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AirPods Max

apple.com

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Re: AirPods Max

#421

Post by dimator »

clajiness wrote: post #344
hajile wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But my Shure IEMs offer better sound isolation and better sound quality and cost less money.

I'm shocked by how many people claim to be able to state absolutes about a product that they've never tried. How do you know your headphones offer better sound isolation and better sound quality?

Ya that's a fair point, but the flip side is that there are people in the comments ready to preorder, also without having tried the product. There's something cringy to me about that level of blind brand loyalty.

Re: AirPods Max

#422

Post by jojobas »

lock-free wrote: post #292
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'm all for shitting on overpriced products but those you list aren't the same product category. Wireless noise cancelling headphones worth a damn are expensive. Not to mention, Apple is the only company making a headset where the mic doesn't suck and have trash fidelity when you need to speak and listen at the same time.

Sony WH-1000XM4.

Re: AirPods Max

#423

Post by jordache »

Do not buy their 1st gen product for at least 6 mos to 1 yr. Especially for these audio products which are not Apple's domain expertise

All the airpod pros (ear buds) during the 1st year of manufacturing suffers from a rattle issue that develop over a short period of time. Many people have warrantied 3-4 pairs of these.

Re: AirPods Max

#424

Post by golergka »

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…

The core 5% of their audience would just buy what they know rather then spend their time researching the market they don't know and don't have any interest in. Spending that time and attention on research would be much more expensive to them than the cost of the headphones.

And the 95% really want to signal others that their time is as expensive as of those 5%.

Re: AirPods Max

#425

Post by anonu »

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…

Pricing a product is always a very hard thing. I speak from experience working at a startup and trying to understand what price the market will bear.

The beauty with Apple is they build beautiful products that people covet. They effectively create a new market and force people to re-assess what they would pay for XYZ feature. I am sure the average user would never dream of spending $500+ for a pair of headphones yesterday. Now the landscape is all different.

Its the same for the iPhone. Why do these things costs $1000? I can get most of the same features in just as nice a package with many Android phones. But still iPhone is the dominant winner in the US market.

Re: AirPods Max

#426

Post by delecti »

perfectstorm wrote: post #405
blantonl wrote: post #308

For all the complaining about the pricing here, just set a reminder to yourself for 1 year later, when the pandemic has waned and some workplaces begin to return to normal. Then take a visual survey of how many people are wearing these in those hip open office development workspaces. You'll see the pricing didn't matter at all. You'll probably be wearing a pair yourself when you do that visual survey.

I have a feeling that this 'allows' Bose and Sony to raise their prices causing everything to normalize around $500 price range. Remember the original pixel (or nexus)? they were priced around $350-$400 and look where they are now ($700).

I think you're right, but your example is faulty. The Nexus line started at $530. It was only a few of the later models that were budget. The successor Pixel line launched at $650.

Re: AirPods Max

#427

Post by elicash »

jordache wrote: post #423

Do not buy their 1st gen product for at least 6 mos to 1 yr. Especially for these audio products which are not Apple's domain expertise All the airpod pros (ear buds) during the 1st year of manufacturing suffers from a rattle issue that develop over a short period of time. Many people have warrantied 3-4 pairs of these.

If you include Beats, then Apple has a ton of experience on staff shipping over the ear headphones.

Re: AirPods Max

#428

Post by kelp »

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 Apple releases a new product and it’s not understood why people would buy it, I’m always reminded of this quote from former Palm CEO Ed Colligan when the iPhone was launched:

“We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,” he said. “PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.”

Since then I’ve not wanted to bet against Apple.

The reason people will buy these is because they are part of the Apple ecosystem. I have no knowledge of this, but I’m sure their out of the box pairing experience will be much like other Apple products. Hold your phone near it and it just connects. Far more seamless than most Bluetooth pairing.

Any audio controls are built into your phone.

And typically Apple has hardware and software designed to work together. They’ve done this with the iPhone camera to completely disrupt the digital camera industry.

It’s the ecosystem plus the benefits of hardware / software integration.

Re: AirPods Max

#429

Post by ubermonkey »

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…

That kind of knee-jerk rejection is just as weird as a knee-jerk promise to buy. All we know right now is that Apple has introduced wireless, ANC, over-ear headphones at a premium price.

If I were looking to spend that kind of money on headphones -- which, we should be clear, isn't that hard to do if you're serious about it -- I'd absolutely listen to these. Given Apple's general approach to usability and quality, it'd be insanely foolish to dismiss them without trying them.

>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.

This is what I'm talking about. How do you KNOW that $other_headphones sound better? The Apple model isn't even available yet.

I mean, it's dead solid clear that Apple's making a big move here. It could fail. But they tend not to fail. If they're pricing these on par with serious high-end over-ear headphones, then they expect them to be able to compete with those high-end headphones on all the points people care about in that market.

& about that: Your counterexamples aren't in Apple's target market here at all. None of them are wireless, and none of them include noise cancellation.

Moreover, the Audeze are open backed, which (for the non headphone nerds still reading) means those around you can hear what you're listening to. You get great sound that way -- lots of folks would argue that the best sounding phones in the world are all open-backed -- but it means they're terrible choices for most modern headphone applications, like in a public place or open office.

I love me some Grados, but they have the same problem.

Apple's play here is against the high end wireless, ANC product in the market, not these audiophile-only options you mention. I have a $300 pair of ANC wireless Sennheisers that I typically used on planes (ha, ha; remember travel?) or in other contexts where I really needed isolation. They're clunky to use and have weird idiosyncrasies, but they do sound better than my Airpods Pro, and they work better for long flights.

If they broke, would I consider the new Maxes? Absolutely.

Re: AirPods Max

#430

Post by apohn »

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.

Probably because most of these companies have been "upgrading" their headphones for years, but really just making tweaks and increasing the price. So much of it is just marketing.

I'm a former headphone addict who used to own a lot of expensive headphones. I saw the progression from when $300 was expensive (if you exclude the electrostatics), to suddenly $1k is the norm for a "High End" headphone. Then $1.5K, then $2000, etc.

I'm not planning to buy the Airpods Max, but I give kudos to Apple for finally stepping up with computational audio and doing more than just making minor tweaks and marketing the hell out of it. Apple might actually push the other manufacturers to get off their ass and do some actual innovation.

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