Subwoofer noise goes through walls and floors and ceiling, you annoy your neighbours if it is too loud, right.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AirPods Max Launched One Year Ago Today
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Got them with a 300$ discount last year, and to this day, they are my favorite headphones ever – been through gamer headsets, Sony top models and even B&O's. Why are they my favorite? a lot of factors:
Comfort: I can wear these nonstop for 14+ hours! (from work to the house choir, maybe a 21 full battery load even), and at no time did I feel discomfort from their size. I was pretty sure they would feel too heavy when I first got them, but they really have balanced the weight well, and I feel no pressure on top or ears.
Mic: Hands down one of the best headphones for meetings, as noted at start, I've tried several brands and even gamer headsets for the same reason, meetings – the Max beat them all by miles, and they are even better when paired with apple's dark magic voice enhancement feature for macOS, iOS and iPadOS. My clients previously always complained about my mic quality, but that's a thing of the past.
So ANY Airpods support voice isolation paired with a Apple device is a great work combo for meetings, HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Only critique of voice isolation, is that macOS it's not so supported as Apps on iOS and iPadOS, reason why I've changed using iPad Mini as meeting tool combined with the feature (works great)
Audio: I love the sound of them, for music and daily meetings (I have often 6-7 hours long online meetings). Bass is great, not as heavy as the Sony pair I have, but after listening to the AirPods Max for awhile now, I acutely prefer the bass setting now compared to Sony. I though do add a bit via Boom 3D plugin for macOS, which fills my bass need, without overdoing it.
Audio Transparency mode: Hands down one of the best feature of the MAX, the feature works so well, that's it's almost 1:1 not having a headphones on your head. ones surrounding come clearly through, without sounding artificial – AirPods Pro did a good job, but the Max beat them by miles.
Spatial Audio: Great feature for movies, music I found it lacking, due to the loss of bass using the feature – but it is quite emmersive for live concerts.
Ear fatigue: I still haven't encountered this, using my MAX pair for countless of hours for soon one year. They are my daily drivers and feel great having on all day. My B&O and Sony I had to remove after max 4-5 hours due to ear fatigue of the audio and headset pressing against the ears.
Design: I really didn't like the first time I saw the Airpods Max reveal, though they looked ugly, but real world, they look much better (Apple marketing department should up their game in this area, it's a commong thing with every apple product with colour options). I went Space Gray, and they look very nice and dark in real life. The crown at first I wanted Apple to go B&O or Sony's way with touch input – I'm glad they didn't, the hardware settings work much better.
Batterylife: I'm really happy with the 21 hours ANC lifetime, and the quickcharge feature really gives them a nice boost, so I only charge them a few times in the week, and leave them in standby mode (without case) over the weekend.
Case: I never use it, it's ugly as F.... But I do only use it traveling abroad, and acutely mix them together with a discontinued brand case, which looks stellar. They have a instagram page, but inactive sadly, was lucky to get a brown case. https://www.instagram.com/bycaseplay/
Final words:
So yeah, that's my almost 1 year experience of the headphones, are they perfect? No, but they are really great, and the best headphones I've tried so far. I would highly recommend, especially if you can find them with sale price and if you're already in the Apple ecosystem (android and windows user I don't recommend these due to missing features).
Would love for MAX support for the new high quality audio format from apple, so fingers crossed Apple will update them one day for version 2. Also I would wouldn't mind for Apple to make a "sport" version, since I'm so afraid to scratch my Max due to their fancy aluminium looks ? And not forget, swap that lightning out with USB-C (would solve Apple's issues with lossless)
I would also love for Apple to continue show the Airpods Max product love, but I'm afraid they might go to the grave as the HomePod (MAX/RIP), since the market might not really be there for it. And finally, I'm no audiophile, but I really like the overall quality of the product, and it fits my need perfectly, like nothing has done before with macOS.
Comfort: I can wear these nonstop for 14+ hours! (from work to the house choir, maybe a 21 full battery load even), and at no time did I feel discomfort from their size. I was pretty sure they would feel too heavy when I first got them, but they really have balanced the weight well, and I feel no pressure on top or ears.
Mic: Hands down one of the best headphones for meetings, as noted at start, I've tried several brands and even gamer headsets for the same reason, meetings – the Max beat them all by miles, and they are even better when paired with apple's dark magic voice enhancement feature for macOS, iOS and iPadOS. My clients previously always complained about my mic quality, but that's a thing of the past.
