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It feels to me like Apple have missed the mark with these headphones, but not by much. An updated version with some revisions and these could be amazing.
  • Software changes:
    • Ability to turn off
    • Sidetone
    • Ability to mute the mic
  • Hardware changes:
    • Wireless lossless audio
    • Better case
    • Stop the condensation
 
Whoever buys these headphone at this price range is just mad (or an absolute fanboy).

Imagine paying $500 for headphone with garbage sound profile that can’t even output accurate trebles.
View attachment 1952997
Every headphone has a unique sound signature, and every person hears things slightly differently so that graph has little to do with the actual listening “experience” of individuals.

Max was clearly not meant to sound like reference headphones like my AKG‘s. It’s designed to be more consumer-friendly with rich, clear bass and neat bells and whistles like spatial audio, best in class ANC, and design/build quality that rivals/exceeds most $1,000+ headphones.

There’s also a ton of computational audio going on which IMO is mostly good. Apple has done an admiral job with overall sound quality considering the limitations of bluetooth. Giving users more control over EQ would appease some picky listeners but the vast majority of users will be very pleased with the Max’s audio quality.
 
Whoever buys these headphone at this price range is just mad (or an absolute fanboy).

Imagine paying $500 for headphone with garbage sound profile that can’t even output accurate trebles.
View attachment 1952997
This is a weird graph to just throw into this discussion.

Most people don't hear sound past 15 kHz. 20 Hz to 20 kHz is the possible range for human hearing.

This graph is dB not dBA

90 dB is a strange "target response" in your graph. 90 dB is the number most often used to state where permanent hearing damage is possible with prolonged exposure.
 
Still not interested. I'll wait for the new version that supports higher-capacity wireless transmission so you could actually play back Apple Lossless files from the iPhone.
 
For the original price and even any sale price seen since launch, these headphones are far too expensive. I don’t care what materials they’ve used. What, other than the size is “Max” about these AirPods?

Maximum compromises?

$399 which is a $50 premium over comparable headphones if they must command a premium for “build quality” should have been the launch price. Perhaps the $439 people are reporting in this thread. PERHAPS. If that puts it into too close of proximity with AirPods Pro and AirPods then perhaps the pricing on those models is off as well (it is).
 
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