AirPods Studio Rumored to Come With U1 Chip, Ultra-Wideband Said to Be Vital to Future Apple Ecosystem

[PickUrPoison]

Mainly, I wanted to say, AirPods Studio is a silly name, even somewhat of an oxymoron. To me, unless I'm forgetting a prior use of such a name, Apple Studio headphones would be much better.

Agreed, for the most part. "But you can’t get that sound with any headphones." Maybe not with headphones (i.e. over or on-ear) though earphones (i.e. in-ear) can create an identical sound experience because of their proximity to the eardrum and compression characteristic of the ear canal. Granted, you don't get the full (body) sensation of a subwoofer.

I haven't tried Beats, but for a couple of decades at least, Sony earphones emphasized low frequencies, no doubt as they also were popular with younger listeners.

Perhaps I missed something as I didn't read every post, however, considering AirPods, AirPods Pro, and the Beats lineup are apparently satisfying the majority of general consumer needs, the Studio headphones would indeed be aimed at professionals. In which case, it would be embarrassing to release a product that doesn't have drivers with the most realistic, wide-range sound reproduction possible (I think).

As far as I can tell, the AirPods Studio product is not aimed at professionals. They’re just an Apple version of Beats Studio: wireless, noise canceling, over the ear headphones.

The only difference may be styling, with the Apple version maybe appealing to a somewhat older, “less hip” customer? (Being in my 50s, I guess I can get away with that generalization?!)

Possibly better sound, and maybe a slightly higher price than the $349 Beats Studio, but I don’t think they’ll be priced higher than $399. Maybe $449-499 if they sound amazing but to me that’s really pushing it.

 

[deevey]

I haven't tried Beats, but for a couple of decades at least, Sony earphones emphasized low frequencies, no doubt as they also were popular with younger listeners.

Some Sony's do - V6/7506's and R1's to name a couple are reasonably flat compared to many other cans.

Perhaps I missed something as I didn't read every post, however, considering AirPods, AirPods Pro, and the Beats lineup are apparently satisfying the majority of general consumer needs, the Studio headphones would indeed be aimed at professionals. In which case, it would be embarrassing to release a product that doesn't have drivers with the most realistic, wide-range sound reproduction possible (I think).

"Professional" is a subjective term. As much in headphones as anything else Apple makes.

Final Cut is a professional Application. But alot of "Professionals" piss and moan about its failings, "Its amateur", "Its just iMovie Pro" etc. But a wedding photographer or Youtuber is no less a professional than they are. And there's a whole lot more of them to market a product to.

Beats Studio's, Pioneer HDJ's, Technics EAH-1200's are all Professional headphones, but cater to a different market than say Grado's, Beyerdynamic, or AKG's.

My point is "accurate' reproduction does not a success make. Right now apart they have nothing competing in the over-ear space. Hence the reason I think this will be a prosumer "decent" headphone that they will sell by the bucketload in the sub $400 range. And in that market it could certainly dominate like the AirPods.

I just can't see Apple trying to sell a $6,7 or 800 audiophile headphone in an already pretty crowded niche market. And it would be an audiophile product rather than professional one as professionals are not likely to do anything more than drafts in cans.

Even pro's are conscious of their wallet, the majority of Studios / radio stations / Sound Techs are typically using $100-$200 headphones. It would take alot of fairy dust to make them change.

 

[LancesUK]

A true pair of cans worth of the “studio” moniker by Apple, in my view:

- internal DSP able to emulate various EQ curves, from dead flat to hyped smiley and custom crafted curves when paired to iPhone, iPad or any mac.

- AU plugin in Logic allowing users to customise EQ curves for precise monitoring, much like what Sonarwoks Reference does.

- Can even do cab simulations if you want to plug a guitar to the input of your mac or iOS device without using any sim amp software.

- Option to plug in a cable for better monitoring latency, specially when tracking.

Of course they won’t be doing any of this but hey, one can dream.

 

[dfs]

I don't really understand what "spatial orientation" is all about. Is it in any way related to the Dolby Atmos I get on my home theater? I gather from other things I've read on the web that a new kind of product, Atmos-friendly headphones, is on the horizon. Are Apple's iPod Pro (with the new firmware update) marching in the same direction or are these completely different technologies, with the Apple product really developed with an eye to Virtual Reality? I'm certainly not buying any "spatial orientation" products until these questions are adequately answered because I want to know what I'd be getting for my money.