[SparkOnShore]

Correct. They have good drivers and will pick up on source differences. They specifically lack presence and sparkle over SBC, but sound much better over aptX. Even still, for around the same price, I think the HD1 over SBC sound better than the Studio3 over AAC, while you also get an overall better built headphone with aptX and digital USB audio connection.

That’s just your opinion of course! Just needed to emphasize that! Because according to my point of view, it’s just impossible for a headphone over SBC to sound better than another one, more or less of same league, over AAC on Apple Music, on an Apple device! Also keep in mind that the digital USB connection is useless for most people who go buying wireless. If I wanted the USB I could very well keep on using my wired headphones as I was doing 10 years ago...And what about the continuous drops of all Bluetooth products without the W1? Will someone pay gladly you believe 200 eur for SBC, audio/video delays and signal drops, for a rather debatable “better audio quality”?

It’s just that you do not like the new more balanced Beats presentation, without the bass exaggeration of previous generations. Here we have a more emphasized middle section with a good and deep bass, which is not bloated though as it was in the past as well as detailed but not fatiguing highs. We can all remember the good old Shure sound here, it has taken a lot of that, I think.

In any case I like the new Beats presentation, you don’t. That’s all and of course there is nothing wrong with that!

Finally regarding the better built of the HD1, are you considering in that also the hanging cables from both sides on the Sennheiser? On a full size, Bluetooth headphone in 2018?? Really?

 

[plakat]

But sadly it seems like these are useless during the winter? They will just shutdown/turn off when used in sub 0 degrees celsius? I suppose this is some sort of silly "security mechanism" or something? Or are mine actually defective/bugged? It's quite clear that they are shutting down when they get cold. Walk outside for 5 minutes in -5 degrees celsius and they turn off. Get onto the bus, go inside or something and wait 1-2 minutes and they turn back on. Go outside again, in a few minutes they'll turn off again. There are no issues besides this so I suppose it's intended??

Makes them completely useless for my daily commute for 2-3 months per year... The worst thing is how it's impossible to notice major flaws like this when you purchase the product. How am I supposed to notice this until now? I would never settle for these if I had known this as the time of purchase...

I noticed that last winter as well... if it's a bit below 0C they shut off. Designed in California I guess...
Nevertheless I still like them and use th m from time to time. Not during winter though.

 

[hifi80sman]

That’s just your opinion of course! Just needed to emphasize that! Because according to my point of view, it’s just impossible for a headphone over SBC to sound better than another one, more or less of same league, over AAC on Apple Music, on an Apple device! Also keep in mind that the digital USB connection is useless for most people who go buying wireless. If I wanted the USB I could very well keep on using my wired headphones as I was doing 10 years ago...And what about the continuous drops of all Bluetooth products without the W1? Will someone pay gladly you believe 200 eur for SBC, audio/video delays and signal drops, for a rather debatable “better audio quality”?

It’s just that you do not like the new more balanced Beats presentation, without the bass exaggeration of previous generations. Here we have a more emphasized middle section with a good and deep bass, which is not bloated though as it was in the past as well as detailed but not fatiguing highs. We can all remember the good old Shure sound here, it has taken a lot of that, I think.

In any case I like the new Beats presentation, you don’t. That’s all and of course there is nothing wrong with that!

Finally regarding the better built of the HD1, are you considering in that also the hanging cables from both sides on the Sennheiser? On a full size, Bluetooth headphone in 2018?? Really?

Calm down, Sparky.

To each their own. If you like your Beats Studio3, I'm happy for you, I really am. We can rehash SBC vs. AAC vs. aptX here all day long (there's already forum topics for this) to no avail. The single most important factor in headphones is the driver. That's not to say other factors don't make a difference, because they certainly do, but AAC, aptX, etc., alone doesn't make or break something or make something without AAC automatically worse that something with AAC. That's an argument the large corporations want you to buy into. "NICE! It says aptX on the box! It must sound better!". They are all part of a larger chain of events before the sound comes out of the speakers. If the speakers/drivers suck, so will the sound, regardless of codec. The only way to know is to actually A/B test the headphones yourself.

 

[RamGuy]

aptX is vastly overrated in my book. Nothing you playback is encoded in aptX so it will always enforce whatever you are playing back from your device to be re-encoded. Very few of us are playing back lossless audio formats on our phones. It will most likely be 128-320 kbps OGG Vorbis if you are using Spotify. 128-320 kbps AAC or MP3 if you are using Tidal, Google Play Music / YouTube Music etc.. For Apple Music it will be 128-256 kbps AAC. And on iOS pretty much every app developer are recommended to use AAC for their apps. For Apple it makes perfect sense to go with AAC for bluetooth as it will in most situations on iOS not require re-encoding of the streams between the phone and the headphones.

SBC will of course be the worst. It's overall lower bandwidth/bitrate as compared to both aptX and AAC and like aptX it will require the audio streams to be re-encoded between the device and the headphones. So not only do you enforce re-encoding of what will in 99% of the situations already be lossy streams and formats, but you are also forcing it to be re-encoded to a rather low bandwidth/bitrate stream. aptX has the benefit of having various versions/specifications/formats supporting higher bandwidth, while AAC is in the middle of the road but with the benefit of actually being a format that might not require re-encoding to begin with.

