Apple’s AirPods Max 2 release with H2 chip, boosted ANC in April for $549
- Thread starter JournalBot
- Start date
Upvote
1
(6
/
-5)
I’m sure a simplified supply chain is a positive thing, but likely this is related to the ”intelligence” functionality coming out in the iOS 26.4 update (within a month).
Might be strange to say how you support things like live translation if your flagship headphones don’t.
Upvote
3
(3
/
0)
It was way overpriced for what it was then compared to the competition and it still is now.
Upvote
-8
(3
/
-11)
Oh dear. Not an "audiophile" at all. My "day" job was live productions for a decade and a half and change.
Which is why I closed that post with a "this doesn't matter to most people" caveat. Because most "audiophiles" are buying nicer gear than most musicians own or use. I'd joke with my coworkers that the Talent could scream Mary Had A Little Lamb, and no one would notice so long as the lights and video were providing a spectacle--because at 120+dB, sustained, for 2 hours, no one is actually listening. I bring that up--because most "audiophiles" are always listening to electroacoustic, and the audio production chain from instrument to line-arrays is incredibly tortured and there is no objective bench of what it should actually sounds like from anywhere other than the FOH mixing position. Similar deal to the way trumpets are recorded (mic in bell) sounds very little like what a trumpet sounds like IRL from the audience.
Upvote
-11
(6
/
-17)
Sony WH-1000XM6 are $460 regular price, $399 on sale. Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2 are $449 regular price, $425 on sale. Have yet to see what a sale price on AirPods Max 2 looks like, but $549 vs $450–$460 list price isn't wildly different, considering one is predominantly metal construction, and the others are predominantly plastic. Weight preferences aside, it's still a build cost difference to account for.
Upvote
15
(16
/
-1)
Upvote
1
(3
/
-2)
The very name of the feature implies it.
Conversation is speaking, not singing, and two or more people, not one.
Got a real “Full Self Driving” vibe.
Upvote
-16
(0
/
-16)
https://support.apple.com/en-us/121115
"Live Translation with AirPods works on AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation or AirPods Pro 2 and later with the latest firmware when paired with an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, and supports English (US, UK), French (France), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain), Chinese (Mandarin, simplified), and Chinese (Mandarin, traditional)."
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
This announcement is well-timed for me. A couple of weeks ago I noticed my five year old AirPods Max would only charge to 50% and my heart sank. I really didn't want to buy a replacement pair where the only update was the USB-C port.
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
Because quite a few albums in Apple Music are available in that format, which has a sample rate that is closer to the studio master recordings. It would be a nice feature to have if I’m paying that much for headphones.
https://www.whathifi.com/advice/high-resolution-audio-everything-you-need-to-know
Upvote
-13
(1
/
-14)
From what I understand, when mixing recordings it is useful to have the data stored at high resolution so you don’t get as much error accumulation through multiple editing stages, which are just mathematical operations on numbers which have finite granularity.
When it comes to playback, higher bit depths and sample rates have been proven to be audibly indistinguishable from 16-bit 44.1kHz when using the same source material, which is why those numbers were chosen for the CD standard way back. If there is a detectable difference it’s probably down to the mixing being different for each format.
Well, our ears have been around for millions of years and have not perceptibly changed in the last 59. What was valid science then is still valid now? Is a 32k 2,000Hz TV a better viewing experience than a 16k 1,000Hz one - the numbers are bigger but the limits of human perception are still the same?
Last edited:
Upvote
31
(31
/
0)
Upvote
1
(1
/
0)
The Red Book specification wasn’t chosen at random. It was designed to exceed the limits of perfect human hearing in ideal conditions. It doesn’t matter how much better than Red Book the recorded signal is, you simply can’t hear it. It’s like saying that video should expand into IR and UV wavelengths.
Upvote
33
(33
/
0)
Those are wired analogue headphones ... but yes, for wired headphones, they are widely considered the gold standard.
... and with a much better reputation for reliability.
Aftermarket ear cups of different materials (foam / surface) are available.
And there is an enthusiast community around them, publishing files for 3D-printing various mods.
When I last was shopping for headphones, those aspects are what made me choose them over any wireless headphones. I'm wearing them now.
