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AirPods Max

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121–130 of 1001 posts

Re: AirPods Max

#121

$549 a pair. Yikes. I'm fairly confident I've reached my own personal peak for Apple pricing. As a spectator I've no doubt these will sell massive numbers but I'm curious to learn what the market will bear for Apple's products.

For comparison, Sony's WH-1000XM4 which are currently widely considered the state of the art in the active noise cancelling over-ears, will cost you anywhere between $300-$400 depending on where you are. (I was very surprised the price can vary that widely, actually. On Sony's US page they're $279, while in the EU they're €380 which is about $460.)

Don't forget US prices aren't quoted with VAT, where EU prices often are

Re: AirPods Max

#122
I know nothing about headphones, nor do I want to invest any time learning about headphones.

I’ve had a bunch of Apple products that have never disappointed me in the last 10+ years.

I’ll buy these overpriced headphones because an extra $200 for a product I’ll probably use for 5 years will not break my bank account.

Re: AirPods Max

#123

Interesting choice of 40mm driver instead of 50mm. That can make a mass-ive difference in sense of realism for lows. Perhaps they think the Adaptive EQ makes up for it. I’ve been disappointed in headphones that aren’t 50mm for electronica, jazz, pop, movies, and gaming, fine with 40mm for classical, choral, and television.

I have a $10 pair of in-ear headphones, I also have Bose QC15, and a ~1000 put into a home theater system.

I love music. The convince (and lack of guilt over breaking numerous $10 pairs) wins out, and I don't notice enough for it to matter.

Re: AirPods Max

#124
post #37

Remember the days when Apple was breaking new ground, pushing the limits? The iPod was fundamentally a game changer in the music space. The iPhone caught Blackberry with their pants down and they never recovered. Macbooks were a level up in so many ways to their competitors. It was worth paying extra for the device Apple was selling because everyone else was years behind them. Now it's wireless headphones with techno…

> with technologies that have all been done before

Done before because they put it in their AirPods?

Re: AirPods Max

#125
post #94
post #46

> Using the gyroscope and accelerometer in AirPods Max and iPhone or iPad, spatial audio tracks the motion of a user’s head as well as the device, compares the motion data, then remaps the sound field so it stays anchored to the device, even as the user’s head moves. I'm not sure I want this? What does this actually mean?

It will sound like the band is physically located in front of you even when you turn your head. The same way when you’re outside and you hear a car, and you turn away from the car the sound dampens. The same will be true of music played through these headphones.

I believe the spatial audio feature is only for supported video playback (eg. some content from Disney+, Apple TV+). It’s surprisingly immersive actually.

Re: AirPods Max

#126

$549 a pair. Yikes. I'm fairly confident I've reached my own personal peak for Apple pricing. As a spectator I've no doubt these will sell massive numbers but I'm curious to learn what the market will bear for Apple's products.

$549 today isn't as much as $549 was 10 years ago or even 5 years ago. The world is getting wealthier. Money is getting cheaper. We've just printed trillions of dollars this year to keep the good times rolling baby. We live in an era where people would rather pay $549 for a set of headphones than save it in a bank account or save for a house, cuz there's no way in hell they'll ever be able to afford a house. So why not blow it on experiences and shiney stuff instead of clinging on to a dream that can never be realised? That's the mentality of a lot of Apple's target market.

Re: AirPods Max

#127

$549!? That puts it in the same price category as: Sennheiser HD660S, Audeze LCD-1, Beyerdynamic DT1770/1990, Grado RS2e, among many many others. Honestly, I don't understand why you would buy these when there are a lot of established professional audio companies offering better sound at a cheaper price. At least airpods have a unique selling point in their portability and ux but I don't see how this benefits over-ea…

Are there any other offerings for wireless spatial audio? That would be the main selling point for me.

Re: AirPods Max

#128
post #59

We just invented headphones - its almost like an April Fool's joke. (After the 737 Max crashes I would have thought "Max" would be depreciated)

Re: Max

I thought the same thing - but I guess Apple is exceptional.

Re: AirPods Max

#129
549 USD. Wow.

I don't judge Apple. They are free to price what they want and people can buy what they want, but the pricing for this product seems expensive.

For 149 USD more, you can get the latest 256 GB, M1 based Mac Mini.

For 50 USD More, you can get a new iPad Air.

For 149 USD More, you can get an iPhone 12

These headphones are really expensive.

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