[VICosPhi]

Airpods max look interesting. They had to call the volume control dial "digital crown" of course lol. Memory foam earpads I guess would be more comfortable than leather ones we are used to, and Apple's CPU would likely mean great NC on these. I am not convinced on audio quality yet, until reviews come out comparing with the competition. Boo for proprietary charging port and not offering HQ codecs.

Regarding the cost difference between H95 and these, we should remember that H95 has 3 years warranty vs 1 year on Airpods max. Also leather earpads that are easily swappable on H95. Not sure how easy it is to replace earpads on Airpod max. If buying used, I'd definitely want to swap these foam earpads. Did I mention H95 are 50grams lighter too ? ⚖ And lastly these don't come with a charger and you need to buy $50 cable to use these in wired mode so price is not the only deciding factor all things considered,

 

[Sonic Defender]

As with anything Apple,, while I don't question that many of their products are quite good, you pay a premium for the privilege of Apple trying to ensnare you in their ecosystem. Glad that I never got too caught up in the Apple scheme of things. Saying that, the APM does sound like it has some potential. Time will tell.

 

[Thrifty Spender]

As with anything Apple,, while I don't question that many of their products are quite good, you pay a premium for the privilege of Apple trying to ensnare you in their ecosystem. Glad that I never got too caught up in the Apple scheme of things. Saying that, the APM does sound like it has some potential. Time will tell.

You have to admire the Apple Care + though. you can trash it and just replace it for just $39 twice. Plus you can find an Apple store in all major cities now. Versus B&O which closed down even the Toronto store. Getting B&O doesn't get much confidence these days.

 

[Sonic Defender]

You have to admire the Apple Care + though. you can trash it and just replace it for just $39 twice. Plus you can find an Apple store in all major cities now. Versus B&O which closed down even the Toronto store. Getting B&O doesn't get much confidence these days.

Interesting points, but I am not sure that I agree about the implied risks with B&O products. They have been making and supporting amazing products for several decades now. The fact that they are pulling back from brick and mortar locations I feel is just a statement of the times. The Internet has really been a slow burning, but unstoppable disrupter, IMO. Mega machines like Apple can afford to subsidize physical stores simply to maintain their deep state like penetration into consumer reality. Their stores don't have to be profitable (although I suspect some are).

As for your point about cheap replacements, as an environmentalist I tend to not think a disposable mindset bodes well for the future so while I can see why it would be popular, again, not my thing. Although I do suspect Apple has a pretty decent electronics recycling/harvesting program so the effects may not be as dire as they have the potential to be.

 

[hay2014]

In principle with wireless headphones (with or without ANC) there is no such thing as audiophile. The simple fact of having to transmit audio over a lossless codec is kind of obstructing here. There are definitely headphones however that come damn close to being able to qualify them as audiophile. I definitely think that some headphones such as the Hifiman Ananda BT, but also headphones such as the Shure Aonic 50, the DALI IO-6, the Master & Dynamic MW65, the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3 and perhaps some others come pretty damn close.... And while it is a matter of taste, I definitely think the H95 belong in that list.

Definitely agree. The H95 is definitely in that list. I have the momentum 3 and mw65 and the h95s are in their company for sound...in some cases, even better. The mids are better in the H95 than the momentum 3.. IMHO....

 

[plakat]

Regarding the cost difference between H95 and these, we should remember that H95 has 3 years warranty vs 1 year on Airpods max. Also leather earpads that are easily swappable on H95. Not sure how easy it is to replace earpads on Airpod max. If buying used, I'd definitely want to swap these foam earpads. Did I mention H95 are 50grams lighter too ? ⚖ And lastly these don't come with a charger and you need to buy $50 cable to use these in wired mode so price is not the only deciding factor all things considered,

Pads are magnetically attached on the Max just as well, replacements will be available (79€ per pair though).
The optional cable is 39€ -- but yes, at their price that could well have been in the box.

