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Complete game changer… as a longtime Bose user, these absolutely crush them

So damned good is this noise cancellation
I know, right?

I bought my APM in January (open box from Amazon) and have used them, joyfully, every day since.
 
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Speaking of noise cancellation… I just bought my pair of AirPods Max yesterday, so I’ve only used them for a couple of hours.
I’ve read all the positive reviews about the noise cancellation, but I can’t say that I’m too impressed. At least not while there’s no music playing. When the music plays, it’s good, but between songs, or if I turn off the music, it lets in quite a lot of noise. I hear birds chirping in the trees, passing cars, etc. The noises are of course muffled, but I’d say the NC is about on par with the AirPods Pro. It also seems that the NC changes if I turn my head to the left or the right. It then sounds as if one side gets reduced noise cancellation. Again, this is most noticeable when the music is paused (while searching for a new track to play) or in the silence between songs. Is this normal behavior? Except from that, they sound good and has good noise cancellation as long as the music is playing. Btw, I’m on the most recent firmware version on both the AirPods and the iPhone, I’ve made sure that noise cancellation has been turned on, and I’ve tried re-pairing them with my iPhone.
 
Speaking of noise cancellation… I just bought my pair of AirPods Max yesterday, so I’ve only used them for a couple of hours.
I’ve read all the positive reviews about the noise cancellation, but I can’t say that I’m too impressed. At least not while there’s no music playing. When the music plays, it’s good, but between songs, or if I turn off the music, it lets in quite a lot of noise. I hear birds chirping in the trees, passing cars, etc. The noises are of course muffled, but I’d say the NC is about on par with the AirPods Pro. It also seems that the NC changes if I turn my head to the left or the right. It then sounds as if one side gets reduced noise cancellation. Again, this is most noticeable when the music is paused (while searching for a new track to play) or in the silence between songs. Is this normal behavior? Except from that, they sound good and has good noise cancellation as long as the music is playing. Btw, I’m on the most recent firmware version on both the AirPods and the iPhone, I’ve made sure that noise cancellation has been turned on, and I’ve tried re-pairing them with my iPhone.
This is not normal behavior. I listen mostly outdoors on my patio and with noise cancellation on and no music playing I can hear “nothing”—no birds, no passing cars, no air conditioning hum. Nothing. It’s quite relaxing. And there’s no difference if I move my head.

I’d reset your APM to the factory defaults. (Don’t just restart them.) And also double check you have noise cancellation turned on by turning on and off while no music is playing. The different should be dramatic! If it isn’t I’d return them to Apple.
 
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Speaking of noise cancellation… I just bought my pair of AirPods Max yesterday, so I’ve only used them for a couple of hours.
I’ve read all the positive reviews about the noise cancellation, but I can’t say that I’m too impressed. At least not while there’s no music playing. When the music plays, it’s good, but between songs, or if I turn off the music, it lets in quite a lot of noise. I hear birds chirping in the trees, passing cars, etc. The noises are of course muffled, but I’d say the NC is about on par with the AirPods Pro. It also seems that the NC changes if I turn my head to the left or the right. It then sounds as if one side gets reduced noise cancellation. Again, this is most noticeable when the music is paused (while searching for a new track to play) or in the silence between songs. Is this normal behavior? Except from that, they sound good and has good noise cancellation as long as the music is playing. Btw, I’m on the most recent firmware version on both the AirPods and the iPhone, I’ve made sure that noise cancellation has been turned on, and I’ve tried re-pairing them with my iPhone.
Same.
tilting head messes up the seal and lets in noise. They are not noiseless without music.
 
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Same.
tilting head messes up the seal and lets in noise. They are not noiseless without music.
I’m at a loss.

My APM do not move when I tilt my head. (And I wear glasses.)

They are deliciously noiseless without music.

If I had the issues you’re describing I’d return them.
 
Yeah, I have not experienced this either. Mine fit perfectly fine, and do not break the seal when moving my head. Not sure why this would be happening to you. The clamp-force is strong enough to not move, yet light enough to be comfortable for extended wearing. You will always be able to hear **some** noise when no music is playing. They can not block out **all** noise. So, when no audio is playing, you will definitely still hear things, just at a very low level. But when you have audio playing and the ANC on, I don't hear anything but what I am listening to. Transparency mode is wonderful, and allows you to hear everything around you naturally, even when audio is playing. I would double check and make sure you have the correct setting on. You can adjust what setting the button toggles between by going into your bluetooth settings on your iPhone, and tapping the "i" next to your AirPods Max.
 
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Same.
tilting head messes up the seal and lets in noise. They are not noiseless without music.
I had this as an issue when flying. I realized that if I extend the headphone arm a little so that the headphones sit a little lower on my ears, I get a perfect seal that does not break when I turn side to side or up or down. Worked for me, your mileage my vary.
 
Complete game changer… as a longtime Bose user, these absolutely crush them

So damned good is this noise cancellation
I just got mine, and vacuumed the house with a noisy vacuum cleaner, while listening to music. Frankly I got so used to the noise reduction I forgot that I had turned the vacuum off while vacuuming, to clear the vacuum cleaner's electrical cord!

Did it completely kill the vacuum cleaner's noise, well no, but the noise with noise reduction was so subtle I lost track of whether the vacuum clears was on or off. I'm thinking it is better than my Bowers & Wilkins' PX7 for noise reduction. I'll need to do a complete comparison, as I'm just going from memory on the PX7.
 
I just got mine, and vacuumed the house with a noisy vacuum cleaner, while listening to music. Frankly I got so used to the noise reduction I forgot that I had turned the vacuum off while vacuuming, to clear the vacuum cleaner's electrical cord!

Did it completely kill the vacuum cleaner's noise, well no, but the noise with noise reduction was so subtle I lost track of whether the vacuum clears was on or off. I'm thinking it is better than my Bowers & Wilkins' PX7 for noise reduction. I'll need to do a complete comparison, as I'm just going from memory on the PX7.
Okay, I’m just going to say it. I’ve had these headphones for less than a day. So I may be eating my words in a day or two. I own the Bowers & Wilkins P9’s (discontinued) and the Audeze LCD-2’s (not the latest from Audeze). But build wise the Apple AirPod Max is built as good as those incredibly well built (wired) headphones. I don’t own a Rolex watch, and own an Apple stainless watch. I get the feeling that these Apple iPod Max headphones are so well built that I would compare them to my aforementioned headphones and watches!
 
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Complete game changer… as a longtime Bose user, these absolutely crush them

So damned good is this noise cancellation
This. These things are freakin amazing on airplanes -- or anywhere else for that matter. The noise cancelling is just awesome. You hear --essentially -- nothing. On planes it is a revelation! No contest for Bose -- blows them completely -- I mean completely -- out of the water on every level: noise cancelling, music quality, fit and finish, build quality, just all around exponentially better!!!
 
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This. These things are freakin amazing on airplanes -- or anywhere else for that matter. The noise cancelling is just awesome. You hear --essentially -- nothing. On planes it is a revelation! No contest for Bose -- blows them completely -- I mean completely -- out of the water on every level: noise cancelling, music quality, fit and finish, build quality, just all around exponentially better!!!
I forgot to laud the transparency mode too. I can not only clearly hear my surroundings, I can hear myself clearly on telephone calls. This takes the “weirdness” away when having a telephone conversation and lets me modulate my voice.
 
So were the airpods pro before they screwed them with updates, noise cancellation was amazing on release
 
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