Expensive....but wow.

[bosshoss]

I hesitate to post about something that a lot of members may not be currently in a position to afford, but for anyone considering purchasing the Apple Airpod Max headphones, I am compelled to give them a strong approval rating. I bought a pair a few days ago. I have quite a few headphones that cost much more than these, and I'm still impressed by the Airpod Max phones. Listening to the FLAC files with the Airpod Max, I can hear everything I expect to hear from my much more expensive headphones. They have great bass, transparent mids and well balanced highs. And all this while wandering around the house, listening via bluetooth/laptop with no cable. Great range with no dropouts, plenty of volume, good comfort and really incredible build quality. I'm very surprised that Apple seem to have got everything right, first try. All very subjective, and my opinion may differ to yours!

 

[bosshoss]

They stop working if you stand close to a microwave oven while it's operating. Turn off the microwave, and the music starts again.

 

[chas_kit]

well, that engineering looks cool, but do the components really justify a $549 price?

 

[bosshoss]

I think so. They not only contain great speaker components, but also have their own amplification, rechargeable battery, optical sensor, position sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, multicore processors and active noise cancellation which really works. It's hard to tell the difference in sound quality when the noise cancellation is active, but you can barely hear yourself clap your hands when it's on. They are solid, the aluminium headshells are milled from solid blocks, which is why they're quite weighty. The earpad cups are the best I have come across, and are attached with magnets and easily snap on or off for replacement.
The only headphones I have which beat them for sound quality are the $6000 Stax electrostatics, and they need a lot of clumsy and expensive additional outboard gear to operate. The Apple phones easily beat my top of the line $2k Sony phones. Which is amazing. The $2k Fostex TH-900 Mk2 are a closer match but the Apple is again slightly better (but not quite as loud).

 

[Frantic]

I think so. They not only contain great speaker components, but also have their own amplification, rechargeable battery, optical sensor, position sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, multicore processors and active noise cancellation which really works. It's hard to tell the difference in sound quality when the noise cancellation is active, but you can barely hear yourself clap your hands when it's on. They are solid, the aluminium headshells are milled from solid blocks, which is why they're quite weighty. The earpad cups are the best I have come across, and are attached with magnets and easily snap on or off for replacement.
The only headphones I have which beat them for sound quality are the $6000 Stax electrostatics, and they need a lot of clumsy and expensive additional outboard gear to operate. The Apple phones easily beat my top of the line $2k Sony phones. Which is amazing. The $2k Fostex TH-900 Mk2 are a closer match but the Apple is again slightly better (but not quite as loud).

i'm sold...my birthday is July 3rd.

 

[bosshoss]

The maximum benefit comes when you have an Apple laptop and/or iphone to pair with the headphones. I don't think it would be as good if you use Windows/Android. The other point is that they don't play at ear-shattering volume. It's loud enough, but some of my other headphones will play up to the threshold of pain if that's what I want... Bass is subterranean (and also incredibly precise) with the Airpod Max.

 

[Sebastian]

Right now seriously starting to regret my recent purchase of the Sony WH-1000XM4... not that there's anything wrong with them, but the Apple headphones seems to be incredible.

 

[bosshoss]

Yeah...possibly. But everyone needs more than one set of high quality headphones..