Mega machines like Apple can afford to subsidize physical stores simply to maintain their deep state like penetration into consumer reality. Their stores don't have to be profitable (although I suspect some are).

As for your point about cheap replacements, as an environmentalist I tend to not think a disposable mindset bodes well for the future so while I can see why it would be popular, again, not my thing. Although I do suspect Apple has a pretty decent electronics recycling/harvesting program so the effects may not be as dire as they have the potential to be.

As far as I know the Apple Stores are cash cows, the highest profit/square meter shops that exist... I don't think they subsidize a single one. But yes, that concept only works so well because Apple has a lot of products to sell, for different target audiences. Trainings/workshops as well... pure A/V companies such as B&O would have a hard time pulling that off, so I can understand them reducing their physical presence.

You're touching a point I generally dislike about wireless headphones: they need new batteries after some time. Apart from the problem of how to change them (are those exact spare parts available or does it use industry standard parts -- better, but unlikely due to space requirements) this leaves us with old batteries. I think this aspect is ignored much too often, and a reason why I like models with a pure passive mode: they don't loose all functionality/value even in case of failing electronics.

Regarding the AirPods Max battery replacement is said to cost $79 and there's hope that the old ones are properly disposed off.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Good points, I have to be honest, I do not know if the stores are profitable, but I have no reason to doubt you. And yes, I agree about the batteries inside wireless headphones, that is absolutely a serious environmental issue. That is another point in favour of some B&O headphones they had user replaceable batteries. At least the old H7 I owned did. I imagine if consumers really push on this issue we would see the big players with resources make user replaceable batteries a standard feature. In time I really hope this to be true. Kudos to Apple for having the possibility of replacing the battery. I used to run an electronic recycling drop-off depot for a major provider so at one time I was fairly up on electronics recycling.

 

[plakat]

Good points, I have to be honest, I do not know if the stores are profitable, but I have no reason to doubt you. And yes, I agree about the batteries inside wireless headphones, that is absolutely a serious environmental issue. That is another point in favour of some B&O headphones they had user replaceable batteries. At least the old H7 I owned did. I imagine if consumers really push on this issue we would see the big players with resources make user replaceable batteries a standard feature. In time I really hope this to be true. Kudos to Apple for having the possibility of replacing the battery. I used to run an electronic recycling drop-off depot for a major provider so at one time I was fairly up on electronics recycling.

Talking to a product manager at Beyerdynamic I learnt that the main reason to use specifically designed and manufactured batteries is the simple question of capacity per available space, which is always rare in headphones. So they went the route of having a battery made specifically for that one headphone (the Aventho Wireless was the topic of our conversation): they were simply unable to achieve their goal with off the shelf parts.

So I guess normal parts won't work in many cases, since consumers always demand more runtime, less weight and more compact build -- obviously contradicting goals. Getting some industry standard sizes suitable for headphones might be a way into the future, but for that the whole ecosystem might have to stabilize a bit. Until then the next best thing is to have manufacturers to support their products by long availability of spare parts and battery change at nominal rates. Or even better, make spare parts available for self-repair for those able to do so.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Talking to a product manager at Beyerdynamic I learnt that the main reason to use specifically designed and manufactured batteries is the simple question of capacity per available space, which is always rare in headphones. So they went the route of having a battery made specifically for that one headphone (the Aventho Wireless was the topic of our conversation): they were simply unable to achieve their goal with off the shelf parts.

So I guess normal parts won't work in many cases, since consumers always demand more runtime, less weight and more compact build -- obviously contradicting goals. Getting some industry standard sizes suitable for headphones might be a way into the future, but for that the whole ecosystem might have to stabilize a bit. Until then the next best thing is to have manufacturers to support their products by long availability of spare parts and battery change at nominal rates. Or even better, make spare parts available for self-repair for those able to do so.

