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It will be very interesting to see how that name “studio” plays into the product. Obviously sound quality wise these should be great but I’m very curious about latency... In an era where the headphone jack is getting removed from products left and right I’m very eager to see Apple come up with a viable solution for those who want to use wireless headphones in... a studio setting. Latency has been the main holdback for those wanting to use wireless headphones for music production. If Apple has some way to work past those limits (at least when using GarageBand or Logic), they may have a real winner.

Definitely looking forward to this.
The AirPods deal with latency via software and it's awesome. I can edit video with them so these will no doubt have the same functionality.
Also remember, AirPods were announced with iPhones in 2016
AirPod pro were announced with iPhones in 2019
the AirPods Pro were announced via a press release.
 
The thing is audio is subjective anyway, for example I like the sound of the AirPods Pro. Some people say they don’t sound good at all.

If the AirPods Studio sound better than the Pro’s, for me that would be even better. If the noise cancellation is as good or better than the Pro’s, it’s a win for me. I’ve been waiting for these for a while, I hope we get to see them today, but realistically I’m not expecting it. For one how would Apple market them with just a press release.
I agree. I own and love my AirPods Pro for what they are but fed up of companies throwing around the word Pro and Studio when they aren’t. I’ve used dozens of headphones and studio monitors that claim this and that and are far away from being studio.
 
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Hardware design language is shifting to sharp edges (iPhone 12, Mac Pro, pro display, iPad Pro, Mac book pro...) Perhaps the design would leverage some of this design language vs the retro domes over the ear which seem un-original and retro-ish...

On the other hand - an updated Apple TV with expanded network reach to serves as the HomeKit hub it aims to be would be much welcomed... perhaps if not now, soon...
 
I agree. I own and love my AirPods Pro for what they are but fed up of companies throwing around the word Pro and Studio when they aren’t. I’ve used dozens of headphones and studio monitors that claim this and that and are far away from being studio.
If the latest tweet from Prosser is anything to go by they may not be called AirPods Studio. He tweeted the word Max earlier. It’s possible they could be called AirPods Max, however the tweet may not even be related to the AirPods. I guess we will see in a few hours.
 
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The thing is audio is subjective anyway,

Not completely - at least not from a statistical perspective.
As far as HPs are concerned it's bound by variations in head-related transfer functions particularly above 2000hz and personal preferences below, all of which have been measured or evaluated to a degree.
That still leaves a lot of leeway for individual variations but not quite enough to justify some of the FR curves we frequently see among headphones. Ie if both headphones A and B land within these boundaries it's difficult to predict whether person X will prefer one of the other in a blind test, but if headphones C land way off these boundaries the probabilities that person X will prefer A or B over C raises greatly.
Harman has conducted research in the area of FR curve targets and personal preferences variation for more than a decade now, it's been published. Many other companies probably have some internal research team at work on the same matter and as far as HRTF is related it's being very heavily researched these days as truly convincing surround sound simulation just won't happen without individualised FR curve customisation to suit an individual's HRTF.
 
Various Beats
"Various Beats" =/= "any of the beats"

Look, let's keep it simple : you claimed that these headphones will have a significant boost in the lower frequencies. This is a claim you can't back up because obviously these haven't been released yet.
This is also a claim that recent Apple headphones product would tend to go against, as this is a phenomenon that can be measured, and has already been measured.
So perhaps instead of dismissing them out of hand out of unfounded prejudice, wait a bit for actual measurements and we'll see.
 
I use Sonarworks with my headphones and monitors. I don’t know a single person that I deal with in the industry that doesn’t do the same. BUT.. the further away from flat before the correction, on both monitors and headphones, sounds less natural even with correction. My Audio Technica headphones have a boost in the low end and a slight dip at 3k which when corrected sounds natural. I can literally sit in bed, on a flight, in somebody else’s house and produce and get back to my monitors in my treated studio and it sounds 95% there. Yes headphones aren’t perfect for mixing and definitely not for mastering as you can’t hear the pan on the left, with your right ear for example, but they are little adjustments that can be made prior to mastering, which I do on my monitors always.
 
"Various Beats" =/= "any of the beats"

Look, let's keep it simple : you claimed that these headphones will have a significant boost in the lower frequencies. This is a claim you can't back up because obviously these haven't been released yet.
This is also a claim that recent Apple headphones product would tend to go against, as this is a phenomenon that can be measured, and has already been measured.
So perhaps instead of dismissing them out of hand out of unfounded prejudice, wait a bit for actual measurements and we'll see.
It doesn’t take Einstein to know what I meant. Any beats I’ve listened to. I think it’s obvious I haven’t listened to the new ones that are coming. Neither have you. You keep quoting tests and statements and microscopic this and that. I quote from EXPERIENCE. Do you actually even produce music? Mix music? Master music? Work in the industry? I’m guessing not by your posts.
 
To prove my point I’m going to buy 2 beats headphones and test them against my ATs. I’ll also buy these new ones if they do get released today. I’ll do a test and post it here. My ears don’t lie.
 
