Wow! Very original ides with the memory chips, I'm impressed!
Although a firmware update won't do that, LOL!
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Apple Releases New '3E756' AirPods Max Firmware
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Although a firmware update won't do that, LOL!
I've only experienced the transparency mode in one ear issue, and a reset (I believe it was hold down the noise cancel toggle button for 15 seconds until the light blinks amber) worked for me right away. Are you still having these issues?
They look at you like you’re very blonde?
Have you tried having them replaced? Might be worth it if there are many that saying they aren’t having the issue.
There were folks that grew up listening to mono audio that never enjoyed stereo. I would imagine that there will be VERY many folks that will feel alienated by the sound and fortunately Apple allows you to deactivate the automatic Atmos playback.
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The AirPods Pro don't have an option to turn them off and they don't drop a single percent when left in their case for the same period of time, so it's definetely a firmware issue and could be fixed with a firmware update.
Plus, I've tried four different pairs of AirPods Max, and all have had this same drop in battery over this period of time, so this definitely points even further to a firmware issue.
Nice, an update. Hope this helps the occasional crackle that I have. And I had the need to reset it once because it was continually dis/connecting.
But on the whole this headphone has been really, really awesome!
As a reference I had the XM3’s, QC35’s, B&O H9’s and some others on loan/test for a few hours/days.
There are no doubt better better hifi can’s at lower or higher prices, with or without wire, but that is not what these are meant to be IMHO.
These are for a wide audience, that uses them in the office/home-office/university/etc that want to have an excellent ANC and the best transparency mode ever.
They sound inoffensive and are not tiring you.
Personally I think they have one of the best construction and materials of any headphone out there. Aluminium cups, steel/stainless headband, non-sticky mesh covering the memory foam ear pillows, the magnetic ear pillows, a cool mesh headband hammock, the stepless adjustment, the awesome pivoting/rotating hinge and the fact that you can quickly disassemble the cups and the headband, so repairs in an apple store will be super quick. But also switching between devices is so easy, quick and frictionless.
All in all Apple did a terrific job and these are by far my favorite, friction free and most used can’s in a loooong line of expensive headphones that always had some friction. Often I forget I have them on my head when they are in transparency mode.
But on the whole this headphone has been really, really awesome!
As a reference I had the XM3’s, QC35’s, B&O H9’s and some others on loan/test for a few hours/days.
There are no doubt better better hifi can’s at lower or higher prices, with or without wire, but that is not what these are meant to be IMHO.
These are for a wide audience, that uses them in the office/home-office/university/etc that want to have an excellent ANC and the best transparency mode ever.
They sound inoffensive and are not tiring you.
Personally I think they have one of the best construction and materials of any headphone out there. Aluminium cups, steel/stainless headband, non-sticky mesh covering the memory foam ear pillows, the magnetic ear pillows, a cool mesh headband hammock, the stepless adjustment, the awesome pivoting/rotating hinge and the fact that you can quickly disassemble the cups and the headband, so repairs in an apple store will be super quick. But also switching between devices is so easy, quick and frictionless.
All in all Apple did a terrific job and these are by far my favorite, friction free and most used can’s in a loooong line of expensive headphones that always had some friction. Often I forget I have them on my head when they are in transparency mode.
Yes, my explanation wasn’t very accurate.
The fact is that AirPods Pro turn Bluetooth off immediately when you put them in the case, while AirPods Max keep it on for 18 hours in order to work with Find My during that time.
So, to avoid battery draining, Apple should give us the option to manage this setting.
But how much does it drain? About 2-3% per night? So that would be 6-8% in 24 hours? After 18 hours in the case it goes to deep sleep, after 3 days out of the case it goes to deep sleep.
But how often does it reach that ultra low mode? I use them on a daily basis, so either in or out the case, they will never reach that ultra low mode. I charge them every other day. Not because they are empty, but because I want to keep them ready.
Why would you spend so much money when you’re not planning on using them very regular/daily/all day?
