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AirPods Max 2

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Re: AirPods Max 2

#351

Post by barchar »

wincy wrote: post #73
smallmancontrov wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are in the hell dimension. Headphone manufacturers are sent to punish us. It's the only explanation that makes sense: these are not the headphones we need, but they are the headphones we deserve. After removing buttons and switches with physical semantics, extending response latency, and decreasing reliability, they were running out of ways to torment us. The slow, obnoxious voices gave them a bit more runway. The…

The latency is annoying, and based on the fact that there are 8K hz poll rate mice, latency doesn’t have to be an issue with wireless. Happy to be corrected, I bet you can via the app. Thanks for the tip, I’ll look into it! My wife’s QCU 2s are absolutely luxurious and live up to the “comfort” name 100%.

Mice can do that because they require so little bandwidth. Bluetooth has a latency/bw tradeoff (this is why Bluetooth microphones are so horrible, though the handsfree profile is also neglected generally).

Re: AirPods Max 2

#352

Post by porphyra »

mvdtnz wrote: post #311
porphyra wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this pricing pretty in line with other high end ANC headphones? e.g. Bowers & Wilkins PX8 ($699), Focal Bathys ($849), Sony WH-1000XM6 ($399), Kef Mu7 ($399), Bose QC Ultra ($449)

Weird response. He said "I don't understand how a pair of headphones can be $549" and you responded "here are some headphones that are priced at $549". Yeah. We know. It's just hard to understand how anyone can value headphones at this price. It's lunacy.

It costs that much because people are willing to pay more for better sound, better noise cancelling, etc, even if the returns are diminishing. Perhaps a $500 pair of headphones only sounds 3% better than a $200 pair. But people will still shell out for better headphones. Sometimes they just think it is better even if it isn't actually measurably better. The existence of numerous successful products on the market is evidence that this is a niche where people are willing to pay for such products.

It's kinda like, who decided that TVs and phones should cost the same? Or who decided that a khinkali should cost 3 times as much as a xiaolongbao?

Re: AirPods Max 2

#353

Post by 4fterd4rk »

alstonite wrote: post #31
gottagocode wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A literal dent in your skull?

Yeah. My bone grew around the two plastic pieces of the band because the mesh in the middle lost all of its springiness. One day I felt my head and decided that I was switching as soon as a competitor refreshed.

I’m sorry but this might be the dumbest comment I have ever read on HN.

Re: AirPods Max 2

#354

Post by FinnKuhn »

awad wrote: post #349

Forgetting all technical benefits: people will always have opinions on headphones and it's rather fascinating that Apple owns the entire market for fashionable ones, despite there being nothing stopping outside players. They specifically acquired Beats for this reason to shore up that base, and so far no one has been able to make a dent in the celebrity or influencer space.

I think the Sony XM series is also competing there. At least based on what I see fashion influences wear.

Re: AirPods Max 2

#355

Post by UqWBcuFx6NV4r »

georgespencer wrote: post #310
chihuahua wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was Beats. At first it was found in counterfeit Beats, but later the same was found in genuine Beats. And then guess who bought Beats for their exquisite metal weight technology? That's right, it was Apple.

> And then guess who bought Beats for their exquisite metal weight technology? That's right, it was Apple. It's self-evidently extremely disingenuous to claim that Apple bought Beats for their "exquisite metal weight technology", so I thought I'd double check your claim that there are "metal weights" inside Beats headphones. All of this appears to stem from two blog posts, written by the same VC.[^1] The first time t…

Thanks for doing the legwork. Any “nehhh apple BAD they make products for IDIOTS!” comment should be treated with skepticism, as usual.

Re: AirPods Max 2

#356

Post by 1123581321 »

santiagobasulto wrote: post #192
StefanKarpinski wrote: post #145

Wild. I have been eagerly awaiting this refresh, but this doesn't address either of the main issues with the original AirPods Max: 1. Still just as heavy. The AirPods Max sound quite good, but they are very heavy, to the point of being fairly uncomfortable after listening for any longer amount of time. This release as the exact same weight as the originals (13.6 oz). 2. Still no off button/position. They stay partial…

I’ve been using my AirPod Max for hours for the past 2 years and never noticed they were “heavy”. I’m wondering now as I’ve never researched on headphones (I just buy simplicity from Apple, I’m not an audio sophisticated costumer) that was never brought out to me, so I haven’t even noticed.