The best thing would of course be two have all devices, all operating systems and all headphones supporting every format and solution and automatically use what would be the best one in every situation. But hey, we do not live in a perfect world..

 

[plakat]

While technically possible, I don't think AAC encoded files are actually transferred without reencoding since normally applications transfer audio in a decoded PCM format to the audio driver, which then outputs to the Bluetooth connection.
But anyway, to me AAC encoding is fine, especially on the go: it uses less bandwidth than aptX and the connection is therefore more stable (i.e. less interruptions when there are competing Bluetooth devices).
Whatever codec is used, it won't make the Studio3 a high-end headphone though... but its still good enough for many things.

 

[SparkOnShore]

Calm down, Sparky.

To each their own. If you like your Beats Studio3, I'm happy for you, I really am. We can rehash SBC vs. AAC vs. aptX here all day long (there's already forum topics for this) to no avail. The single most important factor in headphones is the driver. That's not to say other factors don't make a difference, because they certainly do, but AAC, aptX, etc., alone doesn't make or break something or make something without AAC automatically worse that something with AAC. That's an argument the large corporations want you to buy into. "NICE! It says aptX on the box! It must sound better!". They are all part of a larger chain of events before the sound comes out of the speakers. If the speakers/drivers suck, so will the sound, regardless of codec. The only way to know is to actually A/B test the headphones yourself.

aptX is vastly overrated in my book. Nothing you playback is encoded in aptX so it will always enforce whatever you are playing back from your device to be re-encoded. Very few of us are playing back lossless audio formats on our phones. It will most likely be 128-320 kbps OGG Vorbis if you are using Spotify. 128-320 kbps AAC or MP3 if you are using Tidal, Google Play Music / YouTube Music etc.. For Apple Music it will be 128-256 kbps AAC. And on iOS pretty much every app developer are recommended to use AAC for their apps. For Apple it makes perfect sense to go with AAC for bluetooth as it will in most situations on iOS not require re-encoding of the streams between the phone and the headphones.

SBC will of course be the worst. It's overall lower bandwidth/bitrate as compared to both aptX and AAC and like aptX it will require the audio streams to be re-encoded between the device and the headphones. So not only do you enforce re-encoding of what will in 99% of the situations already be lossy streams and formats, but you are also forcing it to be re-encoded to a rather low bandwidth/bitrate stream. aptX has the benefit of having various versions/specifications/formats supporting higher bandwidth, while AAC is in the middle of the road but with the benefit of actually being a format that might not require re-encoding to begin with.

The best thing would of course be two have all devices, all operating systems and all headphones supporting every format and solution and automatically use what would be the best one in every situation. But hey, we do not live in a perfect world..

My opinion is that, due to the high quality Bluetooth connection of the W1 chip by Apple, which appears to have no equivalent in the market for the time being, playing far beyond anything else actually, as well as the AAC audio stream, there are not many options for the best possible (surely not the actual best) Bluetooth audio for Apple users, apart from Apple’s own headphones, either Beats or Apple. Personally I cannot see my self buying headphones which will use SBC, due to the non existent aptX on iPhone. Also, reduced battery life, signal drops, video syncing problems etc, show a product that stands behind Apple’s headphones for Apple devices, even if it may have higher quality drivers. Sound is really personal and at the bottom line the characteristics of each headphone may be liked by some and hated by others...Ears are different and there is no absolute truth in anything...

 

[RamGuy]

I'm very interested in seeing if there is any hold in the rumours about these Apple branded around-ear premium headphones.

 

[hifi80sman]

I'm very interested in seeing if there is any hold in the rumours about these Apple branded around-ear premium headphones.

Probably, as Microsoft now has their own version out. They definitely won't have aptX though.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/business/apple-vs-qualcomm-news/

 

[MICHAELSD]

aptX is overrated. AAC is the best Bluetooth codec available for the time being for the simple reason there’s no loss of quality or re-encoding into a different format when used within the Apple ecosystem.

 

[hifi80sman]

My opinion is that, due to the high quality Bluetooth connection of the W1 chip by Apple, which appears to have no equivalent in the market for the time being, playing far beyond anything else actually, as well as the AAC audio stream, there are not many options for the best possible (surely not the actual best) Bluetooth audio for Apple users, apart from Apple’s own headphones, either Beats or Apple. Personally I cannot see my self buying headphones which will use SBC, due to the non existent aptX on iPhone. Also, reduced battery life, signal drops, video syncing problems etc, show a product that stands behind Apple’s headphones for Apple devices, even if it may have higher quality drivers. Sound is really personal and at the bottom line the characteristics of each headphone may be liked by some and hated by others...Ears are different and there is no absolute truth in anything...

