Phil's Superpower of Enthusiasm

Sound. The sound is deep and rich, with really impressive bass and sub-bass response for a headphone. It’s still weird to hear the low bass rumble clearly without feeling it in my chest, but the response is nimble and crisp, with very little lagging or blurring even during sections with rapid movement (like Massive Attack’s “Paradise Circus”). It even does a pretty good job of reproducing some intentionally-mastered splatter (like in Robert Glasper’s “Treal” (ft. Yasiin Bey)). That said, the bass is a little punchy in some hip hop and EDM. It’s not enough to bother me, but YMMV and there’s no real EQ options (beyond Apple’s general accessibility settings).

Treble is very clear without being harsh, and generally well balanced with the mid-range/vocals at normal listening levels. At very low volumes the treble is a little more forward and the vocals get a little muddled, and at high volumes the vocals on tracks like Young Father’s “Holy Ghost” get a bit washed out by the treble. I’m generally pretty happy with the vocal reproduction on everyone from The National’s Matt Berninger baritone to Jonsi’s ethereal upper register. It’s crispy with acoustic music like Iron & Wine’s “Woman King” or Jose Gonzalez’ “Crosses”, and I swear I’m hearing subtle background noises like hands sliding on guitar bodies in the backround that I haven’t heard before. Same with Yo-Yo Ma’s cello on Goat Rodeo Sessions; I feel like I’m getting more of the music than I have before, which I appreciate.

Stereo separation is very clear with a distinct sound stage (i.e. you can tell where instruments were relative to microphones during recording), and like the AirPodsPro, spatially-mastered audio gives an incredible boost to the breadth and depth of the sound stage.

The only real criticism I’d offer is that the dynamics aren’t particularly great—on a track like “It’s All So Incredibly Loud” by Glass Animals, I want to hear a slow crescendo throughout the song, and I don’t feel like I get that very much out of the AirPods Max. The entire dynamic range feels compressed. This problem seems to be exacerbated with noise canceling on, and reduced a bit with transparency mode active. Overall, I’d say that these headphones are not the best at quiet or very loud listening, though I don’t think I’ve ever heard a pair of ANC or Bluetooth headphones that I thought were, other than the Pro2. Which sort of makes sense, right? These kinds of headphones are designed to separate you from the world.

Overall take on the sound quality: the Max make well-mastered songs sound great, and punish ones that aren’t so well mastered. There are definitely some songs that I would not listen to on them (August Alsina’s “Hip Hop”, Born Gold’s Bodysongs album, almost anything by RHCP, etc.). They also punish non-lossless audio.

Pro-tip: fit matters. If they’re riding on your ears instead of around them, they can sound tinny and distorted, so it’s worth making sure that they’re properly sitting on your head.

Disclaimer from the AirPodsPro Gen 2 review: It’s still Bluetooth, and it’s locked to Apple’s proprietary AAC file format so you’re always getting a lossy signal, but Apple designed the system from the ground-up and the on-board chip is pretty impressive, so you’re getting probably the best version of Bluetooth possible.

Noise canceling. This is a standout for these headphones. The passive noise canceling (with ANC/transparency turned off) is pretty good; the cups form a decent seal on their own, and when you turn the ANC on, it’s like stepping into a quiet room from a noisy one. Even sitting at my desk with my KEF LSXs playing at reasonable volume, I can feel the bass from the speakers but can’t hear them at all with the Max at less than half volume.

Maybe my favorite things about these headphones (and the Pro2) is the really excellent transparency mode. I work in the office a couple of days a week in a pretty-high traffic area (I back up to a hallway that leads to a coworking area and a number of conference rooms), and I really like being able to hear my colleagues when they’re moving around and trying to talk to me. Same when walking Denali; I’d like to know if someone is coming up to us, or if one of my neighbors wants to talk EVs. And being able to wear a pair of headphones where I can transition from being aware of my environment to being acoustically isolated at the press of a button is really, really nice.

Spatial audio. I think the implementation of spatial audio on the Max actually lags the Pro2; it’s really well done, but the sense of space just isn’t quite as pronounced. That may be a result of the new H2 chip in the Pro2 just being better than the H1 in the Max, and I’ll be curious to see if Apple announces a new Max2 with the upgrades included in the Pro2 soon. [Side note: Apple’s current method of rolling out updated versions across their entire products line is … weird. Selling an M2-driven Macbook Air but not a MacBook Pro was … a choice.]

The quality of spatial mastering is, as always, widely varying. This sound great with well-mastered spatial music (in particular, Rumours by Fleetwood Mac is one of the very best, but Apple Music has an entire playlist of mostly-well mastered spatial music that’s worth checking out).

