AirPods Max vs. Drop + THX Panda Wireless Headphones

[jlc1978]

If you don’t need ANC or the Apple centric features, the Panda is an excellent alternative and will save you some money.

Features are they key based on the use case; for me ANC is most important since I use headphones almost exclusively for flights. Sound is secondary, as long as it is good enough I'm happy. Others want sound quality and ensure their audio files are as high quality as possible; unlike me who simply rips his CD's.

And the Drop Panda blows away the Bose and Sony ANC offerings when sound quality is concerned. The Drop Panda should be on anyone’s short list if they are considering the APM.

Audiophile equipment brands, as with many other hobbies or trades, are often not well known outside of audiophiles, which makes sense because the price points are such that the average consumer would go "$1000 for headphones? I can get 20 SkullCandy headphones for that..." Not that that is an invalid opinion, it just highlights the differences between the markets.

In the end, choice is good; especially since it gives audiophiles a chance to argue incessantly over which product is better.

 

[uploaded]

Hi,

I have the feeling that two different target groups are being addressed here.

I have the Drop Panda since October last year. The headphones sound absolutely great. The mids are crystal clear, unlike my Sony WH-1000XM3.

Unfortunately, I can't draw a comparison to the AirPod Max here, but I think the Panda really sounds just as good, if not better, but that's very subjective and can probably only be answered by a professional.
However, the - internal - hardware is just damn good and the design is something very special.

But the AirPod will be one hundred percent better made. I had to send the Panda back to the US from Germany after just one week because one ear cup was broken.

The Panda is made of cheap plastic. Period.

In addition, the Panda has no ANC. And, it has no app, no equalizer. It doesn't pair anything automatically with my Mac or my iPhone.

Personally, I keep it that way. If I need ANC, I use the Sony, in all other cases the Drop Panda.

Compared to the AirPod Max, the Panda should clearly lose out overall. If I can believe the reports here, then the two sound very similar good. However, the AirPod is clearly superior in all other aspects.

The sound is very important to me and I sometimes like to use products that are not from Apple. Therefore, the Panda is my favorite. Period. ;-)

 

[ignatius345]

If you don’t need ANC or the Apple centric features, the Panda is an excellent alternative and will save you some money. And the Drop Panda blows away the Bose and Sony ANC offerings when sound quality is concerned. The Drop Panda should be on anyone’s short list if they are considering the APM.

It's funny, if you asked me a couple months ago I'd say that sound quality trumps everything in a pair of headphones. But after using the APM for the past few weeks I've really started to realize that the "ancillary" features like noise-cancellation, instant pairing, transparency mode, spatial audio... those features all add significantly to the value of the headphones for me. I feel like I can definitely recognize high-fidelity sound when I hear it, but at the same time that elusive last 15% or so of top-tier sound quality just isn't as important to me as everyday usability and integration into my life. If that means I'm not part of the "audiophile community" than so be it.

 

[ignatius345]

Others want sound quality and ensure their audio files are as high quality as possible; unlike me who simply rips his CD's.

Honestly you could do a lot worse than ripping CDs, especially if you're doing so at a high bitrate. I only wish that when I'd ripped mine all those years ago I'd have used a higher bitrate. I cringe when I find something encoded as a 128kbps MP3. Now that huge hard drives are dirt cheap, I just go lossless every time I'm able to.

 

[ZipZap]

A totally deferential review that gives the impression they are worth a try. He mentions MANY issues just to save $150. Sound quality is pointless if comfort is missing.

 

[kyeblue]

The comments here show a lack of knowledge of the audiophile community. The Drop Panda is a planar headphone based on the very popular Oppo PM3 which was a favorite among audiophiles before they were discontinued. Drop formerly “mass drop” has been catering to audiophiles for years and is extremely well respected. The Panda is an excellent comparison for the APM and in fact there are dozens of discussions on this topic already. The Drop name carries plenty of weight among audiophiles.

I happen to own both headphones and think the comparison is very relevant. The Drop Panda sounds better to me overall but it is very close. The APM have more bass but the mids on the Panda are much better. The Panda sounds slightly warmer and balanced.

The Panda is 400 which already considered pricey for BT headphones and the point of this comparison is that for 400 you can get high end BT headphones that sound as good or better than the APM. If you don’t need ANC or the Apple centric features, the Panda is an excellent alternative and will save you some money. And the Drop Panda blows away the Bose and Sony ANC offerings when sound quality is concerned. The Drop Panda should be on anyone’s short list if they are considering the APM.

I am not an audiophile but owns multiple popular headphones co-developed by Drop but not Panda. I have a little double about Panda's sound quality but I only use bluetooth for conference calls and prefer open back headphones in general when listening to music. The price of Oppo PM3 actually went up above $600 after being continued. For what Panda offers, $400 is a very decent price. IMO, being only slight worse than Panda in sound quality is quite an achievement for APM.

 

[The Barron]

IMO, Apple's new "ear cans" are way over priced and downright "butt ugly." They will never be in our home.

 

[jlc1978]

Honestly you could do a lot worse than ripping CDs, especially if you're doing so at a high bitrate. I only wish that when I'd ripped mine all those years ago I'd have used a higher bitrate. I cringe when I find something encoded as a 128kbps MP3. Now that huge hard drives are dirt cheap, I just go lossless every time I'm able to.

