Apple AirPods Max Review (Noise Cancelling Headphone)

[Shazb0t]

Hi, I wish you'd make super super clear what Target Curve you're using in your EQ's, because most people are gonna assume it's the Harman Curve, but I notice you're not using the Harman Curve.......you're using instead something you've created & named yourself as the Amirm Curve, which has less treble and/or more bass than the proper Harman Curve.......so I think you actually need to say that you're not using the Harman Curve rather than just sneaking in a little reference to Amirm Curve. Where did you even get this Amirm Curve? It's not a target curve that Amir has created because his Target Curve he uses in his diagrams is the Harman Curve. (And sometimes in previous reviews you use instead the proper Harman Curve for your EQ's, so there's no consistency - people don't know what they're getting, and they probably don't even know that sometimes you're using a different Target Curve.....and people should know this if they're gonna be using your EQ's).

On a separate topic (which is not a "complaint"), what is meant by a Genetic Algorithm that you mention?

He just shows you what Amir's EQ looks like against the Harman so you can compare his EQ vs Amir's. It's clearly targeting the Harman curve.

 

[Robbo99999]

Hi,

I just double checked, I used the Standard Harman target. What makes you think it is not?
When I don't, I usually make it clear.
Amirm preferences are roughy +3dB at LF -1.5dB at HF.

For GA very good explanation, although a bit involved if you are not familiar with optimization:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_algorithm

Ok, that's good, but I checked the distance in dB between the bass hump and the treble peak, and it should be 5dB difference according to the curve I have stored, and yours is 1 or 2dB less than that, have you double checked you're using Harman? Apologies if you are indeed using the Harman Curve there, but it looks different to me after I made the comparisons, perhaps it's the zoomed out scale of your y-axis that is making it difficult to read the differences.

EDIT: @Maiky76 , wow that Genetic Algorithm stuff looks complicated. They talk about mutations, so is it 'just' trying random solutions and then seeing what fits best? It feels a bit like AI approach?

 

[welsh]

Hmmz the $69.00 USD earcups are magnetic & pop right off when pulling on them. For changing them out. Here's some pics to get a reference on the size of them.

Why listen through your hair?

 

[lawk]

I dont perceive them muffled at all. It is my favorite BT headphone for sure.

 

[Tircuit]

Subjectively, these are great sounding headphones. Very clear to me. Better than my Sony 1000mk3. I prefer corded planars, but these are right up there with them, and the best BT that I’ve heard. Heavy I guess, but I can wear them longer than I can the Sundara. The headband is the best I’ve experienced.

 

[elliott]

Subjectively, these are great sounding headphones. Very clear to me. Better than my Sony 1000mk3. I prefer corded planars, but these are right up there with them, and the best BT that I’ve heard. Heavy I guess, but I can wear them longer than I can the Sundara. The headband is the best I’ve experienced.

I agree. These are actually my pair lent for review. Maybe there's some similarity to corded planars (it's beyond me), but my favorite headphones are also corded planar, and after trying out the sony's and panda drops and the beloved sennheiser bt that are rated so high on the forum, I still keep coming back to these, at least for most of my music taste while at work (hip-hop, electronic).

 

[amirm]

I dont perceive them muffled at all. It is my favorite BT headphone for sure.

Apply the EQ. Listen for a few minutes and then turn it off.

 

[Merkurio]

Apply the EQ. Listen for a few minutes and then turn it off.

Hi boss!

Do you think is actually worse than the LCD-X in stock form, tonally wise?

 

[JJB70]

I agree. These are actually my pair lent for review. Maybe there's some similarity to corded planars (it's beyond me), but my favorite headphones are also corded planar, and after trying out the sony's and panda drops and the beloved sennheiser bt that are rated so high on the forum, I still keep coming back to these, at least for most of my music taste while at work (hip-hop, electronic).

To you and others that like these, then that's all that matters, enjoy them! I can certainly understand why people like them.

 

[amirm]

Do you think is actually worse than the LCD-X in stock form, tonally wise?

I can't give you definitive answers since the volume was so low that I could not do a proper subjective test.

 

[Zensō]

I can’t help but feel these headphones are sometimes given a short shrift among audiophiles due to being a consumer-oriented Apple product. Audeze headphones, darlings of the headphone community, display some of the same FR flaws as the APM (arguably worse), weigh nearly twice as much, cost more than double, have a lower build quality, and provide no noise cancellation.

