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AirPods Max

apple.com

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Re: AirPods Max

#521

Post by lostgame »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #264
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…

>a ‘custom’ W1 chip on a device supposedly made for creatives? According to Apple Bloggers creatives are a small market and really Apple is about serving the 99% not you and the Pro doesn't really mean for Professionals and all the other arguments that get wheeled out when this stuff starts to fall short.

>> the Pro doesn't really mean for Professionals

That is a problem. That it is continually brought up to the point that you're bringing it up in advance in attempt to dismiss it means it's so much of a problem that it shouldn't be dismissed.

The branding is just wrong. No, it's not an 'iPad Pro', if I can't run 'Logic Pro', Apple's own 'Pro' software on it. It's not a 'MacBook Pro', if it has the same goddamn SOC as the MacBook Air. (You can order an Air with the identical 8-core processor as the Pro)

A consumer could easily make the mistake of buying an iPad Pro, reasonably thinking it could run Logic Pro, only to find out that it can't.

Re: AirPods Max

#522

Post by spaceisballer »

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’m curious of what is the quantifiable difference between those price brackets. It’s especially confusing to me how people are buying in ear headphones and spending hundreds of dollars and somehow getting a better sound than $50 ones.

Re: AirPods Max

#523

Post by CyanLite2 »

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…

This will be the new trendy way to do Zoom calls.

Re: AirPods Max

#524

Post by FpUser »

>"... stunning over-ear design ..."

I guess I have different taste as I do not see anything stunning in this design.

Re: AirPods Max

#525

Post by squeaky-clean »

hajile wrote: post #327
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.

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

Have you used a pair of ANC headphones?

Re: AirPods Max

#526

Post by Hamuko »

jayd16 wrote: post #479
perfectstorm wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

So true. The WH-1000MXs are quite nice and at $350 new and $180 for last year's model/refurbs. I expect these numbers to bump up, sadly.

You can actually get a new pair of XM4s for $278 from Amazon. It's so much cheaper than the AirPods Max that you can buy a pair of AirPods Pro to go along with them and still have money left over.

And I doubt this is just any special price. The XM3s were always below MSRP.

Re: AirPods Max

#527

Post by 0x008 »

ryeguy_24 wrote: post #158

For someone that already has some decent over ear headphones, I read the entire press release thinking that these would be great to get. I was pegging them at $249 to $399 max. $549 shocked the daylights out of me! This is beyond too expensive for me to consider. Maybe it will come down over the years but there must be a very slim market of people who can pay that. I’m not usually shocked by an Apple price but that’s…

Remember when we said $800 for an iPhone is beyond expensive and unreasonable?

Re: AirPods Max

#528

Post by texasbigdata »

rootusrootus wrote: post #520
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…

Apple has made excellent headphones in the past, and at a competitive price point. For a long time their IEMs were a strongly recommended option for people who wanted excellent headphones at a pretty reasonable price. It's entirely possible that these headphones will also be competitive with headphones from other established companies that sell for a higher price. This is the same company that just brought us the M1,…

You can’t beat 8 drivers in one ear producing different frequency ranges in a custom sized devices made from a mould impression taken by an audiologist with 1 single cone. Sorry but no engineering talent can break the laws of physics. But agree they should make a great product overall regardless.

Re: AirPods Max

#529

Post by bzzzt »

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…

Your Sennheiser examples are wired headphones which are (essentially) unpowered speakers.

The Apple one is technically a lot more complex with a good bluetooth chip (especially compared to the rest of the bluetooth offerings), some digital signal processing to make the 'simple' speakers sound better, a battery (+charging circuit) for 20 hours of wireless playback and a gyroscope to adjust the sound stage to your movement (and gives a decent Atmosphere representation).

I presume a big part of the price of these high-tech cans is contributed by research and software development, not by materials...

Re: AirPods Max

#530

Post by antonyh »

Mac/iOS-only rules these out for me before I even get to the price. I still believe in an open ecosystem for audio, and have the desire and need to use headphones on ANY equipment I choose.

I use cans for video calls primarily, with listening second. Personal favourite is the original Sony MDR-1000X - they just work, and work anywhere, and have a cable if the battery dies. ANC is good enough. Sound quality is good enough. I'll buy a newer model when they cease to function.

I also have a pair of PowerBeats Pro, and they are mediocre. Left only changes half the time. Audio quality middling. Ignoring the lack of ANC, they weren't worth the expense and poor value. It's left me with the impression that Apple/Beats haven't got a clue about sound reproduction.

I also use Audio-Technica ATH-50 headphones, but rarely because no mic. Clear but too sterile except as studio monitors.

Also a set of Y50s that were inexpensive but served well for lightweight on the go sound/voice. Better than the Beats that came after them.

Price is not a good indicator when so much is spent on marketing.

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