Extremely expensive.
AirPods Max
671–680 of 1001 posts
Re: AirPods Max
#672Oh, 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…
When it comes to high-end speaker/headphones drivers, plastic and/or paper are the preferred materials. Metal is not inherently superior in this application. It is different, not better. Stiffer materials are more resistant to cone breakup but that is not really an issue in tiny headphone drivers. Some headphone makers probably choose metal drivers for marketing reasons, because (as we see on this thread) consumers understandably think that metal is better than plastic.
$100 Sennheiser HD 280 pros. A $400 Sennheiser 650
will no doubt blow them away
https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/sennheiser...
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/s...
A +6dB hump at 5khz, followed by a (checks notes) -12dB (!!!) dip between there and 10khz.
You may enjoy that sound, but it is (in a literal sense) not high fidelity. Above 4khz those Sennheisers do random things to the frequency response that an individual may or may not find enjoyable. And above 7khz it starts to become a simulation of high frequency hearing loss. I would probably enjoy it, because my old ears aren't great in the treble region.
More to the point, we're comparing active DSP EQ'd headphones (the Apples) to a bunch of passive models. Physical construction of the drivers becomes less relevant when you can use onboard EQ to bend the frequency response however you like, and you don't have to worry about making your headphones' impedance curve work with a ridiculous array of amplifiers because it is mated to a known onboard amplifier.
Now, I'm not claiming that the AirPods Max will be headphones to buy. I really don't like the sound of Bluetooth headphones in general, with the caveat that I haven't heard Sony's near-lossless LDAP codec. But these seem like a reasonable value proposition if you want wireless and a bunch of Apple-specific convenience features and you're in the market to drop a few hundred on some headphones that you might use for several thousand hours.
Re: AirPods Max
#673It 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?
I understood the comment like you. After reading the thread, I got the idea of the OP.
Re: AirPods Max
#674I 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…
One thing to note is that Apple is using a different pricing strategy in headphones then with their traditional products. They are pricing them higher, but are offering very deep discounts on sale. For example, AirPods and AirPods Pro sold with 30% discount everywhere past Black Friday. This would translate to a sub $400 price point on sale for the max, which put them in line with the competition from Bose and Sony.
Re: AirPods Max
#675This is what I want these to do: let me seamlessly switch from my phone to my computer(tablet/watch) and back, or heck connect to all of them at the same time but let me easily control it.
Bluetooth has gotten pretty good recently but I still have to tap and click a lot to switch my Sony headphones from my phone to my computer and back.
Re: AirPods Max
#676How many products does Apple have to release before people stop trying to say It WiLl FaIl YoU CaN GeT SoMeThInG ChEaPer ThAtS BeTtEr. It is exhausting.
For this round in particular, Apple is not competing against the Grados and Beyerdynamics of the world, they are competing against the Bose QCs and Surface Headphones of the world, particularly those with integrated mics. The vast majority of people buying these ~$300 headphones for daily general use/work/travel can afford ~$500 headphones as well, if they want them. So true to Apple, they do not reduce their addressable market with increased cost, but rather turn themselves into a status symbol among the consumers in their targeted market, due to the increased cost, not in-spite of it.
The headphones will sound at least as good as the direct competition because it's not that hard to do among this class of headphones. Give them some common-sense credit. The build quality is already better from pictures, compared to all-plastic which dominates the market. The user experience will be better with Apple products than pure Bluetooth, as everyone knows.
I'm not even going to touch the audiophile discussion. I'm an "audio person" as well, but again, exhausting discussion. Nobody knowledgeable about audio would use anything with noise cancelling DSP to achieve peerless audio quality. Nobody would use a tiny integrated amplifier and expect it to perform like a full-size discrete amp and wired headphones.
Just like I wouldn't expect my Bose QC headset to compete on sound quality with my Sennheiser IE8s, I do not expect my IE8s to work as a headset or reduce ambient noise while selectively allowing voices though. It is pointless to bring up these comparisons, especially in the context of "sound quality units per dollar".
Re: AirPods Max
#677This is what I want these to do: let me seamlessly switch from my phone to my computer(tablet/watch) and back, or heck connect to all of them at the same time but let me easily control it. Bluetooth has gotten pretty good recently but I still have to tap and click a lot to switch my Sony headphones from my phone to my computer and back.
The Bose 700 from more than a year ago is already steps ahead here.
You simply pause the music on the computer, and play something on the phone and it just works. It's quite something.
Re: AirPods Max
#678I'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…
> I love being able to switch between my iPhone and my Mac on my AirPods. Is there some secret feature of Airpods that I don’t know about? I use Airpods everyday, but I still need to go to Settings > Bluetooth > Connect every time to change devices.
I use the AirPlay icon in Control Center: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202769
Re: AirPods Max
#679Earlier 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).
Likewise, smart watches used to cost in the neighborhood of $100 until Apple Watch came on the scene and now everyone thinks it’s normal to pay $300 for a smart watch. It was ridiculously overpriced when it started, and it’s still ridiculous now
That's why I have big hopes for PineTime open-source smartwatch for $25.
Re: AirPods Max
#680Oh, I find it fascinating how the audio gear industry has taught the consumers on how much money you are supposed to spend to have audio experience at certain level. Pay attention on audiophile arguments, they will talk in terms of money(i.e. 150$ 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…
(This subthread was originally a child of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25345134.)