Upvote
-7
(1
/
-8)
IPunchCholla
Ars Scholae Palatinae
It’s better to think is sampling rate as bandwidth. Bandwidth is half the sampling rate minus one divided in two. So 44.1 can capture ANY wave form up to 22kHz. Very few people can hear above 20k. By the time you’re 55 it is typical to only hear 16k or less. There is very little musical information above 16kHz.
Bit depth is the range of loudness a sample has 16 bits gets you 98dB. Given a typical noise floor of 35dB, that gets you peaks of 133dB, which is plenty. With ANC, I can see a couple situations where 98dB is too little, but it’s not something I’ve ever actually cared about.
So most of us wouldn’t be able to hear any difference between 16bit 44.1k and 24 bit 48k. If you think you can hear a difference between 24bit 48k and anything more than that, you are almost certain fooling yourself (meaning all human sensory processing is subject to error. We often hear and see things that are not caused by sound and/or light waves).
Bit depth is the range of loudness a sample has 16 bits gets you 98dB. Given a typical noise floor of 35dB, that gets you peaks of 133dB, which is plenty. With ANC, I can see a couple situations where 98dB is too little, but it’s not something I’ve ever actually cared about.
So most of us wouldn’t be able to hear any difference between 16bit 44.1k and 24 bit 48k. If you think you can hear a difference between 24bit 48k and anything more than that, you are almost certain fooling yourself (meaning all human sensory processing is subject to error. We often hear and see things that are not caused by sound and/or light waves).
Upvote
21
(21
/
0)
...I know both the sound of the famous 7506s and the current APM really well. Totally different sound styles. 7506s are famously clear, but compared to APM are completely lacking in bass, depth and don't have the consistent left/right staging you get in APM.
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
The original AirPods Max automatically go into low-power modes.
Place them into the included magnetic Smart Case to put them into low-power mode immediately, or set them on a flat surface and they will go into low-power mode after five minutes. After 72 hours of inactivity, they will go into ultralow-power mode—which is probably as near to off as one is going to get.
Upvote
5
(5
/
0)
Thanks to a tip from Arsian @DarkSyd, after wearing out my third set of genuine Sony pads I switched over to a set of Beyer Dynamic EDT250V Headphone Ear Pads — which were more comfortable from day one, and have yet to show signs of the peeling disease that the OEM pads are famous for.
A definite improvement for the MDR7506 production monitors…but I still use my APM more often.
Last edited:
Upvote
2
(2
/
0)
I own a lot of headphones and work professionally in immersive music production. You have to divide all headphones into two camps: conventional passive designs (closed and open like Sony 7506, Grado SRs, AKG, Sennheiser 600s), and process headphones like Sony, Focal, and Apple. In the process group, Apple AirPods Max stand out for having very good sound quality and ANC at their price point. You can spend triple on Focals which are better headphones, but the AirPods Max get you 80% of the way there. Process headphones usually have significantly better bass response and more even frequency response, but they're disorienting if you're accustomed to passive headphones. Apples and oranges. Totally different sound styles. You can hear the difference between APM on a USB cable playing losslessly vs. playing the same music over Bluetooth. Keep in mind that if you are enjoying music in new formats like Dolby Atmos, you can use any headphones- even your favorite passives from the past. But for headtracking, you need AirPods Max. Listening to music on TIDAL using AirPods Max is a terrific, low-cost way to experience Dolby Atmos.
Upvote
22
(22
/
0)
I just spent $75 for a new battery since mine were not holding a charge anymore between that and replacing the ear pads and the amazing cleaning that Apple did when replacing the battery, mine are like brand new. I bought them when they first came out. While the new features in this are definitely appealing, and unless there is an upgrade path with a reasonable traded option for something that is essentially brand new, it is hard to justify the expense.
Upvote
10
(10
/
0)
They still lose a significant amount of charge when left flat for a few days. It shouldn’t have been too hard to turn them off completely if the cups are rotated flat.
Upvote
-8
(1
/
-9)
An underrated killer feature for me is the Spatial Audio when watching Apple TV. It’s a not-really-useful gimmick for other iDevices (and I just turn off Atmos in Apple Music), but I often have to watch TV with headphones instead of my nice 5.1 system, and it’s great hearing audio come from where it’s supposed to. Unfortunately the head tracking aspect is kinda bugged and I have to turn it off, which maybe the H2 would fix, but not a big detriment for me.