I use my APM’s daily, so what should I worry about a 3% or 6% standby drain per day? That drain is worth the frictionless use of picking them up, putting them on my head and they start playing immediately. I switch to another device and they seamlessly and frictionless switch with me.
And about the APP’s, have you seen the difference in battery in an APP and an APM? APP’s are also more fragile/easily/tiny lost, so they need that case. It makes sense to put them to sleep because there is a simple on/off switch: pulling them out/putting them in. The APM’s have a whole different use case, yet still are as frictionless as my APP’s.
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so you keep saying. But as I recall you have been complaining about the headphones day 1, with first they were too tight and you returned them So you don’t really know what using them long term is like. An off button is an off button is an off button. Not having one is a simple elegant design that does not lead to any confusion. You don’t get the point.
apple has never been about a wider variety, but about simplicity.
Usually airpods last about a year to a year and a half before some update comes. The top of the line products from apple even gets less frequent updates/new generations.
I updated from the XM3’s to the APM’s and (for me!) it was a huge improvement. The transparency mode on the sony’s would drive me nuts, and there is some “brown note” in the XM3’s that give a nauseating feeling, more so when I’m tired.
On those points the APM’s are a giant leap forward. But also seamless switching between iphone, iPad and macbook. Or the outstanding build quality. Or the mesh ear pillows (No more swamped ears :-D, Oké that isn’t true, it still can become hot and sweaty, but it takes longer to feel that way).
If you have a lot of apple devices and the money and you use them often/daily, do consider the APM‘s. Or try to get them for a day from a friend/coworker/family.
They might surprise you.
That's interesting because I paticularliy hate the mixes they've done with the Weeknd's stuff.
The Dolby Atmos mixes range from a couple of actually good ones, to some average to some absolutely appalling.
thanks a lot - that is good advice. My prime concern is actually weight. I get a stiff neck/strange feeling already from the Sony - the AirPod Max are significantly heavier.
A couple of things I want....
1) Support for lossless audio. I'm miffed that a high end product released just a couple of months ago doesn't support something that Apple obviously was working on at the time of launch.
2) Replace lightning with USB-C. Apple has started this transition (laptops, iPad Pro and Air), but I want them to just finish it.... Lightning was great, now it should die.
3) Support for surround sound (no head tracking needed or wanted) for AppleTV. This is coming in tvOS 15 - yay!
4) Non-stupid protection case, that actually protects the entire headphone... This should also include a cable for use on planes, wired devices etc. like all other high end wireless phones.
I haven’t found them to be too heavy for me, but there’s definitely significant heft to them. My wife, on the other hand, tried them on the first night I got them and said she thought they were too heavy for her.
I find disagreeing with disagreements disagreeable. But some may disagree. We can agree to disagree.I disagree with the reason you disagree.
Remove them from their case. Connect to a charger. Connect them to an iOS device (iPhone or iPad) by going to Settings --> Bluetooth and clicking on the APMs in the list. Usually an update will happen within a few minutes.The fastest ways is to do nothing, just use them, or charge them.
it....will... happen
Firmware has been updated, now I'm trying to compare Atmos on my AirPods Max vs Pro...I really have to crank up the volume on my Max for me to feel like I'm getting the full effect of Atmos. AirPods Pro have standard volume I always use. Anyone else or do I just have bad ears? HA
I went to the APMs from the Sony XM4s. The touchpad on the Sony drove me nuts. I found it very annoying trying to make volume adjustments. The crown on the APMs is much easier. As for battery drain, I don't doubt people have had issues, but mine have been great. As long as they are seated properly in their case, with the magnet engaged, I see minimal battery drain. I recently was away for 2 weeks and when I returned, the battery was at 76%. I had probably charged them a few days before I left, so I'd guess the overall drain averaged about 1.5% per day or less. I wish they were less expensive, but I wish everything was less expensive. They work great for me -- love to just grab them when watching ATV and have them instantly connect, pause play when removed, and disconnect when put in their case. Overall, very pleased.