 

[GaryH]

I can’t help but feel these headphones are sometimes given a short shrift among audiophiles due to being a consumer-oriented Apple product. Audeze headphones, darlings of the headphone community, display some of the same FR flaws as the APM (arguably worse), weigh nearly twice as much, cost more than double, have a lower build quality, and provide no noise cancellation.

View attachment 146590
View attachment 146591

The answer is they're both bad.

 

[jhwalker]

Very surprised at these measurements - as several others have noted, these sound EXCELLENT to me - not "muffled" at all.

I use my Dan Clark Aeon 2 Closed, Focal Elegia, and these pretty much interchangeably and don't hear much between them. Yes, they each have different qualities (the Elegia sounds a bit warm and boomy, the Aeon a bit dry, the Apples pretty balanced), but none of them sound "broken", and all sound pretty darned good.

 

[Merkurio]

I can't give you definitive answers since the volume was so low that I could not do a proper subjective test.

When I tried them at a local Apple Store (connected to my iPhone) I had to turn up the volume quite a bit to get a proper level, but the bass was really great thereafter and the overall impression was a very clean sound for a wireless headphone, not far behind some "audiophile grade" usual suspects, despite the obvious pinna gain deficiency. I had a LCD-2C that sounded much worse without EQ and ended up selling them (I wasn't really into EQ at the time, aside from the Reveal plugin provided by Audeze).

I don't think I could assess the sound from a headphone either if I don't get the right volume.

With enough volume and a quick fix at the pinna gain region I bet they sound great, giving the astonishing low distortion (more impressive given the fact that it's a dynamic driver with already boosted bass response).

 

[GaryH]

I use my Dan Clark Aeon 2 Closed, Focal Elegia, and these pretty much interchangeably and don't hear much between them.

That'll be because they're all poorly tuned, lacking in pinna gain:

 

[jhwalker]

That'll be because they're all poorly tuned, lacking in pinna gain:

View attachment 146603

I guess I just like muffled, deficient headphones

Seriously, though, I use Oratory's EQ on all of them, so they all sound pretty darned good.

 

[Merkurio]

That'll be because they're all poorly tuned, lacking in pinna gain:

View attachment 146603

I've seen much worse "well-tuned" headphones.

The AirPods Max and Aeon 2 have proper bass levels to begin with, plus very low distortion over the spectrum to compensate the pinna region deficiency with a couple of filters.

 

[Chromatischism]

Since lockdown has kept me off buses, trains and 'planes the only time I use headphones is noise cancelling ones when mowing my lawn so this would be interesting to me too.
Mind you I am not sure the last nuance in SQ is noticed when the principle concentration is skirting my wife's flower beds neatly!

Probably better to use foam earplugs for protection, no? Works full-spectrum.

 

[GaryH]

It is in the dead centre, not to one side :
View attachment 146468
The only asymmetric parts are the vents' exits (the two narrow slots on the outside in one corner for both the front and rear volume), the window for the optical sensor, and the L/R markings for the pads.

In that case it's even worse, because the vents are an integral part of the acoustics of the headphone and so measuring them the wrong way round will likely not be accurate.

Besides it's one of those things where you can just listen to it in edge cases given the degree. Applying "counter EQ" to match a target according to a particular measurement of the APM makes it plainly obvious that I'm not getting results that match superbly well most of the APM's measurements (applying 10dB at 4800Hz as Rtings would suggest is murder for my ears and results in a very audible peak running sweeps). We're not talking about 1-2dB here, we're talking about 4, 5 - heck even 8-10dBs at times.

Rtings absolute frequency response measurements can't really be relied on to be accurate as they don't use an industry standard rig.

 

[MayaTlab]

In that case it's even worse, because the vents are an integral part of the acoustics of the headphone and so measuring them the wrong way round will likely not be accurate.

The vents' exits, as I wrote, which remain unobstructed either way when you wear them. In so far as where the front volume vent departs from the front volume it's more or less centred :

Besides since I'm basically getting the same FR one way or another (unlike every other headphones), that argument is a bit of a moot point.

Rtings absolute frequency response measurements can't really be relied on to be accurate as they don't use an industry standard rig.

I believe that it uses a 711 coupler for a start.
But I could say the same about Amir's or to a slightly lesser extent Oratory1990's EQ profiles, or autoEQ profiles derived from various measurements. They make the APM sound more different from my K371 than less to me, particularly because of excess gain in the ear canal gain region after EQ (2-3kHz in particular).
Not that I wouldn't want to EQ the APM, far from it, but more specifically past 3.5kHz (4kHz for a start - but not by 8dB). Same applies to the K371 BTW .