So ANY Airpods support voice isolation paired with a Apple device is a great work combo for meetings, HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Only critique of voice isolation, is that macOS it's not so supported as Apps on iOS and iPadOS, reason why I've changed using iPad Mini as meeting tool combined with the feature (works great)
Audio: I love the sound of them, for music and daily meetings (I have often 6-7 hours long online meetings). Bass is great, not as heavy as the Sony pair I have, but after listening to the AirPods Max for awhile now, I acutely prefer the bass setting now compared to Sony. I though do add a bit via Boom 3D plugin for macOS, which fills my bass need, without overdoing it.
Audio Transparency mode: Hands down one of the best feature of the MAX, the feature works so well, that's it's almost 1:1 not having a headphones on your head. ones surrounding come clearly through, without sounding artificial – AirPods Pro did a good job, but the Max beat them by miles.
Spatial Audio: Great feature for movies, music I found it lacking, due to the loss of bass using the feature – but it is quite emmersive for live concerts.
Ear fatigue: I still haven't encountered this, using my MAX pair for countless of hours for soon one year. They are my daily drivers and feel great having on all day. My B&O and Sony I had to remove after max 4-5 hours due to ear fatigue of the audio and headset pressing against the ears.
Design: I really didn't like the first time I saw the Airpods Max reveal, though they looked ugly, but real world, they look much better (Apple marketing department should up their game in this area, it's a commong thing with every apple product with colour options). I went Space Gray, and they look very nice and dark in real life. The crown at first I wanted Apple to go B&O or Sony's way with touch input – I'm glad they didn't, the hardware settings work much better.
Batterylife: I'm really happy with the 21 hours ANC lifetime, and the quickcharge feature really gives them a nice boost, so I only charge them a few times in the week, and leave them in standby mode (without case) over the weekend.
Case: I never use it, it's ugly as F.... But I do only use it traveling abroad, and acutely mix them together with a discontinued brand case, which looks stellar. They have a instagram page, but inactive sadly, was lucky to get a brown case. https://www.instagram.com/bycaseplay/
Final words:
So yeah, that's my almost 1 year experience of the headphones, are they perfect? No, but they are really great, and the best headphones I've tried so far. I would highly recommend, especially if you can find them with sale price and if you're already in the Apple ecosystem (android and windows user I don't recommend these due to missing features).
Would love for MAX support for the new high quality audio format from apple, so fingers crossed Apple will update them one day for version 2. Also I would wouldn't mind for Apple to make a "sport" version, since I'm so afraid to scratch my Max due to their fancy aluminium looks ? And not forget, swap that lightning out with USB-C (would solve Apple's issues with lossless)
I would also love for Apple to continue show the Airpods Max product love, but I'm afraid they might go to the grave as the HomePod (MAX/RIP), since the market might not really be there for it. And finally, I'm no audiophile, but I really like the overall quality of the product, and it fits my need perfectly, like nothing has done before with macOS.
Last edited:
Given the resources Apple has (billions in profits every year, they design most, if not all, the chips in their devices), they should be able to add a 24-bit/192khz DAC in all its products.
I'm still holding off on the AirPods Max until it gets the H2 wireless chip upgrade. H2 may allow wider audio bandwidth under UWB or a next-generation Bluetooth version for possible lossless audio transmission. Sony LDAC support, alas, is out of the question.
Can most people definitively tell the difference on headphones between aac and lossless? Maybe try some blind tests and report back.
Most people can't. However, it doesn't change the fact that some can, even on headphones/DAC that isn't that expensive. Also, it depends on what type of stuff you're listening to. Most Top 100 stuff made in the past couple decades is really poorly mastered, so the Redbook/lossless quality doesn't help much. However, something like Days of Future Passed, or an EP from an artist who retains the quality in their work from the original high quality samples? I can easily tell the difference, assuming it's a back-to-back with the same headphone.
The wireless DAC is fine, got these as a gift from Xmas last year só using it until I can get something better
Most can’t I guess but some can and why shouldn’t the flagship headphones support the best available source quality they have to offer?
Yeah, and i'll point out a decent 24-bit/192khz DAC these days doesn't cost much. It's not like we're asking they equip this thing with a 32-bit Sabre DAC or some other expensive lower-production custom chip out there.
You won't see many people wearing these outside their office/home. They're pretty garbage from a portability perspective. They're like studio wireless headphones.. But limited to the bandwidth of a Bluetooth connection.
Missed opportunity with these things. Apple could have given them WIFI capability that you could turn on while at home, and connect them for lossless Airplay.
Amazon has them on 25% off and I still can’t bring myself to buy a pair. 