If the Studio3 had an app where you can EQ and adjust the ANC to go along with it, I think that would increase sales and would grab people like me into the fold. They feel antiquated for the current times and it seems Beats is just content on seeing how much they can squeeze out of them by releasing new colors. I don't think you'll see much innovation on the Beats side, as Apple wants to associate that with their brand. I'm sure Apple's new headphones will have the ability to EQ via iOS and not just using the garbage presets they have in there currently.

 

[SparkOnShore]

I'm very interested in seeing if there is any hold in the rumours about these Apple branded around-ear premium headphones.

For sure there will be new W1 headphones soon. Collection lacks variety for now. AirPods sound quality is for fun, so what we’ve got are just those Beats. First thing that came to my mind when W1 got initially introduced by Apple was if the chip would eventually be given to other headphone manufacturers as well. My opinion is that it should be given, since Apple cannot cover all tastes in audio, by any means! Also it may be more profitable for Apple than producing 3 headphones every 3 years under the Beats brand...

 

[plakat]

aptX is overrated. AAC is the best Bluetooth codec available for the time being for the simple reason there’s no loss of quality or re-encoding into a different format when used within the Apple ecosystem.

From a technical standpoint I still doubt that's what actually happens, since it would require the applications to differentiate between the codec support on the receiving headphone. Yes, it might be possible, but I don't think it's implemented that way.
Nevertheless I, too, prefer AAC, in part due to th emote robust connections due to lower bandwidth requirements.

For sure there will be new W1 headphones soon. Collection lacks variety for now. AirPods sound quality is for fun, so what we’ve got are just those Beats. First thing that came to my mind when W1 got initially introduced by Apple was if the chip would eventually be given to other headphone manufacturers as well. My opinion is that it should be given, since Apple cannot cover all tastes in audio, by any means! Also it may be more profitable for Apple than producing 3 headphones every 3 years under the Beats brand...

I don't think apple will ever give their custom chips to anyone else, not even the W series. Would be very nice, but I would be very surprised... A V-moda CF2 with W1 would be fun though, or an EarStudio...

 

[SparkOnShore]

From a technical standpoint I still doubt that's what actually happens, since it would require the applications to differentiate between the codec support on the receiving headphone. Yes, it might be possible, but I don't think it's implemented that way.
Nevertheless I, too, prefer AAC, in part due to th emote robust connections due to lower bandwidth requirements.



I don't think apple will ever give their custom chips to anyone else, not even the W series. Would be very nice, but I would be very surprised... A V-moda CF2 with W1 would be fun though, or an EarStudio...

You are right about 3rd party applications. It’s feasible but maybe it’s not happening, at least not in all cases. But on Apple’s own applications, like Apple Music, I am almost sure that there is no re-encoding and there is AAC stream from Apple Music to Apple’s own headphones, either Apple branded or Beats. This is certainly a big audio quality advantage over all the other headphones, on just Apple devices though. I believe also that due to the above fact, Beats headphones sound much different on an Android device for example, from an iPhone using Apple Music with not re-encoded AAC stream. I believe that the most accurate comparison tests should only use Beats with iPhone and Apple Music. And I am not sure that all internet reviewers are acting this way...

Most probably you are right and Apple will never give their W1 chip to any other headphone manufacturer. But from a financial standpoint, it would not be bad at all, since they could earn from every headphone using the W1 chip. Also every well known manufacturer could of course keep on selling their own lines + an Apple dedicated one. But I think that in all such cases what prevails at the end is the need of a big corporation to sell their own products with their own brand and their own custom chip. Even if we just have 2 or 3 headphones, it’s offering to them the most of control, as desired...

 

[MICHAELSD]

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/beats/powerbeats3-wireless

Rtings finally got around to testing the PowerBeats3, and the raw response is perhaps the best I’ve seen measured on a Beats headphone. The bass boost is done right (~3dB with slight emphasis on the sub-bass), with a rising response throughout the mid-range that favors the upper mid-range which I’ve found on Sennheiser headphones to bring out the clarity in vocals, and a slightly veiled treble with a top-end roll-off that prevents fatigue. Imaging and THD also measure extremely well.

This response also represents a significant improvement over the PowerBeats2, which has an almost comical 9dB upper-bass boost. I would try a pair but there are still a lot of critiques against build quality and it’s over two years old at this point but I think if Beats stuck in that direction they could have a winning next-generation lineup.

 

[hifi80sman]

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/beats/powerbeats3-wireless

Rtings finally got around to testing the PowerBeats3, and the raw response is perhaps the best I’ve seen measured on a Beats headphone. The bass boost is done right (3-4dB with slight emphasis on the sub-bass), with a rising response throughout the mid-range that favors the upper mid-range which I’ve found on Sennheiser headphones to bring out the clarity in vocals, and a slightly veiled treble with a top-end roll-off that prevents fatigue. Imaging and THD also measure extremely well.

This response also represents a significant improvement over the PowerBeats2, which has an almost comical 9dB upper-bass boost. I would try a pair but there are still a lot of critiques against build quality and it’s over two years old at this point but I think if Beats stuck in that direction they could have a winning next-generation lineup.

Interesting. They measure surprisingly good for what they are. Haven’t tried them out yet, but I may see if any of my friends has a pair I can test. Nice find!