The issue seems to be my use case. My APM (Lightning, 3 years old) fully died and I tried every trick in the book to resurrect them without luck. Since Apple refuses to truly update them I thought I’d try something different and the Sonys are essentially the best reviewed in this class. Here are the sticking points after a few days:
-We are deep in the ecosystem. Two Apple TVs, iPhones, iPad, MacBook, etc. After pairing with the living room ATV, if I pair it to my iPad later, not only do the Sonys not automatically connect later with the ATV, I don’t have it as an option in the ATV control center. Have to go into ATV Settings app to connect. This alone is feeling like a dealbreaker because the #1 use for the home headphones is TV use. But also, if I’m using it with the ATV and I get a phone call, the APM switches with little effort to the iPhone and the Sonys would require more clicks.
-The headphones are 100% for home use, which means the clearly superior portability of the Sonys is nullified, and that well designed case is useless. Outside the home, I use AirPods Pro 2s and those make perfect sense to me, the portability couldn’t be better.
-Sound. I’m not an audiophile and never will be, I just don’t have the ears for it. No matter what I do with the equalizer, there’s a muddiness to the Sonys that’s hard to ignore. I’m not hearing what the reviewers are, and I presume the fault is mine but still…
-The app for the Sonys. It’s not good in terms of user interface, not intuitive. You do have a lot of options but a true audiophile will squeeze much more juice from it than me. Further, the whole experience of screwing with it, trying to get the best sound while paired with the ATV feels overly fussy when the APM just sounds pretty damn good without touching a thing.
-Controls. Yup, the 5 year old design on the APM just makes more sense to me. Two buttons do everything I need. The touchpad on the Sonys works well for what it is but, unbelievably, the old APM design feels quicker, more effective.
The Sonys are overall more comfortable with the lighter, cushier design. But even then, the APM is roomier for your ears and I have to fuss with the Sonys to actually fit my ears INTO the cups instead of partially on top of my ears. I’m leaning towards returning and waiting for Black Friday to grab a replacement set of APM. I’m blown away that I’m considering this but I seem more trapped my Apple than I realized.
-We are deep in the ecosystem. Two Apple TVs, iPhones, iPad, MacBook, etc. After pairing with the living room ATV, if I pair it to my iPad later, not only do the Sonys not automatically connect later with the ATV, I don’t have it as an option in the ATV control center. Have to go into ATV Settings app to connect. This alone is feeling like a dealbreaker because the #1 use for the home headphones is TV use. But also, if I’m using it with the ATV and I get a phone call, the APM switches with little effort to the iPhone and the Sonys would require more clicks.
-The headphones are 100% for home use, which means the clearly superior portability of the Sonys is nullified, and that well designed case is useless. Outside the home, I use AirPods Pro 2s and those make perfect sense to me, the portability couldn’t be better.
-Sound. I’m not an audiophile and never will be, I just don’t have the ears for it. No matter what I do with the equalizer, there’s a muddiness to the Sonys that’s hard to ignore. I’m not hearing what the reviewers are, and I presume the fault is mine but still…
-The app for the Sonys. It’s not good in terms of user interface, not intuitive. You do have a lot of options but a true audiophile will squeeze much more juice from it than me. Further, the whole experience of screwing with it, trying to get the best sound while paired with the ATV feels overly fussy when the APM just sounds pretty damn good without touching a thing.
-Controls. Yup, the 5 year old design on the APM just makes more sense to me. Two buttons do everything I need. The touchpad on the Sonys works well for what it is but, unbelievably, the old APM design feels quicker, more effective.
The Sonys are overall more comfortable with the lighter, cushier design. But even then, the APM is roomier for your ears and I have to fuss with the Sonys to actually fit my ears INTO the cups instead of partially on top of my ears. I’m leaning towards returning and waiting for Black Friday to grab a replacement set of APM. I’m blown away that I’m considering this but I seem more trapped my Apple than I realized.