Apple airpods MAX (APM) - the over ear metal wireless cans

[TDX 514]

Its a little bit surprise for me that apple released a new headphone. As an IT company I trust apple will have a lot of features for the headphone ease of use. But how about sound quality? I’d keen to find out. 
 

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/12/apple-introduces-airpods-max-the-magic-of-airpods-in-a-stunning-over-ear-design/

 

[RankStranger 3,728]

They’ve been rumoured for a long time. I suspect they’ll sound very good - good enough to excite folks outside of the headphone world - but not competitive (SQ-wise) with similarly-priced offerings from the specialist manufacturers. Their main competitors will be Sony and Bose ANC models and they’ll probably be better, though more expensive.

 

Won’t stop some people from hating them  

Edited December 8, 2020 by RankStranger

[StereoNET 218]

Apple announces its AirPods Max wireless over-ear headphones with active noise cancelling and much, much, more...

View the full article

[sir sanders zingmore 12,136]

they seem to have some pretty nice features - I will certainly have a listen

[TDX 514]

I hope it sounds like HiEnd system to justify the price. 

[Chill3 738]

$900 head phones and the only way to get music into them is Bluetooth 👀

No Wifi or wired connection 

 

even worse seem intended for use with highly compressed  Apple Music 

 

 

[TDX 514]

3 minutes ago, Chill3 said:

$900 head phones and the only way to get music into them is Bluetooth 👀

No Wifi or wired connection 

 

even worse seem intended for use with highly compressed  Apple Music 

 

 

Oops 

[Steffen 942]

5 hours ago, Chill3 said:

$900 head phones and the only way to get music into them is Bluetooth 👀

No Wifi or wired connection 

 

 

You can use them wired:

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MR2C2AM/A/lightning-to-35mm-audio-cable-12m

[odb123 20]

Well there has been quite ab bit of talk about them, first reviews are being able to be released by the youtubers. And some reviews from general people trickling through.

 

Nothing much concrete apart from  the mainstream high access youtubers saying they "sound good".

 

Will update with more critical/ sound based reviews I find but here is a ok one for starters/introduction.

 

 

 

[Marc 12,674]

Our sample is being reviewed as we speak, in the meantime here's our unboxing video:

 

 

[alistairm 3,200]

I bought a pair today. I’m impressed. 

 

First, they are not obviously “Apple”. No external branding and in the space grey (and I expect all of the darker colours) they are elegant and understated. More like a B&O product that anything from Apple, Sony etc. I’m pretty sure Apple is making a “design statement” here and that in years to come headphones in this shape will just be known as Apple headphones. The headband is reminiscent of Stax, which personally I love. 

 

SQ wise, it is early days, but they are tuned in a way that suits my taste and Bluetooth via iphone 12 Pro and Tidal sounds terrific. A quick tour through some of the Disney+ content and it sounds fantastic too, through an iPad, with the “Spatial Audio” in play. 

 

The tech is cool, they are comfortable, they sound as good as any “non-audiophile” headphone I’ve heard, they’re beautifully made and they work really well in an iPhone/iPad ecosystem (presumably Mac too, but I’m a PC guy). The active noise cancellation is as good as anything I’ve tried elsewhere, and I have some experience in the space. The “case” is a complete joke and I’ll certainly never use it, but I’m the type that doesn’t care about a few marks on my everyday carry items anyway. 

 

If you’re in the Apple ecosystem, don’t mind the price tag and use headphones sometimes, they’re compelling. That said, if your goal is outright audio quality bang for your buck, these are not the right answer.