AirPod Max buy or not?

[Brachaci]

I bought the blue AirPod Max when they were $449 on Amazon and my friend had just paid me $80 for helping her on a project so I said why not and bought them on impulse. Do they sound great? Absolutely. Do I use them only at home? Yes. Do I use them all the time? No. Would I buy them at $550. No. I don't regret the purchase after basically paying $370 plus tax but I definitely would not pay $550. I've had no condensation issues so far. I use them once or twice a week and leave them laying flat on my desk.

I would have had done the same

 

[telo123]

After 3 weeks of deliberation during the extended holiday return policy, I ultimately returned them. I could not get use to the weight of the headphones, as much as I love the convenience of the H1 chip, sound quality, and awesome ANC that the Max's offer. The headband causes soreness on the top of my head after only 20 minutes of wearing them, and my ears could not get use to the pressure.

If you do get them, ensure you buy them from a retailer that allows a return (many places in Canada do not offer refunds on headphones for sanitation issues).

 

[Cashmonee]

Well, you don't have to agree. The Beaty of freedom is that everyone can stay with your own statements.

But, if you are so critical in your listenings, even the pricy HiFiMan won't fulfill all your needs. Right?

We are not audiophiles, and this topic is note about that. We are music lovers telling other music lovers what we like most.

The holly graal of HiFi audio is not been discussed here. 👍

I guess I took your original statement as praising the APM to the point of being as good as or better than "the highest quality analog ones." You pretty clearly stated that your analog equipment (that does not include an amp I guess?) is no better than the APM. I have taken your original quote and bolded the relevant parts.

I'm a music lover. I own a lot of external DACs and some of the highest quality analog headphones out there.

If you are listening to streamed music, there's nothing better than AirPodsMax. It sounds amazing. As equal as the highest quality analog ones.

And its build quality is fantastic. The posts about condensation and other issues are a pretty frequent phenomenon that happens when you deliver such a complex product to ordinary people.

Condensation inside the cans isn't an AirPodsMax issue, but an issue common to all around the ear headphones with closed back. It's simple to understand that something that keeps the air in a closed shell in contact to human body (that produces heat) will lead to some level of condensation, isn't it?

Regular users doesn't know the need of maintenance in such headphones, because they never have access to it before. I love Apple for this effort to deliver regular people high tech and complex products.🙂

This is a blatantly false statement that does a disservice to those who may be considering these headphones and the APM themselves. You are setting a bar of performance expectation that the APM could never hope to meet. The APM are good for what they are (a bluetooth headphone), but cannot compete with even relatively entry level headphones like the Sennheiser, HD58X HD6XX or HIFIMann Sundara from a sound perspective.

 

[Cashmonee]

interesting discussion here. I am also considering buying APM so I went yesterday to try them out and comapre them to my current APP. I was standing there and listening to couple songs for 20 minutes or so on APM and then on APP and must say how impressed I was with the APP performance. I mean there were few songs were I liked the sound quality of the APM better over the APP, but considering the price difference and convenience of the APP I would say they are for me better choice for the daily use. Don’t take me wrong, the APM delivered superb sound experience, but when I compared them directly to APP I found them little bit behind in mids and highs in most songs I’ve been listening.

Now if we are talking about the Noice cancellation, the APM performed much better as expected of course. With the longer battery life per charge and great NC I am still considering to buy them to have, but most likely will wait for the price to drop little bit because 599€ (Slovakia) is too much to justify the buy.

To get a fair assessment, you would need time with the APM, especially if you have been using the APP for a while. Your ears adapt to a sound signature after a while and your brain may be turned off to a different signature at first simply because it is different. That is not to say the APM are necessarily better to your ear, just that you wouldn't know from a one off listening experience in store. Think of wine tasting. There is a reason you cleanse your palate in between different wines.

 

[Fravin]

This is a blatantly false statement that does a disservice to those who may be considering these headphones and the APM themselves. You are setting a bar of performance expectation that the APM could never hope to meet. The APM are good for what they are (a bluetooth headphone), but cannot compete with even relatively entry level headphones like the Sennheiser, HD58X HD6XX or HIFIMann Sundara from a sound perspective.

If you are listening to a regular streamed source yes it is!