I tested Apple, Sony and Bose and found the AirPods Max to be the most comfortable for long periods of time, for me. It depends on how well you adjust them and what bothers you the most about headphones.

It's kind of like standing desks; some people are able to go all day with it with the right setup and feel better than if they had sat. Others feel miserable after a few hours. Neither is wrong but they may not understand the other's experience, or what they might be doing differently that affects their results.

Re: AirPods Max 2

#357

Post by mikestew »

pwatsonwailes wrote: post #312
mikestew wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re thinking of Beats. And you’re still wrong because the Beats were knock-offs. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47403183

My mistake. Nice catch. That being said, AirPods use a steel frame construction to get the weight up for the same reason. There's a whole thing with weight in neuromarketing for luxury and luxury-adjacent products. There's fringe benefits acoustically to using it, around resonance mainly, but mostly it's to get weight and influence perception. Same reason as the knock-offs, different mechanism.

That being said, AirPods use a steel frame construction to get the weight up for the same reason.

Noting that you have no way of knowing that. Not that you’re necessarily wrong. I just read some reviews on the Beats Studio Pros and…the reviewer noted the amount of plastic used in the construction, while complimenting the light weight. Pick a lane, folks.

Re: AirPods Max 2

#358

Post by NoPicklez »

porphyra wrote: post #136
ex-aws-dude wrote: post #114

I don't understand how a pair of headphones can be $549 meanwhile the Macbook Neo is $599 The pricing on these always seemed a bit crazy to me, like the value is way off compared to other Apple products

Isn't this pricing pretty in line with other high end ANC headphones? e.g. Bowers & Wilkins PX8 ($699), Focal Bathys ($849), Sony WH-1000XM6 ($399), Kef Mu7 ($399), Bose QC Ultra ($449)

That's not what they were saying and the same can be said for those listed. But that they can cost the same as a Macbook Neo which arguably has significantly more technology in it.

Re: AirPods Max 2

#359

Post by drob518 »

mvdtnz wrote: post #311
porphyra wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this pricing pretty in line with other high end ANC headphones? e.g. Bowers & Wilkins PX8 ($699), Focal Bathys ($849), Sony WH-1000XM6 ($399), Kef Mu7 ($399), Bose QC Ultra ($449)

Weird response. He said "I don't understand how a pair of headphones can be $549" and you responded "here are some headphones that are priced at $549". Yeah. We know. It's just hard to understand how anyone can value headphones at this price. It's lunacy.

How much is your house worth? Whatever someone is willing to pay for it today. That's it. There's no right price. If they can cover costs and make a profit (or better yet a huge profit), then they're pricing it right. Sure, it doesn't work for you. It doesn't work for me either, which is why I don't have a pair. But they seem to be profitable, so there are enough people out there that want them. I just got off a plane a couple days ago and three people within one row around me each had AirPods Max on. Go figure. They're the new status symbol, I guess.

Re: AirPods Max 2

#360

Post by philjohn »

asdff wrote: post #203
ex-aws-dude wrote: post #114

I don't understand how a pair of headphones can be $549 meanwhile the Macbook Neo is $599 The pricing on these always seemed a bit crazy to me, like the value is way off compared to other Apple products

Peripheral tech must have absurdly lucrative margins. I see it in my niche interests too. Cycling or golf gps are like hundreds of dollars. They are the same products they were 15 years ago: cheap lcd screen with a cheap gps radio and some severely underpowered cpu with noticable input lag. Designed to fall apart in a few years. Still same prices they always were, maybe they get away adding another $50 a year to the…

For cycling tech, if you're outside the US, check out Chinese manufacturers like iGPSport and Magene.

Picked up a spider-based power meter for around £290 and a big computer for £150. Both are great, and work just as well as their western counterparts costing significantly more.

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