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AirPods Max

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Re: AirPods Max

#621

Post by zepto »

mellosouls wrote: post #181
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.

(paraphrased) "I know nothing about the subject..." "Not gonna learn about other options..." "Apple doesn't disappoint me..." "I'll buy the overpriced stuff because I can afford it..." This Apple-blinkers comment is telling, and refreshingly honest. I'm sure there are other brands with that sort of attachment, but none that exemplify the phenomenon more.

That “phenomenon” as you call it, is otherwise known as a satisfied customer.

Nobody has time to exhaustively research every product they buy, and most people don’t have the inclination. Therefore when they find a company that meets their needs reliably, they tend to keep buying from them unless there is a problem.

This is a normal feature of business. Every business tries to satisfy their customers in this way.

If there is something special about Apple, it is that they have a lot of satisfied customers.

Re: AirPods Max

#622

Post by ryeguy_24 »

0x008 wrote: post #527
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?

Totally understand that we all adjust our minds on Apple pricing but giving that headphones aren’t a new and amazing technology, I think that’s an uphill battle for Apple. After seeing this announcement, I just bought a pair of Grado SR80e. They have amazing sound and it’s sub-100 bucks. My Airpods are amazing for outside and running around at home. But for time in the chair, wired headphones are awesome.

Re: AirPods Max

#623

Post by strogonoff »

Reason077 wrote: post #563
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…

> "$549!?" Sony WH-1000XM4s will set you back $350 and these are favourite NC headphones for many. The AirPods Max have some clear advantages over those: 9 microphones, huge suite of positioning sensors including gyroscope and accelerometer etc. Presumably the sound quality and NC will be at least as good as Sony's, and the software, UX and "build quality" significantly better.

I’m finicky about audio quality, still I favour Apple products generally.

I was willing to give Apple a chance last year and got AirPods Pro, but they proved abysmal in terms of everything—comfort for wearing long term, isolation, sound quality, going out of sync with each other, and a while ago one of them started to emit loud noise randomly. It’s likely that some of those issues are related to my unit and individual fit, but I’m back to Shure SE215/SE425 and their black foam tips (which achieve very similar overall attenuation without active NC[0]) as my go-to in-ear headphones.

For over-the-ears I have fairly old (and virtually unbreakable) Sony WH-1000XM3; when their battery goes I would love to give Apple another chance but the price tag makes it hard to justify.

IMO to any audiophile/sound engineer familiar with the brands mentioned by eertami the price of Apple’s new AirPods would indeed appear outlandish.

[0] Measurably so: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/apple/airpods-pro-... vs. https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/shure/se215#compar...

Re: AirPods Max

#624

Post by zenexer »

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…

I would say there are two types of audiophile communities:

1. The sort that’s just looking to show off or is completely obsessed, without paying much regard to the enjoyment of the audio itself.

2. The sort that just wants to enjoy music.

The communities that fall into category #2 are great. They’ll give advice such as:

- Don’t waste money on X when you could buy Y for a fraction of the price. You’re unlikely to notice a difference.

- No, humans can’t differentiate between properly-encoded MP3 320 and lossless. It’s physically impossible, and I’ll show you how to conduct a double-blind test to prove it.

- Yes, X is better than Y, but it’s also a lot more expensive. Start with Y; if you’re really not satisfied, you can upgrade, but chances are Y is good enough.

- Why on earth would you buy that cable? Just get some cheap crap from Amazon. It’s a digital signal anyway.

- Balanced analog signals don’t benefit from expensive cables.

- Unbalanced analog signals don’t benefit from snake oil, which includes pretty much any cable over 20 bucks.

- If you’re enjoying your music, don’t mess with it. Stop trying to impress people.

- Don’t buy $500 headphones from Apple. Amended: Don’t buy $500 headphones.

- No, those $500 Apple headphones aren’t going to help you as an artistic professional—you need reference speakers, which those definitely are not. They’re designed to make even the crappiest audio sound like unicorn farts.

- Are you regularly flying first class and need something to dampen the screams of children? Get whatever makes you happy, but $500 is probably excessive.

Re: AirPods Max

#625

Post by enos_feedler »

emcq wrote: post #606

It feels like we are seeing the result of diminishing returns with technology advancement. To make a product that Apple believes is significantly better than the competition they had to design a very intricate solution that includes: * High end look and feel not similar to the bulk of their products with lots of textile webbing and memory foam ear cups. These get way more wear and tear than normal electronics being e…

I don't understand the point you are trying to make. You lead with a statement that sounds like disappointment, but then build up to the engineering complexity involved. What are you trying to say? That this doesn't add up to a great product? How long have you been using them for?

Re: AirPods Max

#626

Post by bydo »

manicstoic wrote: post #340

If any Apple engineers are reading this, for the love of god please make the low battery notification volume adjustable. Thank you.

This, please. Every time they run down to ten percent it's like being stabbed in the eardrum.

I bought a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4s on sale a month or two ago in large part for the 30-hour battery life (yes I could use wired headphones and have an infinite-hour runtime; I have a very nice pair of Sennheisers for that. I don't always want to).

Re: AirPods Max

#627

Post by nacho2sweet »

I mean I will have to wait to see them in person but tbh they look pretty ugly, like a no-name luxury headphone you would see at bestbuy for $70 marketed to a female market.

The price point is ridiculous but the Bose go for like $350? so I can see it I guess. Will have to wait till reviews. For me on quality to buy they would have to compete the entry level prosumer stuff HD-650 etc. But they are closed back, active noise canceling so it is a completely other market that I don't even have headphones in.

For walking on the street or in a plane I am into chi-fi IEMs that are like $35 and compete with $500 stuff and just block out the sound through isolation.

Re: AirPods Max

#628

Post by pvg »

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…

They're not that far off higher-end over-the-ear ANC/wireless headphones, give or take Apple's brand premium (which many other makers of expensive things also happily apply). That's not to say they are cheap but it feels closer to existing market pricing than $250 wireless earbuds - a move Apple pulled off seemingly successfully.

Re: AirPods Max

#629

Post by doubleorseven »

Everyone is commenting on the price but what about the buttons on top of the ear cap? Do you grab the entire cap and press? I don't get this design. Am I the only one here how feels this needs to be answered?
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