If you pair the right file source with a good DAC+Pre-Amp, of course it isn't. That's not the discussion here. I think you can find more suitable audience in Digital Audio Sub-Forum. Here we are just regular persons who loves music using the tech which is available.

And for that audience, yes AirPodsMax are on the edge, on the verge, as good as some of the highest quality DACS ans wired Headphones around.

 

[Cashmonee]

If you are listening to a regular streamed source yes it is!

If you pair the right file source with a good DAC+Pre-Amp, of course it isn't. That's not the discussion here. I think you can find more suitable audience in Digital Audio Sub-Forum. Here we are just regular persons who loves music using the tech which is available.

And for that audience, yes AirPodsMax are on the edge, on the verge, as good as some of the highest quality DACS ans wired Headphones around.

Nearly all streamed sources in 2022 are plenty high enough in quality. We are not talking like its 1997 here. In fact, I suspect most APM users are also Apple Music subscribers who have access to high quality streams.

Also, you keep saying DACs but no mention of a headphone amp. DACs are one piece of the chain that generally do not have much effect on the sound (unless you get real high end, and many don't think even those do much). The amp and headphone are more the factors that matter. I can also assure you that no one into headphones considers the APM as "on the edge, on the verge, as good as some of the highest quality DACS and wired Headphones around."

I honestly don't understand the point of this. I love the APM and they are excellent at what they were designed to be. They are not however on par with a good amp/dac stack paired with a quality wired headphone from a sound quality perspective. And that is 100% ok because that is not what they were designed to be.

 

[Fravin]

Nearly all streamed sources in 2022 are plenty high enough in quality. We are not talking like its 1997 here. In fact, I suspect most APM users are also Apple Music subscribers who have access to high quality streams.

You know you won’t take advantage of your stack by using streamed audio.

There are those who enjoy MQA audio from Tidal, but I don’t think it’s good enough. I’m talking about DSD and FLAC files in a huge library. Using that as source you can take advantage of good amps and dacs.

My point here is: for streaming you don’t have advantage. This audience is people who are listening to streaming music. Ok, it’s the best quality possible but it didn’t match the quality of DSD and FLAC files.

For instance no one here are prone to hook their stack in a balanced power outlet, neither wants to dive into the cable discussion. Or the pursuit for the best sound possible.


Having said that, the AirPods Max are up to the highest quality gear using streamed source.


My gear is

Cambridge Audio
CXA 81 AMP
DAC Magic Plus
CXC CD Transport
TT

ifi
Micro iDSD Black Label
Zen Signature 2

Schiit
Valhala
Modi 2

Music Fidelity
M1 Amp

Senheiser
HD800S
HD650
Momentum HD

Bower & Wilkins
P7
P9

Beyerdinamycs
DT990
DT350
DT770

AKG
K270


Of course all of it is hooked in a balanced power output. And I need to use Windows to play such files.
This is my personal audio gear. That I have accumulated for all these years. I enjoy HiFi Audio. But I love streamed audio by its simplicity.

But who cares? I love the AirPods Max with Apple Music. And I enjoy it besides all those terrific equipment.

 

[Cashmonee]

You know you won’t take advantage of your stack by using streamed audio.

There are those who enjoy MQA audio from Tidal, but I don’t think it’s good enough. I’m talking about DSD and FLAC files in a huge library. Using that as source you can take advantage of good amps and dacs.

My point here is: for streaming you don’t have advantage. This audience is people who are listening to streaming music. Ok, it’s the best quality possible but it didn’t match the quality of DSD and FLAC files.

For instance no one here are prone to hook their stack in a balanced power outlet, neither wants to dive into the cable discussion. Or the pursuit for the best sound possible.


Having said that, the AirPods Max are up to the highest quality gear using streamed source.


My gear is

Cambridge Audio
CXA 81 AMP
DAC Magic Plus
CXC CD Transport
TT

ifi
Micro iDSD Black Label
Zen Signature 2

Schiit
Valhala
Modi 2

Music Fidelity
M1 Amp

Senheiser
HD800S
HD650
Momentum HD

Bower & Wilkins
P7
P9

Beyerdinamycs
DT990
DT350
DT770

AKG
K270


Of course all of it is hooked in a balanced power output. And I need to use Windows to play such files.
This is my personal audio gear. That I have accumulated for all these years. I enjoy HiFi Audio. But I love streamed audio by its simplicity.