The 16-bit v/s 8-bit Blind Listening Test
Can you hear a difference? Of course... you can't.
www.audiocheck.net
i struggle even to definitely differentiate between 8 and 16 bit in this test.
Right. That website demonstrates what I was saying.. "This provocative test serves two purposes: to raise the awareness of what has happened to our music's dynamic range lately, and to question the need for a 24-bit digital audio as a delivery format in such a context."The 16-bit v/s 8-bit Blind Listening Test
Can you hear a difference? Of course... you can't.
i struggle even to definitely differentiate between 8 and 16 bit in this test.
Most music, even a lot of older stuff, is blown out. They've made the music so loud that there is barely any dynamic range. Garbage in / garbage out.
If you're using that test to try to 'hear' differences between the bitrate and use that as an excuse for highly-compressed audio.. You're completely missing the point of what this website/test is trying to demonstrate to people.
If all you ever do is just listen to the Top 100 - Yeah, the bandwidth of Bluetooth will meet your needs!
Imagine in the video world, if all movies & shows had their brightness jacked up 50% across the board. You'd be hard pressed to see the difference between a 720 DVD and a 4K Bluray at that point. You might notice a little improvement, but it's already so garbage that it doesn't really matter.
Last edited:
No need for justification here. I buy what I want and if you do or don’t like it, so be it.
Justifying anything for anyone on the Internet is asinine lmaooo.
Bought a second hand pair of these to try but they had to go back as they were still connected to another iCloud account. Got to try them for a couple of days though and compare to Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 2. The Max are VERY comfortable. Heavy in the hand but almost weightless on the head.
Couldn't really tell much difference in sound quality but likely to be my ears than the headphones. For me, they absolutely don't justify the price, even sub-£300 used. They need lossless and the cable included to be more worthwhile. Would also like them to fold to lay flat on your chest, now sure why they fold the other way!
Couldn't really tell much difference in sound quality but likely to be my ears than the headphones. For me, they absolutely don't justify the price, even sub-£300 used. They need lossless and the cable included to be more worthwhile. Would also like them to fold to lay flat on your chest, now sure why they fold the other way!
No, it really shouldn't have been that hard for the AirPods Max design team to have worked with the Apple Music tech team to ensure full compatibility between the two products. The fact that Apple released a premium headphone product with a price tag to match that was unable to support lossless and hi res audio is either reflective of gross incompetence, or an indication that the announcement of lossless and hi res audio in Apple Music was a panicked response to Spotify's announcement of lossless audio (which, by the way, Spotify still hasn't delivered on). Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that we can finally get lossless and hi res audio through Apple Music (though, sadly, no lossless Spatial Audio), a feature that Qobuz and TIDAL have offered for years. But it does lay bare the flaws in Apple's product design process.
I don't think Lightning has ever supported 24 bit/192khz. I think the maximum resolution that can be output via the lightning connector is 24 bit/48kHz. But apparently, you can't even transmit audio digitally to the Airpods Max via the lighting connection. All the data gets converted to analog and then reconverted to digital. An underly idiotic design flaw.
But there's an easier way. Just replace the lighting connector with a USB-C connector on the next generation AirPods Max. And do the same with the next generation iPhone. The USB-C input could be used for charging as well as transmission of hi res audio via a wired connection.
Might be a good product but it is too costly. There are better options available in the market.
Lightning is just the physical connector. It's just USB 2.0. You can plug-in a USB DAC that supports 24-bit/192 via the lightning -> USB port dongle and it works just fine on any iPhone/iPad. USB 2.0 has enough bandwidth to do up to 32/384, not that you'd ever do that, and most DAC's don't support that high of resolution.
Ever since Apple Music started offering the lossless option, I got rid of most of my source gear on my stereo setup. I just plug my iPhone in, the 24-bit/192khz is passed to my DAC, and the rest of my system from that point. I boxed up my SACD player and the collection as it wasn't worth the hassle anymore now that I can get almost every single album I want @ 24/192 easily.
But yes, the DAC implementation on the Airpods max is idiotic beyond belief.
Last edited:
You assume I've got neighbors within a decent distance. And in the basement, it's not going anywhere.
....or Sony's XM4's which are hundreds of dollars cheaper NOT on sale. The Max has amazing build quality but aren't competitive given it's price.
I use them, but I am so very disappointed! Connection issues - not smooth or automatic on my MBP. I end having to connect them on the speaker selection menu. And then when they do start to play I get one ear 'popping' the sound before the other. Once they play, they are nice, but the constant connection and startup pop/distortion is so frustrating for such a high price/premium product!!!! Total regret purchase.