Apple spatial audio - Apple Airpods Max

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Movieman

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#289739 26-Sep-2021 14:07

For those of you who are not familiar with the Apple Airpods Max. I'd like to point out that they're name is somewhat misleading to the uninitiated, because they are not ear pods like the other Airpods in the Apple range. They are full, over ear headphones, with probably the best noise cancellation available. I live close to a main road, plus rain and wind can also be heard. With these headphones and noise cancellation turned on, I couldn't hear anything except the content that I was watching.

I do the majority of my TV/Movie viewing at night after wifey has gone to bed (she still works). I have a good pair of Sennheiser wired headphones, which sound great. I did have a small problem with the cable getting caught in my powered armchair, and also standing on it when I needed a break. I decided that a pair of Bluetooth headphones was the answer, and set about researching what is available. After a lot of reading and You Tube video watching, I decided on the Apple Airpods Max, being the best option for iOS and tvOS devices. Then I saw the price at the Apple store....$999! I shopped around, and found that PB Tech in Christchurch, had one pair of Pink ones at $130 saving, so I opted for them. Other colours available are, Space Grey, Silver, Sky Blue and Green.

Set up on my iPhone, iPad and most importantly Apple TV 4K, was pretty easy. I then demoed a few movies and TV shows, and the sound was amazing when receiving spatial audio (Dolby Atmos) supported content. iTunes, Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV+ apps on the Apple TV 4K all support spatial audio. I believe that the Apple TV HD is also supported, but not fully. I could go on, but suffice to say that these headphones (while expensive) are as good as it gets for watching at night.

If you want the best headphones for Apple spatial audio, and the price of them doesn't put you off completely, then I can recommend the Apple Airpods Max. (Audiophiles may disagree)

MAN CAVE: 2025 TCL C7K 75" QD Mini LED TV - Apple TV 4K 32gb (2nd Gen) - Samsung HW Q990F Soundbar - Panasonic DP-UB820 4K Blu-ray Player - Apple Airpods Max - LIVING ROOM: 2021 Sony 75” X95J LCD/LED TV - Apple TV 4K 32gb (1st Gen) - 2 x Apple Homepods Gen.2 (paired) - TECH: iPhone 15 Plus, iPad Gen. 10, Apple Watch SE.

alasta

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#2784564 26-Sep-2021 15:23

I love mine, although I'm not sure if I would buy pink ones regardless of any discount!

My only major complaint with them is that it's not possible to use them with lossless content on Apple Music. I would have thought that it would be dead simple for Apple to offer a cable that would feed a digital signal from an iPhone to the Airpods Max and then use the DAC built into the headphones. Unfortunately the currently available cable performs an analogue to digital conversion.

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#2784627 26-Sep-2021 17:57

Absolutely love mine too, they’re a huge step up in build quality and materials compared to the QC35 & Sony XM4 I had previously. But I really really don’t like Spatial Audio — I try it every now and then just to see if I’ll finally like it, but I just can’t deal with how much more quiet everything sounds.

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#2787455 1-Oct-2021 06:18

AirPods Pro with spatial audio are pretty great as well. Infuse supports spatial audio now so my Plex collection is getting the benefit of it on the Apple TV 4K. For solo watching it’s a really good experience.

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#2787500 1-Oct-2021 08:55

I’ve mentioned this in the other thread on Apple spatial audio, as long as the source content is properly mixed any headphones can do spatial audio.

Problem is like any ‘standard’ it’s hard to make sure your source is properly outputting. If it isn’t you get details in the audio that are significantly reduced volume or clarity.

If you’re interested in the science look up Head Related Transfer Function. HRTF is used in gaming, notably Virtual Reality, to get multiple channel audio to playback on stereo devices.

Movieman

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#2787536 1-Oct-2021 10:50

Handle9: AirPods Pro with spatial audio are pretty great as well. Infuse supports spatial audio now so my Plex collection is getting the benefit of it on the Apple TV 4K. For solo watching it’s a really good experience.

I must admit that I was sorely tempted to buy the Airpods Pro. Less than half the price of the Airpods Max, and reportedly almost as good. In the end I decided that I would prefer over ear 'Phones, and, also because I managed to get a pair that were discounted.

Because I am only using them in my Man Cave, colour didn't matter. Pink looks great! 😉

I also use Infuse, as I digitized my large collection of Blu-ray and 4K discs. Haven't tried playing anything from Infuse yet, but I have listened to some content from Apple TV +, and it sounds great. No regrets.

