Further Disruptions …
This time courtesy of the relatively lowly, somewhat pricey, Apple AirPods Max …
It is NOT because of some amazing leap in sound quality. You can still easily beat them, for less money, if you don’t need/want wireless and ANC capabilities; depending on tastes, and the computing/music ecosystem you swim in … and … perhaps even if you do.
But they are the first wireless-ANC (and by impute, closed-back) headphones I’ve come across that meet the “good enough” threshold for background listening on a sonic basis (without needing third-party EQ assistance), while working 100% seamlessly in my environment.
And the effect of that turns out to be quite significant.
My primary headphone rig has been in my office ever since I moved to the Seattle waterfront. That’s mostly a function of space. The view and location was too good to pass up. I even gave up my beloved Aston and Range Rover (due to limited parking) to live here. But that time has come to an end.
So … my primary headphone rig will move from my office to a dedicate listening space. The office, whether it is on the Nordhavn or our various, temporary, shore-bound residences, will switch to a simple speaker setup (likely Kef LS50II Wireless w/ JL-Audio Fathom F1-110v2 sub) for anytime I don’t have to be considerate of others, and the Apple AirPods Max for when I do.
This means my secondary rig becomes, essentially, entirely superfluous. Sure, I could keep it around for stints in locales where we have less space, but most of those don’t look like we’ll be “at home” much anyway … so I’m going to let that go … (and will likely just to a DAP and IEMs, and maybe one set of full-size cans in those places).
And with it, finally (it’s been hard to get to this point) … all of the gear that doesn’t get mainstream use. Of which there is rather more than I’d like to admit to. All of it is stuff I love, or have a soft-spot for, but don’t use enough, for one or more reasons - that probably won’t make sense to anyone else.
So, at some point in the next week, I’ll start posting those pieces for sale …
I have a very good handle on how most of that will go. It’s all relatively high-end stuff. Some of it is a modest pain to get, some has long lead-times and/or is limited-edition.
A few things on the “sell” list include:
- 64Audio tia Fourté
- AAW Canary (IEM)
- Cayin N8 (Brass Black)
- Chord Hugo TT2 (Black)
- Chord Hugo M-Scaler (Black)
- Sennheiser HD800S
- Sennheiser HD820
- ZMF Aeolus LTD (African Blackwood, Black Chassis, Rose Gold Grills/Rods)
- ZMF Eikon LTD (Bloodwood, Classic Grey Chassis)
- ZMF Vérité Closed LTD (Sea-Green/Blue Stabilized Maple Burl, Black Chassis, Rose Gold Rods)
Details on the what/why’s of that list will be here, when the time comes … but none of it is down to any lack of love for, nor dissatisfaction with, the items in question.
And … for those that I’ve talked with about it before … while I’ve had some absolutely crazy, unsolicited, offers for those stabilized-maple-burl Vérité C LTDs, I won’t be looking for more than I paid for them.
I should add … I have TWO pairs of stabilized maple burl Vérité Closed LTD, and I will absolutely be keeping my original, custom, pair (the purple ones)!