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I still have two of them, but I know what you mean... I wrote for a heavily iPod-focused site in those days, and even my colleagues rolled their eyes at me a bit for buying them — my EiC referred to me as "that guy" 😂
Still, I like the iPod Hi-Fi for many of the same things that make the AirPods Max so great. The ability to drop an iPod in and just start playing something without having to even turn it on, much less fiddle with settings. For that same reason they also made great AirTunes speakers (each paired with an AirPort Express via optical).
I've actually come across a few in Apple's Spatial Audio playlists that actually aren't. I don't know if that's a mistake, or if somebody jumped the gun, or if it's simply a regional thing, but it was a bit surprising. Mostly older tracks, mind you, like Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive."
I woke up this morning with the new firmware and, while i can't categorically conclude that the update completely fixed the cackling issue ive had with the aipods max, i can say that so far they've helped a lot. Normally i'd experience the cackling when putting them on and pressing play almost every time. But so far haven't experienced that. Time will tell how far the update goes in fixing this issue for me, but i'm pretty sure it's helped a lot.
Not sure how much of an issue the cackling has been for everyone else, but it's definitely been an issue for me.
Not sure how much of an issue the cackling has been for everyone else, but it's definitely been an issue for me.
If AirPods Max were suddenly going to gain even near-lossless audio via a firmware update, I'm sure Apple would have been hyping that all over the place on Monday. Instead, they only mentioned an update for the HomePod mini (and presumably the full-sized HomePod, but of course they're not talking about that anymore).
I'm hoping that Apple is at least working on something like AAC-SLS, which is similar to LDAC without being proprietary to Sony (which is why Apple will almost certainly never adopt LDAC directly). AAC-SLS would provide scalable near-lossless quality, which means that much like LDAC it could ramp up to almost 1Mbps at short ranges, while scaling down to the more traditional 256kbps when the signal isn't strong enough to maintain a higher bitrate.
It would provide near-lossless quality for most users as long as you keep your iPhone nearby when listening. Frankly, considering how few people can even tell the difference between 256kbps AAC and CD quality on most tracks, I suspect almost nobody could truly tell the difference between a full AAC-SLS stream and true lossless.
That said, Apple clearly wants to be as precise as possible when describing its Lossless Audio. Consider that it doesn't officially support Lossless Audio on the AirPods Max over a wired connection either. However, that doesn't mean you're getting 256kbps AAC when using the 3.5mm to Lightning cable. Rather, you're getting the exact analog audio stream that comes out of the headphone jack or DAC — it's just that it has to go through another ADC level before it's delivered to the drivers on the APM. That technically changes the stream, potentially adding artifacts, but it doesn't compress the audio or lower the bitrate — it simply converts it back to digital.
What's more of a mystery, mind you, is why the Lightning port on the APM doesn't support a straight digital stream from the iPhone's Lightning port.
Unfortunately, since the AirPods Max don't have any Wi-Fi hardware, that would require an entirely new product. The current AirPods Max will likely never be able to support truly Lossless Audio — at least not over a wireless connection.
In the case of the HomePod and HomePod mini, Apple is updating them to pass ALAC directly over AirPlay 2. Right now, they use the 256kbps AAC codec to save bandwidth, but AirPlay 2 is technically capable of 24-bit/44.1kHz audio. They'll never provide Hi-Res Lossless, of course, but I seriously doubt that anybody would ever be able to hear that even on the original full-sized HomePod, much less a HomePod mini (which is the only speaker that Apple cares about right now anyway). In fact, I'm skeptical that even standard lossless audio is discernible from 256kbps on a HomePod mini, but it will be a nice bonus for those who want to think they can hear a difference 😏
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First off, I looked up Selena thinking this was not Selena Gomez and felt like an idiot 😆
But I agree with you. These songs sounded great, I turned up one notch higher than I normally listen to stereo tracks, but I honestly felt it was more because they were so clear and so it didn't bother my ears to go a little higher, rather than them sounding quiet.