max (APM), this is the new best ANC I hearing (from XM3, XM4 and Bose QC 35 II). I think the APP 2, from my memory is like APM or, again from my memory, even little better. The APP 2 isn't 2 x better than APP 1 like Apple saying, but is obvious very clear improvement. Now is really, REALLY competing with the best big (full size) ANC headphones in the market. Impressive.

The second WOW! is the sound. I don't have APP 1 like I saying above, but my memory is telling me that the new APP 2 is really giving better sound, more clean too, the bass is very present (more amplitude / volume but in a good way) and the mids and specially highs aren't so forward but very clear too. I think the sound is more close to AirPods Max, but from my memory (I selling my APM long time ago) I preferring the sound of APP 2 because I think the bass in APM is too much in the sub bass (maybe the APM is going more deep but is exaggerated) and is little muddy in mids and treble. I very quickly (3 minutes) comparing the sound with my AP 3 and the APP 2 sound is better, the AP 3 having less bass and more bright not always in best way but sometimes yes. I preferring the more warm sound of the APP 2, is more rich, more exciting and more close with real life sound, in my opinion.

The volume buttons is really the third WOW! for me specially because I'm a person that is changing volume ALL the time. And the nice thing is that the sliding is working perfectly without much force. And all the other controls (play/pause, next/last track, changing ANC, off or transparency) isn't necessary pressing so much. I must saying that in this simple unimportant (not for me) aspect Apple's engineers doing a superb job.

All my music testing is with specialise stereo off because I preferring in general this setting. For podcasts and films I love the spatialise sound, but I don't testing this because for me music, ANC and play controls are number one aspects.

And one thing I forgetting is that from my memory I feeling the APP 1 more inside my ears. I think the position of the vents in the new version is making the APP 2 feeling more close like the AP 3 that I love. This is meaning that one aspect I love about the AP 3 is the feeling of not intrusion in my ears. Yes, the APP 2 isn't like my AP 3 yet, but the difference is small. Maybe this is a fourth WOW! for me personally.

 

[yrstruly]

The people that know me know that I'm trying being as objective as possible and I trying not exaggerating even when I'm exciting with a new product.

BUT, I'm sorry that this time with the new APP 2 I must saying this: WOW! and WOW again! This is the end of this post, really, but I explaining now. WOW x 2 is because of the ANC and sound quality.

I am lucky AND very unlucky because I have construction workers only 30-40 meters away from my house. Unlucky because this will ending in more than one year from now, maybe even 2 years. Lucky because I can going outside in the balcony and can comparing the different frequencies for ANC in a real life loud environment. So, this post is specially about the APP 2 and the Sony XM3 headphone. The XM3 I only keeping because the ANC is VERY good. I buying the XM4 and the ANC is very similar so I returning it. I never trying the new XM5, but I seeing review saying that ANC is only little better than XM4/XM3.

So, the first WOW! is because I testing ANC for 30 minutes and ANC in APP 2 is better than XM3 in ALL frequencies. I can't remember the APP 1 100% correct now because I selling long time ago, but I remember the ANC is very good in that time, but definitely isn't so good like XM3. When I testing today, I changing constantly because I can't believing how excellent the ANC in the APP 2 is, specially because the construction noises are changing very constantly. This test is very good because the noises outside including low, mids and high frequencies. The APP 2 is better in ALL frequencies.

I taking my 1000 euros Mark Levinson 5909 last month in the airplane and the ANC is mediocre comparing with XM3 and now more even with APP 2. I think even the ANC in 5909 is little more bad than b&o h95 because with h95 I thinking "yes, isn't so good like xm3 but is sifficeinty good for me". With the 5909 I'm thinking "this really isn't sufficiently good because I must playing music more loud than I wanting for eliminating airplane noise". When I buying the AirPods Max (APM), this is the new best ANC I hearing (from XM3, XM4 and Bose QC 35 II). I think the APP 2, from my memory is like APM or, again from my memory, even little better. The APP 2 isn't 2 x better than APP 1 like Apple saying, but is clear very clear improvement. Now is really, REALLY competing with the best ANC headphones in the market. Impressive.

The second WOW! is the sound. I don't have APP 1 like I saying above, but my memory is telling me that the new APP 2 is really giving better sound, more clean too, the bass is very present (more amplitude / volume but in a good way) and the mids and specially highs aren't so forward but very clear too. I think the sound is more close to AirPods Max, but from my memory (I selling my APM long time ago) I preferring the sound of APP 2 because I think the bass in APM is too much in the sub bass (maybe the APM is going more deep but is exaggerated) and is little muddy in mids and treble. I very quickly (3 minutes) comparing the sound with my AP 3 and the APP 2 sound is better, the AP 3 having less bass and more bright not always in best way but sometimes yes. I preferring the more warm sound of the APP 2, is more rich, more exciting and more close with real life sound, in my opinion.

The volume buttons is really the third WOW! for me specially because I'm a person that is changing volume ALL the time. And the nice thing is that the sliding is working perfectly without much force. And all the other controls (play/pause, next/last track, changing ANC, off or transparency) isn't necessary pressing so much. I must saying that in this simple unimportant (not for me) aspect Apple's engineers doing a superb job.

All my music testing is with specialise stereo off because I preferring in general this setting. For podcasts and films I love the spatialise sound, but I don't testing this because for me music, ANC and tour controls are number one aspects.