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
I have a pair of HD820s. They sound better than my APM. I use my APM a lot more.
Upvote
1
(2
/
-1)
I’ve heard or owned all the major competition. In my opinion the APM, with all its flaws, is the superior product.
Upvote
6
(6
/
0)
...that's exactly why we're putting so much effort into immersive music formats like Dolby Atmos.
Imagine the difference between watching a movie on an old standard def TV versus a modern 4K OLED TV. That's the difference between stereo and Dolby Atmos. Once you hear it, there's no going back. Dolby Atmos is the aural equivalent of UHD, and then some.
Upvote
4
(4
/
0)
For that kind of money (and I say this as a serious Apple Fanboy who is currently mad at Quisling Tim Apple for bowing the knee to Orange Mussolini) there are much better headphones for the money. And for not much more, vastly better. I don't need all that Apple ecosystem tie-in mainly because I've decided to go with a Roon Nucleus One.
I'm currently using Tidal along with my own ripped and purchased FLAC library on my Unas Pro NAS. Roon turns them into one seamless catalog of 100 million songs. Output currently with Marantz and Klipsch. Headphone research is under way right now, probably to purchase next year.
Apple Music? I'm thinking about cancelling it altogether. With Roon ARC I havce access to all of my music anywhere in the world with superb quality (port forwarded so my network is safe and secure, no UnPnP needed).
I'm currently using Tidal along with my own ripped and purchased FLAC library on my Unas Pro NAS. Roon turns them into one seamless catalog of 100 million songs. Output currently with Marantz and Klipsch. Headphone research is under way right now, probably to purchase next year.
Apple Music? I'm thinking about cancelling it altogether. With Roon ARC I havce access to all of my music anywhere in the world with superb quality (port forwarded so my network is safe and secure, no UnPnP needed).
Upvote
-17
(0
/
-17)
I mean the big difference is that we’ve had lossless audio formats since the dawn of Blu-ray 20 years ago, but all video still uses lossy compression. Like, the quality we’re getting with lossless audio isn’t terribly different than the native recording. Whereas with video, you’re losing some quality to compression versus the “masters”.
There was a time, when 4k was getting hyped, that I thought they should focus on getting lossless 1080p video instead. (Anybody remember superbit DVDs??) But when I finally saw HDR video on an OLED, I changed my tune.
Upvote
7
(7
/
0)
It's funny that way, but it seems there is a recent revival in the young ones deliberately using wired earphones recently. No idea if the fad will last, of course.
Upvote
0
(0
/
0)
Considering that Sony and Bose have excellent competitors in the $200-300 price range, I have to agree.
Upvote
-8
(0
/
-8)
i suspect that is in part because Apple limits lossless music. Android has better codecs for listening to music wirelessly than the iOS ecosystem has. Admittedly most people can't tell or don't care. But Sennheiser has made a big splash with their HDB 630 cans because they come with a dongle that you can insert into an iPhone's (or iPad's and I assume Mac's) USB-C port and it bypasses the limits that Apple places on their high resolution music not traveling by wire. How long ago did Apple hint they were working on a wireless way to get around Bluetooth's bandwidth limits And they still don't have it?
Upvote
-11
(0
/
-11)
Upvote
13
(13
/
0)
I can pick out 24/96 masters over 16/44.1 masters every day. But the way I do that comes mostly down to the 24-bit bit depth. 16-bit sounds chunky, and the quiet passages are kind of in a vacuum. Sampling rate, on the other hand, is less easy to hear, but in the studio you can hear it in the plug-ins. Reverbs sound better and EQs suck less at 96K. It has nothing to do with your upper range of human hearing. The low-pass anti-aliasing filter at 44.1KHz ripples into the range of hearing. We mix at 96K so the filter is farther away and hopefully doing less damage. Do an experiment if you have the tools, and take the low-pass filter out- digital audio starts to sound like garbage fast. The sound of aliasing is like an out of tune chalkboard. Respectfully, all the talk online about sampling rate and your ability to hear high frequencies is a distraction. We need 96KHz masters for posterity, even if they get converted to 48Khz for streaming.
Upvote
-11
(3
/
-14)
Sounds like a cool and time consuming hobby. I just want to play music wherever I am and have it sound good enough for my ears.
Upvote
8
(8
/
0)