But who cares? I love the AirPods Max with Apple Music. And I enjoy it besides all those terrific equipment.

Balanced power output?

 

[Fravin]

Balanced power output?

Yep. Provided by a Furman’s Prestyge conditioner. Don’t you know it?

 

[Cashmonee]

Yep. Provided by a Furman’s Prestyge conditioner. Don’t you know it?

Nope! Never needed power conditioning. Interesting!

On a side note, MQA is garbage, most seem to agree with that. However, Tidal's non-MQA stuff or Apple's Lossless or one of the many others is widely considered good enough for even the most golden of ears. I still completely disagree with your assessment of the APM in that they are as good as even entry level cans for sound quality. But as stated many times over, they do not have to be in my opinion.

Lastly, I would consider selling all of that equipment if you cannot hear the difference between the APM and something like your HD 650. Especially with a tube amp (which your Valhalla is).

 

[Fravin]

Lastly, I would consider selling all of that equipment if you cannot hear the difference between the APM and something like your HD 650.

Did I asked for your advice?


Keep it for yourself. That’s enough.

 

[mxrider88]

They sound really good, just don't expect them to connect automatically to your devices etc, its BS, just misleading advertising, the feature is half baked and does not work.
Quality is good though.

 

[MacsRgr8]

I just acquired the AirPods Max.
Here in NL they cost € 629 (incl VAT) (close to $ 700..) which is far too expensive IMHO.
I did find them on Amazon.nl for a much more reasonable € 455 orso. So I bought them off Amazon.

After playing around with them, these are my findings:

• Love the controls from my different devies (iPhone, iPad, Mac).
• Impressed by the "Noise Transparency"
• "Noise cancellation" seems good, but will do a real test coming Sunday on a long-haul flight
• Sound is very good, but I feel they're less impressive than my previous B&W headphones
• They do need a case though!

All in all I love them for the ease of use and good quality.
But the Apple Store-pricing is way too high. They are not that impressive.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I just acquired the AirPods Max.
Here in NL they cost € 629 (incl VAT) (close to $ 700..) which is far too expensive IMHO.
I did find them on Amazon.nl for a much more reasonable € 455 orso. So I bought them off Amazon.

After playing around with them, these are my findings:

• Love the controls from my different devies (iPhone, iPad, Mac).
• Impressed by the "Noise Transparency"
• "Noise cancellation" seems good, but will do a real test coming Sunday on a long-haul flight
• Sound is very good, but I feel they're less impressive than my previous B&W headphones
• They do need a case though!

All in all I love them for the ease of use and good quality.
But the Apple Store-pricing is way too high. They are not that impressive.

I also bought mine from Amazon uk for £115 off the retail price. Now that I have them I probably would be willing to pay full retail price but before I bought them I was not.

 

[LostAggie]

I sold mine after using for some time thinking the grass was greener with Bose or Sony. I was wrong. Just repurchased and very happy again…

 

[BigMcGuire]

My wife and I picked these up with a pretty significant discount on Amazon. Wow is an understatement. Looking forward to getting a bit more than 3-4 hours of battery life on Teams calls. 😛

 

[BigMcGuire]

I just acquired the AirPods Max.
Here in NL they cost € 629 (incl VAT) (close to $ 700..) which is far too expensive IMHO.
I did find them on Amazon.nl for a much more reasonable € 455 orso. So I bought them off Amazon.

After playing around with them, these are my findings:

• Love the controls from my different devies (iPhone, iPad, Mac).
• Impressed by the "Noise Transparency"
• "Noise cancellation" seems good, but will do a real test coming Sunday on a long-haul flight
• Sound is very good, but I feel they're less impressive than my previous B&W headphones
• They do need a case though!

All in all I love them for the ease of use and good quality.
But the Apple Store-pricing is way too high. They are not that impressive.

Curious how your long haul flight went? - I have had Beats Studios for the last 3 years for my flights - the audio is horrific imo but at least the noise cancellation allows me to tolerate the flights more.

 

[slicktor]

Do you guys use Apple Music or Spotify with your APM? Do you hear a difference in audio quality from the two streaming services? Don't know if there is some optimization going on with Apple Music.

