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AirPods Max

apple.com

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Re: AirPods Max

#311

Post by Pulcinella »

salimmadjd wrote: post #203

For those of you who follow the industry closely. Is this a prelude to Apple’s VR glasses? > 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.

It seems like it, at least as a trial run if the audio features. You don’t need the gyroscope and accelerometer to do HRTF (e.g. like the PS5 does, for example). Indeed it actually doesn’t make much sense to me for a static screen like watching a movie on an iPad or TV. I don’t want the audio to shift every time I slightly move my head or body into a more comfortable position.

Those features do make sense for hypothetical AR glasses where you move around a space with objects emitting sounds.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-related_transfer_functi...

Re: AirPods Max

#312

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

Re: AirPods Max

#313

Post by hlava »

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…

They must have some marketing strategy already prepared. Similar to that of Beats by Dre. Just make it popular trough popular culture (movies, music videoclips, interview with Hans Zimmer wearing these) and the kids will persuade their parents that they just need to have it. Thats how the bandwagon picks up speed.

Re: AirPods Max

#314

Post by mrtksn »

hajile wrote: post #289
mrtksn wrote: post #162

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 lifte…

There's an exponential curve of cost vs quality. Buying in the bend is best. The difference between a $50 and $200 pair of headphones is staggering. From $200 to $500 is still significant. From $500 to $1000 is extremely slight. From $1000 to $5000 is basically unnoticeable. Apple looks to be using plastic driver cones more at home in a $30 pair of headphones while selling something at the inflection point where head…

>There's an exponential curve of cost vs quality

No there isn't. The audiophile culture could be replaced with a form where you type how much money you have and it gives you the equipment that you are supposed to buy but this is not because of the costs but because the industry taught the market that it must be that way. Often, the difference of sound quality between high end and low end headphones comes from tiny bit of foam.

It's really about branding and market segmentation.

Re: AirPods Max

#315

Post by halgir »

qwertox wrote: post #273
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 get behind this mentality. It's not mine, the only Apple products I owned were iPod nanos, and compared to what was on the market back then, they were really good. Always trying to get the best for the smallest possible price starts to drain you. You get to a point where you say "I trust them and I can afford it" and that is ok. I wish I could do that.

> Always trying to get the best for the smallest possible price starts to drain you.

So true. I've been doing this lately, and have realized how mentally draining it really is to conduct exhaustive research to maximize the value/price you get for a product. Not to mention the time spent easily runs into the hundreds of dollars worth.

For enthusiasts it can be a joy to research a product. For example audiophiles with headphones. But for average consumers like me, just going with the expensive but safe option is on average a really good heuristic.

Re: AirPods Max

#316

Post by MLpractitioner »

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…

I can imagine companies buying these for employees

Re: AirPods Max

#317

Post by keymone »

hajile wrote: post #289
mrtksn wrote: post #162

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 lifte…

There's an exponential curve of cost vs quality. Buying in the bend is best. The difference between a $50 and $200 pair of headphones is staggering. From $200 to $500 is still significant. From $500 to $1000 is extremely slight. From $1000 to $5000 is basically unnoticeable. Apple looks to be using plastic driver cones more at home in a $30 pair of headphones while selling something at the inflection point where head…

Apple’s hardware game is very impressive in recent years. I’m prepared to be impressed further.

Re: AirPods Max

#318

Post by jefftk »

tompccs wrote: post #250
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…

$499!? That puts it in the same price category as: Palm Pilot, Blackberry Curve and Nokia N95, among many many others. Honestly, I don't understand why you would buy these when there are a lot of established professional phone companies offering better phones at a cheaper price.

The iPhone was very different, and in many ways much better, than its competitors. I'm not seeing that here?

Re: AirPods Max

#319

Post by AlanYx »

lostgame wrote: post #33

Is there still latency? E.G. when I open GarageBand, and hit a piano key - is there still a bloody whole second delay before I hear it in my ‘AirPods Pro’ with a ‘custom’ W1 chip on a device supposedly made for creatives? No, really. For creators, this might be the worst value proposition I’ve ever seen. $550 USD for headphones that can’t operate without latency. If it wasn’t for the wheels or the stand on the Mac Pr…

If latency is a concern, you can actually switch to using these via a wired (non-Bluetooth) connection as well. There's bound to be some minimal latency due to the DSP, but an order of magnitude lower than via Bluetooth.

Re: AirPods Max

#320

Post by codq »

bitcharmer wrote: post #293

You can downvote me into oblivion but I don't think apple gear (especially headphones) deserves HN's main page. What happened to HN???

Apple releases often signal industry shifts. For better or worse, they’re influential in one way or another, and worth the discussion.

Mass adoption of Spatial Audio may spark new startup ideas, for example.

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