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AirPods Max

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Re: AirPods Max

#161

Post by artembugara »

eertami wrote: post #113

$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…

Why people buy MacBooks when there're Dell? Why iPhone when there're Huawei. Etc, etc.

Because it is Apple. When your Audeze will break can you just pop up to the nearest Apple store to get support? Can you easily connect them to your iPhone, Mac, iPod?

Re: AirPods Max

#162

Post by mrtksn »

Oh, I find it fascinating how the audio gear industry has taught the consumers on how much money you are supposed to spend to have audio experience at certain level. Pay attention on audiophile arguments, they will talk in terms of money(i.e. 150$ headphones vs 500$ headphones) when talking about audio quality.

I always find the audiophile market to be borderline fraud. They sell CD demagnetisers, ceramic cable lifters and all sorts of items that don't make any sense whatsoever.

Apple is my hero in that regard, where you actually pay for the product experience instead for being part of some deeply troubling subculture where passionately debating about very expensive cables and gadgets without ever being able to pass a blind test on the claims is the norm, almost like cargo cult. The most eloquent writer wins the debate and thy have lengthy take down articles with graphs clearly showing that the mor you pay the smoother the curves become. I would't usually have problem with such things but they often slide into extremism and quickly pushing you on the money-spend-for-audio-performance scale where you are simply supposed to check you bank account to see what sound quality you are about to get. So god help you if you are buying an audio equipment and you decided to do some research.

Re: AirPods Max

#163

Post by scoopertrooper »

decafninja wrote: post #76
reedf1 wrote: 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 sounds like an unnecessary overengineered feature to me. Could be something Apple is testing and "pre-staging" for the future though. VR/AR?

Could be fun playing a gyroscopically controlled video game on an iPad. You'd turn your body to the right, the in-game camera would pan to the right, and so would your ear's position within the sound scape. I'd imagine that could have quite an immersive effect.

Re: AirPods Max

#164

Post by chrisseaton »

Benjamin_Dobell wrote: post #140
r0fl wrote: post #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.

I can certainly understand when going to make a purchase wanting to choose a reliable brand. However, if you know nothing about headphones, why do you suddenly need an expensive pair now that Apple are selling them?

You don't need to know anything about headphones to appreciate good sound quality, comfort, and connectivity.

Re: AirPods Max

#165

Post by shotta »

Benjamin_Dobell wrote: post #140
r0fl wrote: post #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.

I can certainly understand when going to make a purchase wanting to choose a reliable brand. However, if you know nothing about headphones, why do you suddenly need an expensive pair now that Apple are selling them?

You answered the question. It’s because Apple is selling them. Apple has a unique ability to tell me what I need. Reality Distortion.

Re: AirPods Max

#166

Post by ChrisRR »

dsalzman wrote: post #17

Including the Digital Crown from the Apple Watch demonstrates the power of Apple designing their hardware in house and amortizing new components over many products.

So... a volume knob?

Re: AirPods Max

#167

Post by _the_inflator »

kishinmanglani wrote: post #132

I'm a sucker. I just bought them. I love being able to switch between my iPhone and my Mac on my AirPods. I have the Sony MX3's, and they are great. I don't like toggling between devices and having it automatically connect to my last used device, have to disconnect it from one, blah, blah. This is what Apple does. They raise prices. People are stunned initially. Others follow, then those prices are the norm. iPhone w…

Apple takes care of the minor details that just bug you. Same here. Also got Sony MX and it annoys me to sync them between my iPad and Mac.

Re: AirPods Max

#168

Post by king_magic »

perardi wrote: post #85

I am a total apologist for the price of the AirPods and AirPods Pro. I have tried a lot of wireless earbuds. Jabra, Samsung, Jaybirds, Anker…and none of them have the combination of bullet-proof pairing, keeping a connection, audio quality†, and sound cancelling†. †(AirPods Pro, for these.) But hoo boy, $550 is a lot for more traditional headphones. The price premium for earbuds feels right to me, as you have to do t…

I paid $349 (I think) for my Bose quiet comfort headphones, and they are good - but there are flaws that I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing corrected for a higher price. To each their own I suppose.

Re: AirPods Max

#169

Post by chrisseaton »

aphextron wrote: post #139
eertami wrote: post #113

$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…

> 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. Because it's Apple. The same reason people pay the Apple premium for anything else. It's the brand, the aesthetic, the ecosystem, and the signaling.

> The same reason people pay the Apple premium for anything else. It's the brand, the aesthetic, the ecosystem, and the signaling.

Apple is high quality. You're trying to make it sound cynical and flimsy, but it's not. It's consistent demonstrated high quality.

Re: AirPods Max

#170

Post by leokennis »

perardi wrote: post #85

I am a total apologist for the price of the AirPods and AirPods Pro. I have tried a lot of wireless earbuds. Jabra, Samsung, Jaybirds, Anker…and none of them have the combination of bullet-proof pairing, keeping a connection, audio quality†, and sound cancelling†. †(AirPods Pro, for these.) But hoo boy, $550 is a lot for more traditional headphones. The price premium for earbuds feels right to me, as you have to do t…

I'm totally in agreement with you. Sony, Bose etc. show that you can build a fantastic pair of noise cancelling "prosumer" headphones in the $250-350 range.

I'll accept a $50 markup for Apple's tight integration and marketing. That's $400.

$550 (or, in Europe, $775...) is a ridiculous price.

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