Apple AirPods Max Review (Noise Cancelling Headphone)

[abdo123]

Hardly 'textbook perfect', with a significant lack of treble energy between 5 and 10 kHz (with high-Q troughs and peaks to boot which will be impossible to accurately EQ out), more obvious on a graph that hasn't had its aspect ratio compressed vertically / stretched horizontally:

View attachment 146239

I personally appreciate dips above 5KHz in the response, it makes watching Youtube videoes with barely edited vocals more pleasent as I don't get irritated with sibilants.

it's really the least significant portion of the spectrum for me.

 

[mononoaware]

I think you are .
Bespoke drivers too for the HomePod (https://www.52audio.com/archives/18235.html). In fact all of Apple's devices use bespoke drivers for the most part. Apple has long been interested in sound / acoustics and has a full R&D team devoted to it. Whether that results in good sounding products... is a different thing. They're working under design and product types constraints. Personally I'm routinely disappointed by Apple's audio focused products... but also frequently less so than other companies working under the same constraints.

Thanks for the link.
I admit awhile ago after looking at the multiple BMR drivers used in the HomePod I quickly assumed they were OEM based on their appearance.

Regarding Apple’s audio products, I use an iPhone & iPad but that’s about it.
AirPods and HomePods were not on the radar.
I am not in the market for Smart speakers and Active noise cancelling/Wireless headphones so that explains most of it.

 

[MayaTlab]

a significant lack of treble energy between 5 and 10 kHz (with high-Q troughs and peaks to boot which will be impossible to accurately EQ out)

That's an over-interpretation, particularly since it's the area of the spectrum where measurements in general agree the least between each others, and particularly so for the APM where they vary so much that it's difficult to extract any information from them.
While I can only speak for myself (but I've tried several samples), the 5-10kHz area is precisely where I certainly don't want to boost the APM's overall response, at all. I would not be surprised to learn that someone else's impressions of the APM may differ in that range in particular.
But 5-10kHz is indeed a range where I'm getting more seatings to seatings variation than I'd prefer to see to comfortably PEQ them (albeit less so than the K371 for example).

 

[staticV3]

@amirm has someone already sent the AKG N700NC M2 your way? Measurements from Resolve reviews show excellent adherence to Harman (surprise surprise) and you can purchase them new on eBay for as low as $70.

 

[JJB70]

Apple are pretty serious about sound, of all the tech companies they have always seemed to be the one that took sound very seriously as well as the convenience and connected aspects, as evidenced by their various speakers, earbuds, dongle, compression code etc. So whether or not they used a target response people here like, I find it hard to believe it isn't based on a serious analysis. If anything Apple seems to have more knowledge of audio than most audio only companies.

 

[MayaTlab]

Thanks for the link.
I admit awhile ago after looking at the multiple BMR drivers used in the HomePod I quickly assumed they were OEM based on their appearance.

They regularly hire acoustic engineers with skills in transducers design if you want to know, although that doesn't necessarily mean per se that they don't outsource their drivers development (but IMO highly unlikely to any significant extant).

 

[IVX]

for an unclear reason, Apple inc made the f.response like that. Anyway DSP onboard, seems they believe that 3khz dip is better for the sound.

 

[Ata]

I don’t remember the sound as bad (in stock form) the last time I tried them to deserve a headless panther, quite the opposite (they lack proper energy at the pinna region, that’s for sure, but nothing that EQ doesn’t fix).

Aside from that, they sound pretty damn clean and the bass is perfect in my book, both quality and quantity wise.

This mirrors my experience. There must be something in play: these headphones sound much better than the FR measurements suggest.

 

[Robbo99999]

Wow, yes, amazing that Apple can seemingly throw so much research & design at a headphone and completely muck up the response north of 1kHz! With the other side of the coin being the very very low distortion and good frequency response sub 1kHz, it's really a tale of two halves! I'd like to have some insider knowledge of what went on during the development process of this headphone....the things that made them arrive at that deficient target above 1kHz.