Absolutely, that is what we need, and I suspect there might already be battery tech out there that can cut it, but likely price is an issue. Again, I'm speculating there. I do hope that in the next five years we see a solid move to as you say some degree of standardization with user replaceable batteries. As you probably know, batteries age just sitting there so old stock kept by companies may be unfresh and compromised years down the road, but I guess that risk will exist no matter the model used. It does take the shine off of wireless headphones for me and may make me return to wired. Time will tell.

 

[WDitters]

It does take the shine off of wireless headphones for me and may make me return to wired. Time will tell.

On my end wireless headphones tend to have a relatively short lifecycle as I seem to always be in search of the perfect solution (trying to find near-audiophile SQ combined with decent-to-good ANC) ..

 

[angelom]

Is a surprise for me that after 3 months not more people speaking about the fantastic implementation of the volume dial and/or the excellent touch interface. With my experience of more than 30 wireless (ANC) headphones and earphones, not one is coming close to the very, very excellent user experience I having with the h95. But I must admitting too that I'm a person that changing the volume constantly (often in very little increments) and changing tracks a lot, or repeating a piece of music. For me, personally, for this 2 excellent implementations I'm happy paying 100-200 euros more.

 

[Higaida]

Is a surprise for me that after 3 months not more people speaking about the fantastic implementation of the volume dial and/or the excellent touch interface. With my experience of more than 30 wireless (ANC) headphones and earphones, not one is coming close to the very, very excellent user experience I having with the h95. But I must admitting too that I'm a person that changing the volume constantly (often in very little increments) and changing tracks a lot, or repeating a piece of music. For me, personally, for this 2 excellent implementations I'm happy paying 100-200 euros more.

Actually I don't really like how it works. Even though my first experience was spoiled with broken volume dial. But even now with the new pair of H95 I would not say it works much better. It not as smooth as I expected and in some positions volume dial produces terrible scratch noises.

And when you speak with someone using H95 your opponent can definitely hear those noises. I also a person who likes to constantly change the volume. But I often use source buttons just to avoid turning these dials on H95. And as someone here said: it would be much more convenient to put these dials closer to edge of ear-cups. I agree.

Don't get me wrong —these controls are not bad at all. But I was expecting much better experience with B&O product. And I also mentioned with my new H95 that right dial also rotates a little bit harder than the left one. It can be distinguished when I use just one finger to control. When I use two fingers it works OK.

Regarding transparency mode I would rather prefer some button with instant effect or some fast gesture. Because when someone start talking to me me I want to hear it instantly without quite long rotating the dial.

 

[angelom]

Actually I don't really like how it works.

This isn't a surprise for me at all. You don't liking many, many aspects of the h95. I don't know why you keeping this headphone.

And when you speak with someone using H95 your opponent can definitely hear those noises.

??? I don't understand what you saying.

Regarding transparency mode I would rather prefer some button with instant effect or some fast gesture. Because when someone start talking to me me I want to hear it instantly without quite long rotating the dial.

This isn't a surprise for me at all again, that you aren't happy with another feature of the h95. Yes, the transparency mode is so, so, so slow, is really, really terrible. How can b&o designing so terrible feature?

 

[VICosPhi]

"And when you speak with someone using H95 your opponent can definitely hear those noises."

??? I don't understand what you saying.

I think he means to say that answering party on a two way voice call when using H95, can hear the volume dial mechanical noises

 

[TooFrank]

Good points, I have to be honest, I do not know if the stores are profitable, but I have no reason to doubt you. And yes, I agree about the batteries inside wireless headphones, that is absolutely a serious environmental issue. That is another point in favour of some B&O headphones they had user replaceable batteries. At least the old H7 I owned did. I imagine if consumers really push on this issue we would see the big players with resources make user replaceable batteries a standard feature. In time I really hope this to be true. Kudos to Apple for having the possibility of replacing the battery. I used to run an electronic recycling drop-off depot for a major provider so at one time I was fairly up on electronics recycling.

FWIW: I still enjoy my old H7 without noise cancellation, but replaceable battery The soft ear pads are still fine, but I don’t think they can be replaced anymore.....However, after reading this thread! I must admit, that I am starting to get tempted by the H95....