I totally hear that…Audeats!
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There’s not really a lightning to lightning cable. And it’s been confirmed that it doesn’t do USB audio, so you can’t use the lightning to usb cable to connect to a computer. Shame, I’d like to hear what these do with an uncompressed digital source.
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Glad to hear you agree. I don’t really get the “Beats” character that @Resolve mentions, but I could probably compromise on calling it Audeze-like. I don’t find bass nearly as bloated as Beats, or the default tuning on the XM3 (which I always listened to with the XBass setting at -3 or -6).
I watched part of Avengers Endgame last night. Spatial audio seems better than on the AirPods Pro: better sense of space, more convincing surround effects, smoother head tracking. That’s just 20 minutes of listening. Like the AirPods Pro, there does seem to be different EQ for the spatial audio—it’s much darker, with very “movie theater” bass (which works well for some things) and subdued high frequencies (which I don’t like).
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Yeah it’s definitely not as bloated as some Beats. And it’s also way less overbearing than the XM3/XM4
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Yeah, these would make a lot more sense with an all digital wire option.
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I’m wondering if this doesn’t indicate that users might also get inconsistent presentation from one session to the next?
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Yeah that’s a good point. I think the goal is probably to ensure it’s consistent though.
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Hahahaha!!
This is why a lightning to lightning option needs to exist…
how many conversions are going on here?
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Hi @Resolve, I want to first say I respect the hell out of your reviews and commitment to presenting the data along with your thoughts on all the equipment you review.
I can also appreciate the effort you are putting into measuring the AirPods Max from a technical level with your efforts to map the frequency graph. A few folks have presented some of the reasons you are receiving inconsistent results in the frequency graphs I do feel there to be a lack of explanation around the why this is the case. While it is easy to consider these to be of a similar nature to Beats, Sony, or Bose ANC type of headphones, I believe this to be misunderstood.
Some of the interesting technology Apple has used in these headphones represent some of technology initially developed for the AirPods Pro, and even the HomePod speaker collection.
Computational Audio in each ear pad: With a powerful Apple‑designed H1 chip in each cup, our custom acoustic design, and advanced software, AirPods Max use computational audio to create a breakthrough listening experience. By tapping into each chip’s 10 audio cores, computational audio helps block outside noise, adapts audio to the fit and seal of your ear cushions, and makes movie scenes sound like they’re happening all around you.
Adaptive EQ: tailors sound to the bespoke fit and seal created by the ear cushions. Inward-facing microphones measure what you’re hearing, then adjust the frequencies of your music to deliver a rich, consistent experience that faithfully reproduces every note
Spatial audio: dynamic head tracking gives you a theater‑like experience for movies and shows, with sound that surrounds you.1 Using built-in gyroscopes and accelerometers, AirPods Max and your iPhone or iPad track the subtle motion of your head, anchoring sounds to your device.
These are some of the big difference, here is also a link some of the other technology implemented in regard to the sensors, microphones and other hardware and software implemented; https://www.apple.com/airpods-max/specs/
I raise these points to highlight that not only does these headphones far different than the current competition, also relies on a iOS/macOS/tvOS device for optimal use.
If this is not new information for you, then my apologies and hope others will read this and not form snap judgements on an item that is not meant for the high end audio crowd.
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Yeah no worries. I haven’t even really begun my review yet. I’ve really only got information on how this performs with non-apple devices - which is also a highly relevant datapoint. For anyone not in the ecosystem, this is the key information. But for anyone within the ecosystem, that’s where things start to get interesting.
All of this will be evaluated in the coming days.
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Thank you, appreciate you hearing me out.
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This is fascinating! The second set seems closer to my subjective take, but that’s just a guess. I also have a big head which might be consistent with strong pressure.
In theory I’d think the active EQ should give similar measurements regardless of clamp, but I’m sure there are many reasons they wouldn’t measure that way.
One other thing to consider—I wonder if there’s much difference between FR in transparency, normal, and NC modes. My recollection is that the AirPods Pro didn’t do active EQ in “normal” mode; but I haven’t seen any indication of this in the press for the AirPods Max.
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Battery life seems to easily meet Apple’s claims. I haven’t quite run them down fully, and I imagine it’ll take a couple of passes of doing that for the battery life gauge to be properly calibrated, but at the moment it looks like I’ll hit 22 hours off the first charge (we’ll see for sure when they finally shutdown).
The Sony’s get pretty close to their 30 hour estimate at this point, depending on whether I am using an EQ profile or not (usually I don’t and handle that in SonarWorks when I want something other than stock).
I was concerned about that, initially. And I imagine it’s a possibility still. I can’t say I’ve noticed any difference between sessions, however. Even switching between using glasses or not, and with/without facial hair, doesn’t seem to upset the response - and if it does, it’s not enough for me to hear a difference (so either it is compensation accurately enough to account for any physical changes, or those changes aren’t having an audible effect in the first place).
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A couple more thoughts on these …
ANC:
First, I’m going to say that, the ANC is the best I’ve experienced. It’s not miles ahead of the best Sony and Bose solutions here, but it is as good or better in general and clearly does a better job at blocking voices than either.
Also, with the Sony’s, I find I can’t use them outside with ANC enabled, as any kind of breeze, combined with walking, results in wooshing or other artifacts. That doesn’t happen with the AirPods Max.
Device Switching:
It’s seamless and, so far, has worked 100% for me, moving between an iPhone, iPad (x2), Mac Pro and MacBook Pro. The audio comes from the device I expect it too without me doing anything. And I don’t have to do anything to have calls work from the right device, either.
I can’t say that about any other Bluetooth audio device, except the AirPods Pro. For my use case, for this sort of device, it’s become a deal breaker. I can’t use the Sony or Bose in these scenarios and not wind up having to fiddle around breaking and making connections - which puts me out of my flow and I am glad not to have to deal with anymore.
Other Bits:
The “case” is still stupid. While it’s easier to get on and off than it is to put the WH-1000XM3 back in their base. It still doesn’t offer much protection, looks goofy, leaves the headband exposed and is just silly.
I’ve not used it beyond a bit of initial playing around. On the upside, this doesn’t seem to have made any difference in battery life over not-quite two days, so I imagine the “super low power mode” it engages is more about longer-term storage than anything relevant to on/off usage over the course of a week.
Initially I kept hitting the NC/Transparency button anytime I adjusted, moved or put on/took off the bloody things. I’ve adjusted to it’s placement now, but it was annoying at first. I like the control scheme better than the Sony’s touch-sensor … which I have inadvertently activated more times than I care to count.
For my wireless/ANC use cases these look like they are going to be keepers, but I’ll talk more about that in another post I think.
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there is no point to measure them in a non apple device. Can you try on an iphone/ipad etc ?
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See this I have to disagree with. There’s absolutely a point to it, because there are so many people who may be on an iOS device but all they have for the ecosystem is a phone. If the APM gets used on other devices, this is absolutely relevant. In fact, I’d argue this is crucial information for those who aren’t fully ‘Apple’d up’ with all of their devices, and that this is a significant number of people who are interested in this headphone.
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You said it without the profanity I was tempted to write. Good work.
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Yes, it’s a valid question to ask even if the answer winds up being an unsurprising “don’t buy these if not into apple ecosystem”.
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100% agree with this, it is relevant as there are numerous situations where an Apple device may not be used in conjunction so we all should be aware of the trade-off one may encounter. Knowledge is power.
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