 

[WHO23]

Wow, yes, amazing that Apple can seemingly throw so much research & design at a headphone and completely muck up the response north of 1kHz! With the other side of the coin being the very very low distortion and good frequency response sub 1kHz, it's really a tale of two halves! I'd like to have some insider knowledge of what went on during the development process of this headphone....the things that made them arrive at that deficient target above 1kHz.

Can’t design them to be too good, else people won’t buy future models being released

 

[Helicopter]

Thanks Amir. Great to see an important product like this. Like many, I am always interested in what Apple is up to. Looks like Bose did better here.

Low distortion is surprising and impressive.

Adaptive EQ and ultimate frequency response are surprising, broken, and probably adding some uncertainty to measurements, but we know that it was performing badly when measured.

Steer clear of these I think. Hopefully they add good firmware EQ because the drivers and their ANC seem to have a lot of potential.

 

[restorer-john]

seems they believe that 3khz dip is better for the sound.

A 3kHz dip, is a classic "boom-tizz" sizzle on the sales floor. No different to a bass/treble boost...

 

[vkvedam]

This is of no use to us Androiders anyway . Sony 1000X M4 please, just to see how they compare technically

 

[abdo123]

A 3kHz dip, is a classic "boom-tizz" sizzle on the sales floor. No different to a bass/treble boost...

i honestly think it sounds better in this case just because of how bright mainstream pop is typically mastered.

 

[Robbo99999]

Yes they do have very similar measurements:

View attachment 146235

But your conclusion is the wrong way round. What's bold (read: inexplicable and unjustified) is the praise heaped on the Aeon RT. I can't see anything in the measurements to warrant it. The APM in some areas is actually slightly better, without the Aeon RT's wonky upper bass / lower midrange, 6 kHz peak, and the RT has worse channel matching to boot. They're both pretty mediocre though.

The panther rating of the Aeon RT was before there were two panthers, one for stock & one for EQ, and Amir's subjective evaluation of the Aeon RT was a lot more enthusiastic than that of the Apple, so it seemed he really did enjoy the Aeon RT more (after EQ) than the Apple.....I suppose we also have to keep in mind that these are the subjective part of the review and that subjectivity can change over time, in terms of increased experience with more headphones means that you're less wowed when things fall correctly into place (& just daily personal variation/mood). I think you gotta take the subjective evaluations with a pinch of salt and a wider allowance.......either way from his comments Amir definitely was more enthusiastic about the Aeon RT in terms of experience and perhaps a good portion of that was down to real enjoyment difference rather than just increased experience with more headphones. In my experience there's elements of soundstage & indeed some other qualities (eg overall clarity) that isn't always directly seen in the measurements & corresponding EQ's who's differences can distinguish one headphone over another. There's gotta be some leeway on the subjective assessments, and we've got the measurements to see as a semi-seperate means of comparison......so we just gotta make our own minds up when comparing headphones after taking into account both the objective measurements & the subjective evaluation.

 

[peniku8]

There's no system-wide parametric equalizer software available on iOS, so you'd have to use a hardware one such as that in the Qudelix 5K.

I use EQE. Main reason why I'd never give up the jailbreak on my iphone, because just about every headphones in existence seems to need EQ.

 

[eddantes]

Seems to match @Sean Olive 's measruements

 

[Robbo99999]

Can’t design them to be too good, else people won’t buy future models being released

Hehe, they just gonna gradually increase the frequency response above 1kHz by 1dB with each subsequent release!

 

[IVX]

A 3kHz dip, is a classic "boom-tizz" sizzle on the sales floor. No different to a bass/treble boost...

you're goddamn right(c) and perhaps Apple has some EQ presets yet? For example, the only single one PEQ 4.3k Q=.7 +8db will fit FR back to standard.

 

[Zensō]

This actually looks pretty good, assuming you’re running an iOS device and using Headphone Accommodations.