Sonos to Launch $449 Headphones in June to Compete With Apple's AirPods Max

[BrentD]

I love my Sonos speakers but “software issues” could be an appropriate slogan for the company. Their software, especially their app, is insanely buggy for how much those speakers cost. I can’t imagine how bad this must have been to delay things.

Man if this ain't an understatement, I don't know what is. I got on board with Sonos when the Playbar and Sub were first released over 10 years ago. Back when a hardwired "hub" or whatever they called it then was required still. Then they updated the system to not need a hardwired unit of any kind. Then when that connection kept crapping out and they released the "Boost" (clearly an attempt to cover the shortcoming) that only worked for a while until it caused more problems than it helped.

Still currently have the Playbar/Sub/rear Play:1's surround setup still, 4 more Play:1's, a Play:3 and an old Play:5 on its own system since it's not compatible. The app always takes forever to load all the zones, they all skip terribly any time you first start music, and even with automatic system updates enabled I will still find that updates are available when I go manually check about 80% of the time. And when I attempt to run those updates it'll say they failed at least 50% of the time....then when I try to start them again it'll say the system is up to date instead.

I've got small kids, so we play rain sounds throughout the night in their room, the living room and our room. Pretty simple, you'd think. Just loop the same track over and over with a crossfade enabled. Yet every few days I end up having to unplug and reboot a couple of the speakers because it will start to continually drop out audio. Almost like it's a buffer overflow or something that it can no longer recover from. Sonos support says that's not the case and tells me there's wireless interference too close to one speaker or another. But the speakers they mention don't have any wireless things near them. And the surround setup is hardwired via optical cable to the TV, but it will drop out while watching TV as well at times. Has me wanting to upgrade to something else, but I like the multi-room setup too much and put up with it for now. I hesitate to put any more money into Sonos products because of it.

 

[terrapin_nation]

The airpod max is probably my least favorite purchase from apple ever. Too heavy, not easy to carry around on neck or in pack, sound is decent enough my 7 year old sony’s sound just as good if not better, wearing them long term is uncomfortable, headphone cups are very large on the head and so on. They’ve become my tv watching headphones for latenight because they sync well with my apple tv.

 

[macduke]

I don't exactly think AirPods Max are flying off the shelves.

That being said, Apple's software integration experience with AirPods in general is superior and I love my AirPods Pro 2. I would buy AirPods Max if they did a big update to them like they did to the AirPods Pro 2 and also made them less heavy and bulky and water resistant for rain. I also think there is something psychological about $449 vs. say, $399.

Perhaps what they should do is also release AirPods Air which are lighter and plastic and maybe have slightly lower audio quality but cost $299-349. But that probably bumps into Beats Studio Pro territory. Maybe I just need those. I'm no audiophile but I like things that integrate well with Apple's stuff and handoff is a necessity for me.

 

[npmacuser5]

Honestly, I might get demolished for saying this, but compete with what? A pair of $250 earphones has more features and functionality than something more than double the price. The leaks point to the refresh being lackluster at best, with only a USB-C port and a 5 years old chip. Apple needs to realize that if they don’t shift its idea of AirPods Max they will never become a staple like AirPods or iPhones are. They are too expensive for casual customers, they have too little features for professional use. Either turn down the price and add more features for casual customers, or add a USB-C port with high-impedance audio, or even better a headphone jack for pro use. Only then they will sell. Just don’t keep them as they are now, since, relatively speaking, AirPods Max aren’t generating that much profit., as right now they’d don’t have a specific market to target. What I mean is, Apple needs to define who AirPods Max are for, then they’ll sell like expensive, but nevertheless hot cakes.

I made a mistake, thanks to the comments for pointing it out. I assumed in my post that AirPods Max weren’t selling we’ll even though I have no data to back up my point. That isn’t a valid statement to use in my argument. My bad.the

The Sonos eco system for Music The big difference.

 

[Ethosik]

I still haven’t found a viable alternative to the AirPods Max. All the competitors use leather for the ear cushion. That irritates my skin. I like Apple’s ear cushions.

 

[zapmymac]

I'd like to see headphones that sync with the subwoofer! Sometimes I like a lot of bass! 🔊🔊

 

[iFishishh]

I'm intrigued by these and assume if they're using WiFi that we can expect lossless audio support, at least when you're on WiFi.

It still baffles me that Apple's most expensive headphones don't offer lossless, even when wired. I don't know why they can't AirPlay lossless audio from your phone. (This is not to entice an argument about who can/can't hear lossless...I'm merely stating the fact that their top tier headphones don't support the top tier features of their own music streaming service.

Technically they do provide lossless audio, just not the highest conversion rate of lossless and definitely not "hi-res" I do share your frustration. It seems like typical Apple gatekeeping premium features for devices that cost significantly more.

For instance: "AirPods Pro (2nd generation) with MagSafe Charging Case (USB-C) uses a proprietary wireless audio protocol that can provide Lossless Audio with ultra-low latency when paired with Apple Vision Pro."

 

[Octavius8]

What would make them different so I buy them and relegate my Max or my Sony's to “secondary headphones”?.
Apple does not support streaming true hifi, so they will be targeted to Android users and enjoyed by them better than us in Apple ecosystem.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Does Apple even care? Nearly 4 years without a Max update and all rumors are that it will be a minor, forgettable update.

 

[svish]

Waiting to see the new headphones and how they compare with AirPods Max

 

[MistrSynistr]

I love most Apple offerings but Sony is absolute king in the over ear headphone department when considering all things.

 

[Student of Life]

Honestly, I might get demolished for saying this, but compete with what? A pair of $250 earphones has more features and functionality than something more than double the price. The leaks point to the refresh being lackluster at best, with only a USB-C port and a 5 years old chip. Apple needs to realize that if they don’t shift its idea of AirPods Max they will never become a staple like AirPods or iPhones are. They are too expensive for casual customers, they have too little features for professional use. Either turn down the price and add more features for casual customers, or add a USB-C port with high-impedance audio, or even better a headphone jack for pro use. Only then they will sell. Just don’t keep them as they are now, since, relatively speaking, AirPods Max aren’t generating that much profit., as right now they’d don’t have a specific market to target. What I mean is, Apple needs to define who AirPods Max are for, then they’ll sell like expensive, but nevertheless hot cakes.

I made a mistake, thanks to the comments for pointing it out. I assumed in my post that AirPods Max weren’t selling we’ll even though I have no data to back up my point. That isn’t a valid statement to use in my argument. My bad.

The AirPods Max were not made for the casual consumer. Thats a fundamental flaw in your argument. Apple has Beats for that market. The AirPods Max are targeted for a consumer that has disposable income, wants a superior sound experience ( sound and integration) and also likes the appearance of having a luxurious item, a status symbol. It looks like Apple is killing it in that market, these were never made to be AirPods.

Also we need to remember we are looking at a product that is what 4 years old. In some fields things more at a snails paces and one won't see much improvement, here we are dealing with technology so we will see pretty big leaps. Battery life should be close to double, we should have an H2 chip that makes noise canceling a thing of magic not technology at this point. For those more sound demanding consumers, lossless is around the corner with the Qualcomm bluetooth chip so expect lossless to come to the Max2 just to stay on even footing with the competition.