All I need them to be is great, late-night TV/movie surround headphones. I’ll wait for them to be tested with the Apple TV.
I would assume they can be paired with non-apple products. I don’t think Apple would make the decision for it to be Apple exclusive, that doesn’t make sense from a business point of view.
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They’re Bluetooth headphones like the rest of the AirPods headphones, so they’ll work fine with other devices. They just work better with Apple devices. I’m not sure if all the features are available without an Apple device.
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Yup, thought so.
So… these look very interesting. Design-wise, I love them. But obviously nobody from here is expecting them to meet up their price point (sound-wise). It’s Apple. They have their target audience, so I’m not too worried about people spending the money on these.
It’s definitely interesting. I am excited to see what else Apple will make now that they enter the Hi-Fi field.
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Interesting…I didn’t know that you could pair AirPods with non-Apple devices.
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I’ve used mine with my Windows workstation a few times.
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Imagine paying a premium price only to be restricted to Apple devices, wouldn’t be a very good purchase.
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I’m not an Apple fan. Only have one piece of their gear ( iPhone 8 provided by my employer. ) and it does what I need it to do, be a portable phone. To me these are just another high cost headphone. They will have to pass thru the headphones.com reviewer’s gauntlet.
Right now it’s all Apple Scented Pixie Dust.
Mark Gosdin
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Apple’s been doing great audio engineering the past few years—just not the type that gets noticed by our crowd.
The sound they can get out of tiny drivers in the iPhone, iPad, and MacBooks is crazy, and having reasonably loud speakers that don’t distort painfully built in is great.
The HomePod puts out a surprising amount of bass and sounds pretty close to a full-size speaker. It lacks detail, but for casual listening it’s great, and beats my hifi setup on convenience.
AirPods Pro aren’t the best IEMs I own but I use them the most. Sound quality is competitive for the price, and they’re convenient and not finicky.
I’m hoping the AirPods Max show what they can do when they go all out. Even if they don’t match what hifi brands are doing, if they can beat the Sony XM4 on sound quality while offering the convenience and reliability of AirPods, sturdier construction, and better comfort, that will be a win.
I’m excited to hear these—but I won’t hesitate to return them if they aren’t a clear improvement over the XM4.
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Pretty much this. The Airpods Max don’t have to be revolutionary, they just have to match the competition while integrating the Apple Ecosystem and it will be one of the most popular headphones. Most people who have higher-end headphones also own airpods as a compromise for calls and convenience so making that convenience better is always a good thing.
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This is good to see. Headphone producers at this price point should be motivated to further innovate. Consumers should win.
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I think it’s overpriced Apple Tax, BUT if it can beat the Audeze Mobius ($399) in sound quality, then I’d be impressed:
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Damn $35 for garbage cables still. I wish Apple would stop that.
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I see the defining attribute of these headphones, which it actually shares with the AirPods Pros, will be its ability to monitor media through the Apple ecosystem in surround and especially Atmos.
To whatever degree it is convincing in this regard, utilizing its built in head tracking gyros (not the sandwich, although now I’m craving one), at the very least, gives consumers a low cost option that can be experienced by multiple people at the same time, sitting anywhere in a room, regardless of whether its untreated or not calibrated, and even if they have noise restrictions.
As an example, imagine its impact on the marketing of streaming services and their shows/movies.
In my line of work, Atmos as a delivery spec is becoming much more common. This will no doubt expedite that trend.
Or I’m completely wrong… Either way, I ordered a pair to find out.
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That’s an interesting theory for sure. I have yet to experience a convincing surround sound experience with headphones. I’ve been meaning to get around to trying my Airpods Pro with my home theater setup. Please let us know what you think. I don’t think that will be a part of any audiophile review of these.
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Early impressions are up on big-name yt tech channels…for anybody interested
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Yeah I heard some complaints about $70 pad replacements lol. First, be glad you can swap them out. Second, it’s not a Focal pad tax so relax. And it’s actually magnetic so thats a nice system to have.
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I know, right. That’s pretty reasonable…plus you can mix and match colors!
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Hopefully they’ll have leather ones that’ll last longer. And maybe provide a better seal if the cloth versions don’t seal too well or hold up over time. We’ll see.
They also need to figure out a software update for a power option. Silly you have to place them in the bra/bag/case to turn them off. Maybe a full covered case that can charge them as well.
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