True, but I generally go for file size over loss less as I really can't tell the difference. Most of our listening is either streaming via Alexa or BT to speakers so that any inherent quality is degraded anyway in playback. My college stereo now resides with my son who can enjoy it far better than my old ears can; and my money, what little extra I may have, goes to my fun car instead of stereo equipment. I enjoy a quality system, just no longer need one for my listening habits. However, if I find a Mcintosh amp cheap at a yard sale...

 

[iGüey]

I’d like to find a cheap and in great condition McIntosh in a Garage Sale or in a Flea Market; it would be like a dream come true! 😃

 

[Mac Prodigy]

I own AirPods Max and they’re awesome but NOT $550 awesome. More like $399 to $450 awesome. Since I received as a gift I can say it’s one of best birthday gift i‘ve ever received. Would I buy AirPods Max for $550 with my OWN money? The answer is easy: no.

p.s, thank to my cousin being so generous and kind surprised me with birthday gift. You’re awesome, cousin👌

I 100% agree with this. I think these cans are worth $400-$450 all day long. However, they are not worth $550. The “case” is just such a slap in the face. That and the fact that they discharge so quickly when not in said travesty of a case. Those two points alone bring them down to $400 in my opinion.

 

[dannys1]

The comments here show a lack of knowledge of the audiophile community.

Yep, you could write this on any post about the APM. The fact that people on here and MacRumors themselves only ever compare anything to Bose says it all. Nice write up by the way - i've enjoyed a few things from Mass Drop, they have some excellent amps on there, I picked up their branded HD-650 Sennheisers. Bargain!

 

[warpdrive]

The comments here show a lack of knowledge of the audiophile community. The Drop Panda is a planar headphone based on the very popular Oppo PM3 which was a favorite among audiophiles before they were discontinued. Drop formerly “mass drop” has been catering to audiophiles for years and is extremely well respected. The Panda is an excellent comparison for the APM and in fact there are dozens of discussions on this topic already. The Drop name carries plenty of weight among audiophiles.

I happen to own both headphones and think the comparison is very relevant. The Drop Panda sounds better to me overall but it is very close. The APM have more bass but the mids on the Panda are much better. The Panda sounds slightly warmer and balanced.

The Panda is 400 which already considered pricey for BT headphones and the point of this comparison is that for 400 you can get high end BT headphones that sound as good or better than the APM. If you don’t need ANC or the Apple centric features, the Panda is an excellent alternative and will save you some money. And the Drop Panda blows away the Bose and Sony ANC offerings when sound quality is concerned. The Drop Panda should be on anyone’s short list if they are considering the APM.

I own these Drop headphones too. As you can tell from my avatar, I am a headphone kind of guy,

I have had the the Oppo PM3 on my wishlist, for a while, but never got around to buying one before they closed up shop.

There are two things I like about it this "reborn PM3 wireless edition"

First, if you run it in passive wired mode (i.e. circuits turned off), they sound almost the same even with no processing going on. That means even if the circuit dies, I can use it as a normal wired headphone. Or if I run out of power, it's not a useless brick as long as I have a headphone jack nearby. With some of these ANC headphones, if you turn the circuit off, it either makes no sound or sounds very different.

The sound signature is more relaxed which is the opposite of what Bose/Sony/Apple are striving toward, there are more tuned toward "audiophile" sound signature. Less bass for sure, but good sweet mids and less "in your face" highs and lows. They can still hit hard when needed be. The Max in comparison has noticably heavier bass signature, and probably would make most bassheads happier than the Panda would.

All in all I like my Pandas for around the house and office use, and if I need something to listen to outside or commuting (with ANC), the Airpods Pro actually does a pretty good job (good enough sound, good noise cancelling), and nothing beats their convenience. I wouldnt bother with over the ear headphones outside anyway, too unwieldly to carry around.

 

[newyorksole]

Similar over here... the box packaging, getting them out, holding them, etc all felt quite heavy. But put in place, activate ANC and they are gone. Have used them for 4+ hours straight very often.

I think the most critical is to find a proper fit with the extenders. My first experience: I was chewing stuff and using them in the shortest extension (just because the earmuffs are so big that it fit) and just 15mins in it triggered serious fatigue and “side face pain”... got worried for a bit there until finding a somewhat reasonable head fit.

Yup one of the keys is definitely to adjust the extenders.

 

[jumpcutking]

Has anyone done an industry study on these headphone? I wonder if either are suitable for mixing and mastering.

 

[ignatius345]

True, but I generally go for file size over loss less as I really can't tell the difference. Most of our listening is either streaming via Alexa or BT to speakers so that any inherent quality is degraded anyway in playback. My college stereo now resides with my son who can enjoy it far better than my old ears can; and my money, what little extra I may have, goes to my fun car instead of stereo equipment. I enjoy a quality system, just no longer need one for my listening habits. However, if I find a Mcintosh amp cheap at a yard sale...

Those old low-bitrate MP3s sound pretty crunchy. You can especially hear it in the cymbals which start sounding like they're underwater. But yeah, after a point it's pretty hard to tell the difference.

On the other hand, these days hard drive space is just insanely cheap so there's not so much downside in maintaining high-quality copies of stuff. If/when I sync it to my phone I can always use that setting that downsamples it to 256kbps to keep it from getting crazy.