 

[Fravin]

Do you guys use Apple Music or Spotify with your APM? Do you hear a difference in audio quality from the two streaming services? Don't know if there is some optimization going on with Apple Music.

You shouldn’t expect any difference between the two. In fact, in my opinion, any streamed service will provide any difference in a bluetooth audio connection.

If you want to enjoy Apple’s lossless audio, you need to use an analog device connected to a external DAC. Only the newer Macs (from de 14” MBP) will have support for HiRes audio. Source

 

[MacsRgr8]

Curious how your long haul flight went? - I have had Beats Studios for the last 3 years for my flights - the audio is horrific imo but at least the noise cancellation allows me to tolerate the flights more.

Typing this from my vacation location 😄
I can tell you that the noise cancellation was superb. This was on an Airbus A330 (cattle class) so the aircraft was loud.
Added to that, the audio volume level seemed louder than previous headphones I used on flights.

So in short, Airpods Max are excellent for on planes. Better than any other I had used.

 

[OW22]

The Spatial Audio is a real game-changer. I was watching some movies with the APM on and it's amazing what it does.

With Music, it's fantastic. I was listening to an Ella Fitzgerald track and I thought the headphones weren't working properly as the piano sounded like it was genuinely coming from a totally different source. I took the phones off to make sure the music wasn't coming from the computer speakers....It was incredible the difference it makes. I'm going on a long flight to Dallas in a few days and looking forward to trying these phones out.

 

[Brachaci]

To get a fair assessment, you would need time with the APM, especially if you have been using the APP for a while. Your ears adapt to a sound signature after a while and your brain may be turned off to a different signature at first simply because it is different. That is not to say the APM are necessarily better to your ear, just that you wouldn't know from a one off listening experience in store. Think of wine tasting. There is a reason you cleanse your palate in between different wines.

Not sure, if the wine tasting is good example, but I'll think of what you said here when I buy them and start to listen to them more. It may be true however if you are comparing two headphones with relative similar quality, otherwise I would say you can very clearly say which headphones are better. I have the JBL 125T which are budget headphones, and I was very satisfied with the quality given the price I paid for them. When I tried the AirPods PRO it was of course a different experience from the first moment. And I am not talking about NC, Transparency mode or spatial audio, only about the sound they produce. And once again, I would not say that the JBL are crap, on the contrary, I still have them as a spare headphones.

 

[mattdeezy]

I too got APM with the recent discount on Amazon. I have had them for over a month now and am very happy with the purchase. At first the weight of them was annoying me but im used to it now (i think they made my neck stronger haha). the ANC and Transperancy are great, I had a 9 hour flight recently and they were so comfortable and silenced most noise.

The spatial audio when watching movies and listening to music is fabulous. I love how when you watch a movie you get the vibrating feel like when you are in a movie theatre.

The convienience of using them with MacBook Pro, iPad, iPhone and apple TV is very satisfying. I didnt think I would use them so much with my Apple TV.

Very happy with the purchase.

 

[GlenK]

I just got my first pair of APM from Amazon for $70 less than the Apple price and they were delivered within 24 hours. Absolutely love them!! Got the Sky Blue and they are beautiful!!!

 

[Brachaci]

Not sure, if the wine tasting is good example, but I'll think of what you said here when I buy them and start to listen to them more. It may be true however if you are comparing two headphones with relative similar quality, otherwise I would say you can very clearly say which headphones are better. I have the JBL 125T which are budget headphones, and I was very satisfied with the quality given the price I paid for them. When I tried the AirPods PRO it was of course a different experience from the first moment. And I am not talking about NC, Transparency mode or spatial audio, only about the sound they produce. And once again, I would not say that the JBL are crap, on the contrary, I still have them as a spare headphones.

@Cashmonee so I bought the APM at the end and after couple weeks of using them, it seems we were bought right….sort of. When I am listening to the lossless songs (for example Carrie Underwood Apple Music sessions) I can hear richer basses and mids, but not by so much richer then on the APP. I still believe that if you do not have a use case for the APM, the APP are better deal in terms of sound quality per price by far. At he end of the day, they are both great headphones but it is safe to say, that paying 229€ for APP instead of 499€ for the APM (which was my case) is for somebody who is looking for sound quality definitely better deal.