I quote from EXPERIENCE.
So again, appeal to authority - which is a logical fallacy.
Sonarworks is great but even though they're fully aware of it and try to mitigate it, it doesn't take into account HRTF variations and variations in the interaction between your anatomy and the HPs' design. Ie two HPs equalised to a same FR target on a HATS won't produce the same FR curve at a particular listener's eardrum (one of the reasons you're still hearing differences after EQ).
Which is also why I'll take measurements, even with their significant limitations, over your own "don't lie" ears, as your anatomy differs from mine and can't be used as a reference standard.
Which is also why defining "flat" gets a little bit tricky once we land within the boundaries of where most people's HRTFs will fall.
 
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Ok so multiple people have been commenting on the AirPods Studio. I'm not sure if this adds more weight to the rumour of them being announced/launched today.

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Will be interesting to see how those stack against the Sony XM1000M4.
I have the XM1000M3 and am quite content with it - but the bluetooth
pairing and device switching is a pain.
Far cry from what Apple can offer with the W1,W2 chips ...

Agreed it’s been a pain to use my xm3 lately on my iPhone.
 
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So again, appeal to authority - which is a logical fallacy.
Sonarworks is great but even though they're fully aware of it and try to mitigate it, it doesn't take into account HRTF variations and variations in the interaction between your anatomy and the HPs' design. Ie two HPs equalised to a same FR target on a HATS won't produce the same FR curve at a particular listener's eardrum (one of the reasons you're still hearing differences after EQ).
Which is also why I'll take measurements, even with their significant limitations, over your own "don't lie" ears, as your anatomy differs from mine and can't be used as a reference standard.
Which is also why defining "flat" gets a little bit tricky once we land within the boundaries of where most people's HRTFs will fall
Of course everybody’s ears are different but that has no bearing on a headphone being pumped up in the low end. It just doesn’t . I may hear more mud compared to you or vice versa but mud is mud. I see people all the time in the industry buying crazy prices monitors and crazy priced gear that they think will overnight make them a better producer. 3 months later it’s on eBay. I see people quoting specs and the like all the time on why hives oscillators are better than sylenths (they’re not) and it gets to the point where reality gets distorted. You are that type of person. You’d believe an article saying the sky is yellow if it was blue because we all have different eyes zzzzzzz. My ATs and DynAudio make me money EVERY DAY. I haven’t read a single spec sheet on either of them. In fact on most of my gear. I use my eyes, my ears and my brain to see what’s good. You keep to your spec sheet. I’ll keep to reality.
 
Of course everybody’s ears are different but that has no bearing on a headphone being pumped up in the low end. It just doesn’t .

Provided your anatomy and the HP's design enable a good seal then it's probably indeed the FR range that is the least dependent on HRTFs variations.
Which is why I brought up measurements to debunk your erroneous assertion that Apple's headphones products have a "bloated bass". Some Beats do. The AirPods and some other Beats don't. It's measurable. It's been measured. Done.

You keep to your spec sheet. I’ll keep to reality.

That's where you're wrong. I don't bother with spec sheets. I bother with measurements (to a limited degree), preferably from independent publications that publish their methodology - something that Sonarworks doesn't do BTW.
Reality, as demonstrated by decades of research in that area, is that your own ears... well they're not a reference standard (and neither are mines). And they just can't be because of physics (HRTFs and your anatomy in general) and neurological reasons.
That's also why decent headphones, including the ones you're using, aren't engineered by audio gurus with "don't lie" ears but by simulating, measuring them, and then moving on to blind tests with a variety of listeners.

That has no bearing on your capacity to be a great music producer / mixer / whatever and earn money from that activity.
Heck as a photographer I'm not that good at understanding calibration and colour spaces and it doesn't prevent me from getting the prints or the images distributed as I want them to.
As an assistant I've assisted some photographers who couldn't even operate a computer and that certainly never made me a better photographer than them.
 
Provided your anatomy and the HP's design enable a good seal then it's probably indeed the FR range that is the least dependent on HRTFs variations.
Which is why I brought up measurements to debunk your erroneous assertion that Apple's headphones products have a "bloated bass". Some Beats do. The AirPods and some other Beats don't. It's measurable. It's been measured. Done.



That's where you're wrong. I don't bother with spec sheets. I bother with measurements (to a limited degree), preferably from independent publications that publish their methodology - something that Sonarworks doesn't do BTW.
Reality, as demonstrated by decades of research in that area, is that your own ears... well they're not a reference standard (and neither are mines). And they just can't be because of physics (HRTFs and your anatomy in general) and neurological reasons.
That's also why decent headphones, including the ones you're using, aren't engineered by audio gurus with "don't lie" ears but by simulating, measuring them, and then moving on to blind tests with a variety of listeners.

That has no bearing on your capacity to be a great music producer / mixer / whatever and earn money from that activity.
Heck as a photographer I'm not that good at understanding calibration and colour spaces and it doesn't prevent me from getting the prints or the images distributed as I want them to.
As an assistant I've assisted some photographers who couldn't even operate a computer and that certainly never made me a better photographer than them.
#deluded. Done
 
Its the airpods studio with the first heated earpieces for cold weather/winter that also can be optioned with Apple Care
 
Its the airpods studio with the first heated earpieces for cold weather/winter that also can be optioned with Apple Care

Applecare probably would be a pricey add on for these, but also would likely be a good investment, given the repair cost and the abuse that headphones can take.
 
I had to return my Sony WH1000XM3 as they were useless out in the cold. The touch sensor went all crazy when it was under 6 degrees celsius outside. I'm pretty sure that's not what Apple is referencing here but I sure hope they have this in mind when they developed the AirPods Studio.
 
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