Controls. They’re really good. Apple’s figured this piece out. The headphones have two controls built in: a crown dial (which you’ll recognize if you have an Apple Watch) behind the right yoke and an oblong button in front of the right yoke. By default the crown controls play/pause/skip (with the same press combinations as any Apple-compatible headphone) and volume (by spinning, and you can pick which direction raises the volume), and the button controls audio mode (default toggles between ANC and transparency, though you can change that). The mic in the headphones also listens for Siri commands by default, and it’s a really slick implementation that lets you pick music/make calls/control smart devices without having to take a phone out of your pocket, press a button, or raise a watch. It’s pretty great when your hands are full or otherwise being used, and the Siri implementation can use a connection to an unlocked Apple Watch to activate secure devices through HomeKit (like August door locks).

Some people might miss touch connectivity, but I find those kinds of controls not so great, especially in a place that rains as much as Olympia. The headphones also pause by default when you take off one earphone, which I may end up disabling.

The one thing it’s lacking that I really miss is an off switch. These turn off when you put them into the provided Smart Case, and if there’s a way to turn them off otherwise I haven’t found it yet. That’s fine as long as you don’t throw the headphones on and forget to bring the case with you … but it just feels like a strange omission for a premium pair of headphones.

Connectivity. This is the other thing that Apple’s just figured out. As long as you’re in the Apple ecosystem, it’s slick. I regularly carry two iPhones and an AppleWatch, and it’s pretty seamless connecting to any of those devices (or one of my Macs or Apple TVs). The connectivity to Windows is a little shakier and less consistent, and I had a weird issue this morning where the Max weren’t recognized by my iPhone when I took them out of the Smart Case, but I did run a software update last night on my phone.

Comfort. They’re pretty comfortable, even after four or five hours. They’re definitely heavier than most headphones I’ve owned, but the weight is pretty well distributed and the clamping force works for my head size/shape.

Construction. These headphones are SOLID. They’re very heavy, and the yoke feels quite durable. I was really skeptical about the Smart Case at first because it leaves the yoke exposed (and my experience has been that that’s the second-most likely candidate for breakage, after cables), but once you’ve spent a day with them you really stop worrying about damaging that. Initially I figured I’d have to go buy an aftermarket case, but I’ve been throwing the Max in their case in my bag for a couple of weeks with zero concern.

Like the Bose 700s, these don’t fold for easy transportation which seems like a silly choice for a headphone in this price range, but the included case does at least make them flat and easy to drop in a bag.

Charging is standard Apple lightning (though I’d imagine they’ll have to switch to standard USB-C to accommodate the EU’s rule change soon), and it looks like it supports the faster PD charging standard when plugged in via a high-power USB-C charging brick.

Appearance. They’re Apple products. They’re pretty. They don’t stand out quite as much as the original white earbuds did, but they’re not particularly subtle either. Mine are the sky-blue color and I really dig it. The ear cups are held in place via magnets and easy to swap out if you want something else, and there are cheaper after market options if you’re not worried about degrading audio/ANC quality.

Value. Apple products are never cheap. Usually what you get is pretty close to actual comparable products though, once you get into the specs. Here’s the real rub with the Max: these are $550 headphones at MSRP (though it looks like Amazon is selling them for $479, or $380 renewed as of 11/6/22). I don’t own any headphones in that price range, and that’s not an accident. That’s a lot. There are a few other models in this general price range now (Focal makes the Bathys, Mark Levinson makes the No.5909, etc.), but I’m not going to be buying any of them to compare.

Compared to what I do have (or have had): are they better headphones than the Bose 700 ($379), Beats Studio3 Wireless ($220), Bose QC35 ($360), B&O Beoplay H4s ($300), Sony WH-1000XM4 ($250), or AirPodPro2 ($240)? Yes. Yes they are. And it’s particularly close. But are they $100-310 better? I … don’t really think so. I got mine used from Mercari for ~$300 and I’d pay that again when I either lose or break these. I don’t think I’d be able to justify paying MSRP for them, but I guess we’ll see how used I get to having them around!

Overall. They’re great headphones, and I’m glad that I have them. I’ve been wearing them at work and I think I’ll continue to do so on days when I don’t want to mess with my desktop DAC/amp, and they’re particularly good for walking Denali in the rain or working around my house when I’m moving around a lot. The ease of connectivity makes them helpful when I’m around other people that might be disturbed by loud music, and that’s a value-add.

My takeaway from the Pro2 was that while I have headphones that are better than them for any specific situation, the Pro2 gets me to 80% on all situations, and they fit easily in my change/watch pocket so I’m pretty much always carrying them these days. I think the Max is the inverse; while none of my other ANC Bluetooth headphones are better for any specific situation, a couple of them get me 80% of the way there (for around half the price) and are more easily transportable. The Max are quite large and heavy, and I have to plan around taking them with me. That said, I don’t think any of my existing headphones beats them for uses where noise canceling matters, and I think they will displace the Bose 700s as my go to travel headphones.

#reviews #headphones #apple #anc #bluetooth #spatialaudio #overear #cans