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Apple's 'AirPods Studio' Headphones May Feature Head and Neck Detection and Equalizer Settings
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Actually, the hidden sensor present in all devices since Stevo passed enables Wallet Detection. #YouHeardItHereFirst
That name is really confusing. Anything called "Studio" you'd expect it to be audiophile quality. Anything with noice cancelling is not STUDIO.
It’ll definitely be interesting.
I went from Bose QC35 to Beats Studio 3 Wireless and feel like Apple’s will be next for me.
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“Pro” ... “Studio” ... “Super” ... It’s all marketing and subjective to your own criteria.
Same with Pro. You'd expect a laptop with "Pro" in it's name not to need a top case replacement due to Jony Ive's butterfly keyboard, but yet here we are.
You might also expect a portable computer with "Pro" in it's name to gave discrete graphics, or a phone with "Pro" in it's name to have a 120Hz display.
Apple isn't the company it was under Steve Jobs. It isn't terrible under Tim Cook, but words don't mean anything anymore, it all marketing hype.
I'm really trying to figure out how this would work. Does it map each ear so it knows the difference? Or somehow remember the flex of the headphones on each side? I feel like I'm either being really dense about this or will be sufficiently impressed by the solution.
Easy, they make you wear an AirTag on your nose.
Yeah, Apple's not an audiophile company. Audiophile is a niche market. There's much more money to be made in producing satisfyingly good sound for the less-demanding.
That said, speaking as a former recording engineer, Apple has been delivering satisfyingly good sound in a wide variety of products for a long time. It's been a long time since I've been tempted to use external speakers with my iMacs. My HomePod sounds better than any audiophile table radio I've ever heard (such as the KLH or the Bose Wave Radio). Do my AirPods come close to the sound of a good pair of wired, over-the-ear headphones (I'm partial to Sennheiser)? No, but that's hardly a fair comparison, starting with the physical size of the drivers.
I think it's fair to predict that these Apple headphones will have satisfyingly good sound, plus a compelling lineup of tech features (like left/right ear detection, effective ANC, dead-easy pairing, etc.). It'll be about the overall user experience, not just the quality of the sound.
Audiophile and Gaming are categories that have a lot in common. The people who buy these categories are demanding spec sheets that go well beyond the average person's discernment. It's as much about "I know what is 'best'" as it is about the ability to actually perceive or utilize the difference.
As they used to say in the Starkist tuna ads, "We don't want tuna with good taste, we want tuna that tastes good."
I never heard anyone complain about how “difficult” it was to pair a set of Bluetooth headphones either, but once Apple made it seamless, I will not go back.
I would imagine this would be done via software as the sound and ANC are dynamically tuned to the wearer each time they are worn. The Airpods Pro already do this.
I think i'll also wait and see how Sony's WH1000-XM4 shapes up vis-a-vis the Airpods studio and then decide.
I think the consensus is the XM3s have better ANC and the QC35s better sound and more comfortable. Or is it the QC35s that have the better ANC and the XM3s the better sound? I get confused which is supposed to be better at sound or ANC and I guess it will actually depend on the user.
In any case at $350 these are the two benchmark headphones these Apple Studios will be tested against and will compete against in the market, regardless of how many fancy conveniences Apple might add which in the end are just icing on the cake.
Of course by then the Sony XM4s will be out, and maybe the Bose 700s dropped in price enough to also be in the benchmark test.
No, you’re right, it’s not out of the line of the current premium non-laundry-enabled headphones.
Oh, sorry, with "Studio" in the name, I assumed these were actually intended for audiophile use, not airplane travel. Noise canceling is the antithesis of good sound quality, because if you need it, you've already lost the battle.
I've never had much luck with noise canceling at any price. It's a gimmick.
Have you even been on a plane? It reduces the rawing noise to a quiet whisper. Also when my neighbour above me has a party, it cancels it out to a silence. I often just use them just for noise canceling. Mine are some cheap Sony ABN100.