And one thing I forgetting is that from my memory I feeling the APP 1 more inside my ears. I think the position of the vents in the new version is making the APP 2 feeling more close like the AP 3 that I love. This is meaning that one aspect I love about the AP 3 is the feeling of not intrusion in my ears. Yes, the APP 2 isn't like my AP 3 yet, but the difference is small. Maybe this is a fourth WOW! for me personally.

Pretty much agree with these impressions although can't speak to how it sounds vs the AP 3 as haven't tried those. Funny - like you I also kept hold of my XM3s over the years. Great bang for buck with those and actually preferred the sound to the XM4s.

Anyway on the new APP, agree the sound sig is more similar to the Airpod Max (albeit less of a v shape here - the treble on APP 2 seems pretty relaxed) than APP 1 which were (somewhat uniquely for a true wireless?) mid forward with upper mid emphasis. Really enjoying the bass response on these - it's nice to actually have some sub bass this time around.

I just tried these out in the gym and they fared well, although the ANC did a weird thing where it focussed on/amplified someone using a hand dryer nearby. Quirk of the adaptive ANC maybe? Could well be my phone at fault as the bluetooth has played up a bit recently too.

Anyway very happy with these - prob worth pointing it I don't think there's massive/night and day improvement over the APP 1, more some v welcome incremental changes.

 

[clerkpalmer]

Pretty much agree with these impressions although can't speak to how it sounds vs the AP 3 as haven't tried those. Funny - like you I also kept hold of my XM3s over the years. Great bang for buck with those and actually preferred the sound to the XM4s.

Anyway on the new APP, agree the sound sig is more similar to the Airpod Max (albeit less of a v shape here - the treble on APP 2 seems pretty relaxed) than APP 1 which were (somewhat uniquely for a true wireless?) mid forward with upper mid emphasis. Really enjoying the bass response on these - it's nice to actually have some sub bass this time around.

I just tried these out in the gym and they fared well, although the ANC did a weird thing where it focussed on/amplified someone using a hand dryer nearby. Quirk of the adaptive ANC maybe? Could well be my phone at fault as the bluetooth has played up a bit recently too.

Anyway very happy with these - prob worth pointing it I don't think there's massive/night and day improvement over the APP 1, more some v welcome incremental changes.

Interesting. I’m hearing some say incremental and others claiming huge improvements. Is the truth in the middle? I currently have the new Bose going. Gonna pick up the APP2 and keep which I prefer. Will post impressions later.

 

[angelom]

One aspect I forgetting mentioning is that the new APP 2 is more loud than the recent AP 3 and this is good for old masters and recordings or some classical music.

 

[angelom]

I know a lot of people are looking for tws comparisons here so hopefully this MW08 vs APP one might be handy for someone.

Been using the MW08 exclusively for 3 weeks, took them on holiday and probably clocked 100+ hours on them now. Airpods Pro I've used for longer, I wanted to compare the sound for you guys. I'm quite an experienced listener and have used a lot of high end iems, own high end gear, etc, so to a some extent I think I know what to look for.

Detail

In the treble and midrange the Airpods Pro are more detailed than the MW08. Treble detail is moderately improved, mid range slightly, but APP have such better tonal balance that they seem far more detailed, simply because they bring details more to the fore, especially in the treble region. The MW08 have a more detailed bass region.

Tonal Balance

Airpods Pro crush the MW08 in this category. MW08 have a very good bass response, but they lean on this, and the mid range and treble is slightly masked. The APP have a poorer bass response, but the gains in the mid range and treble presentation are tremendous. Music sounds much fuller, and dare I say, more complete. It feels as though things are missing on MW08, sadly, due to the poor tuning. The Airpods Pro are much closer to a neutral presentation.

Soundstage

Unexpectedly APP sound bigger, they also go louder, which is besides the point. The soundstage is more cohesive on APP, on MW08 it feels like there are gaps, weirdly. The bass on MW08 sounds very grand an impressive, but the overall soundscape is not well presented.

Conclusion

It's always intriguing to try a premium product and find...It's not that good. I'm am very suspicious of people reviewing these and saying they're better than Airpods Pro, I have a strong feeling they did not do a rigorous side by side comparison.

I tested them side by side using 30 second clips from rock, vocal heavy and electronic music. I looked carefully at each part of the FR response.

There is no two ways about, the Airpods Pro are a much more accurrate earbud. The tonal balance is so poor on the MW08 that the bass destroys the soundscape, and treble detail is sacrificed for oomph. The result is a feeble sounding earbud, that can't compete with the APP technically, nor does it get as loud, nor does it come close to APP in comfort or features.

Disclaimer, when I didn't have APP on hand on holiday I was very happy with MW08 and enjoyed them plenty, because music is always good. It is only in comparisons that they've been revealed as...poor.

I'm sorry but I think that you comparison is wrong, even if I don't have the APP 1 anymore, or at least when I comparing right now the new APP 2 (that I think is better than APP 1) with the MW08. I think the MW08 is having better sound than APP 2, with more definition and resolution with the MW08 beryllium driver that is better than the previous MW07 Plus in distortion, and the bass isn't so accentuated in MW08 than is in APP 2! The MW08 and new APP 2 having more emphasis in low frequencies, but the MW08 is having better tonal balance in general. I think maybe you don't having the right eartips / fit or something isn't right because your very negative opinion of MW08 is very strange.

 

[MyOwnFlag]

whoops, replied to the wrong post