AirPods Max • Hacker News Board

Re: AirPods Max

#411

Post by Shivetya » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 3:32 PM UTC

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…

Cost got me as well but what gets me is the weight, nearly a pound on your head. No thank you.

(13.6 ounces, 384 grams)

Re: AirPods Max

#412

Post by Dumblydorr » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 3:32 PM UTC

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…

Your last paragraph could easily apply to Apple fans and their unjustified love of Apple products.

Any fandom or hobby has over the top individuals who spend 10X the effort for 0-10% gains. Just like there are people who install their own electrical pole and transformer for audio equipment, there are apple universe devotees who claim they need all the added features and then just browse the web.

Re: AirPods Max

#413

Post by sirn » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 3:33 PM UTC

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…

I have $4,000 audio setup (Sennheiser HDV820 + Sennheiser HD800) and honestly a $500 Sennheiser HD650 plugged directly to a 3.5mm adapter sounds way more fun in everyday use. The exponential quality curve only goes up to certain point and beyond that it's all about the sound characteristic (HD800/S is good for classical/jazz) and how much the manufacturer is going charge for it.

That being said, I still use AirPods Pro a lot more than both HD800 and HD650 due to convenience of using it even though the sound quality is way worse. Fidelity isn't really much of a concern when I'm doing something else with background music.

I'm very excited about AirPods Max.

Re: AirPods Max

#414

Post by NationalPark » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 3:34 PM UTC

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…

Same boat here. I've already spent thousands of dollars on fancy audiophile stuff. Can you guess what I use to listen to music most? My Airpods, because everything about them is so damn convenient. Can't wait to get these, even if they don't sound quite as good as the ideal set.

Re: AirPods Max

#415

Post by zepto » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 3:34 PM UTC

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…

What makes you think the sound is better?

There is a good chance these are competitive in terms of sound quality at their price point.

Re: AirPods Max

#416

Post by redm » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 3:34 PM UTC

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…

“when there are a lot of established professional audio companies offering better sound at a cheaper price”

Have you tested these?

Re: AirPods Max

#417

Post by jariel » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 3:34 PM UTC

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…

"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."

That sounds like Apple though ...'I pay for fewer ports!'

Re: AirPods Max

#418

Post by delecti » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 3:34 PM UTC

klmadfejno wrote: post #25

These look pretty ugly to me. I'm sure they work well but I don't see them one-upping airpods. Airpods have a key feature in that they can be put in one's pocket or purse.

"Ugly" was my immediate impression too. The band looks like a 1980s era idea of futuristic, with a pair of oversized Apple Watches stuck on each end.

I wasn't a fan of the Airpod aesthetic either, but they made a bit of sense, because they seemed like a reasonable evolution from 15 years of marketing around their iPod/iPhone headphone cables.

Re: AirPods Max

#419

Post by tlholaday » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 3:35 PM UTC

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 you would buy these ...

Feature-terms: For the microphones. Benefit-terms: For comfortable all-day telephony, up to 20 hours between charges.

Re: AirPods Max

#420

Post by gowld » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 3:35 PM UTC

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…

The defining featre of an "exponential" curve is that there is no "bend". The bend is an illusion create by arbitrarily imposed scale. What there is, "quality that matters to to you" and "price you can afford", and you should ignore the part of the curve with too-high price and too-low quality.