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#2788681 3-Oct-2021 17:32

SpartanVXL: I’ve mentioned this in the other thread on Apple spatial audio, as long as the source content is properly mixed any headphones can do spatial audio.

Problem is like any ‘standard’ it’s hard to make sure your source is properly outputting. If it isn’t you get details in the audio that are significantly reduced volume or clarity.

If you’re interested in the science look up Head Related Transfer Function. HRTF is used in gaming, notably Virtual Reality, to get multiple channel audio to playback on stereo devices.

Sure. The problem is actually using the technology easily in a consumer setting. That is what Apple gets consistently right, not the original technology.

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Movieman

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#2790662 6-Oct-2021 16:31

I find that putting my Airpods Max into their case every time I use them is a bit of a pain.

I read an article on the Benks Headphone stand, which said that they were the perfect accessory for the Airpods Max. I immediately started searching for said Benks stand. They are available from Amazon.com and several other places, but I ordered directly from the Benks website. After having a good look around the site I decided to purchase. I got a 15% discount when I clicked on shipping cost to NZ (had to enter my email address). Colour option is Black or White.

After conversion from $US to $NZ on PayPal, the total cost was $NZ48.18. Shipping is expected to take 15 - 25 days. I will post the link to the Benks website for anyone who may be interested.

Benks Website

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#2790667 6-Oct-2021 16:43

Movieman:

I find that putting my Airpods Max into their case every time I use them is a bit of a pain.

I read an article on the Benks Headphone stand, which said that they were the perfect accessory for the Airpods Max. I immediately started searching for said Benks stand. They are available from Amazon.com and several other places, but I ordered directly from the Benks website. After having a good look around the site I decided to purchase. I got a 15% discount when I clicked on shipping cost to NZ (had to enter my email address). Colour option is Black or White.

After conversion from $US to $NZ on PayPal, the total cost was $NZ48.18. Shipping is expected to take 15 - 25 days. I will post the link to the Benks website for anyone who may be interested.

Benks Website

Doesn't the case have a charge or sleep function built in?

Do you lose anything by not using the case?

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#2790720 6-Oct-2021 18:40

Handsomedan:

Doesn't the case have a charge or sleep function built in?

Do you lose anything by not using the case?

I found this on the Apple website.

When the battery charge of your AirPods Max is low, you get a notification on the screen of your iPhone or iPad. You get notifications when the charge is at 20, 10, and 5 percent remaining.

You also hear a tone when the battery charge is low. You hear the tone one time when the battery charge is at 10 percent, and a second time right before AirPods Max turn off.

Here's what you can expect:

Your AirPods Max can get up to 20 hours of listening time, talk time, or movie playback when you have Active Noise Cancellation and spatial audio turned on.1
If you charge your AirPods Max for 5 minutes, you get around 1.5 hours of listening time.2
If you set your AirPods Max down and leave them stationary for 5 minutes, they go into a low power mode to preserve battery charge. After 72 stationary hours out of the Smart Case, your AirPods Max go into a lower power mode that turns off Bluetooth and Find My to preserve battery charge further.
If you put your AirPods Max in the Smart Case when you're not using them, they go into a low power mode immediately to preserve battery charge. After 18 hours in the Smart Case, your AirPods Max go into an ultralow power mode that turns off Bluetooth and Find My and maximizes battery life.

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#2790735 6-Oct-2021 19:07

The specific mention of 72 'stationary hours' is interesting. You might place them on the coffee table, then periodically move them around to make way for other objects - I assume this means that they could be unused for several days without going into the proper low power mode.

This is why I prefer to keep them in the supplied case.

Movieman

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#2790759 6-Oct-2021 20:03

alasta:

The specific mention of 72 'stationary hours' is interesting. You might place them on the coffee table, then periodically move them around to make way for other objects - I assume this means that they could be unused for several days without going into the proper low power mode.

This is why I prefer to keep them in the supplied case.

If I put them on the stand they should be okay. But I would definitely use them before 72 hours clocked up, so that’s not a problem for me

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alasta

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#2790774 6-Oct-2021 20:49

Yeah, that makes sense if you use them frequently.

My situation is a bit different because I tend to only use them for long music listening sessions on Saturday nights. I used them a lot for Zoom and FaceTime sessions during the lockdown though!

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#2802651 28-Oct-2021 11:14

My Benks headphone stand arrived from China today. It took 20 days from the e-mail notice that it had shipped.

Well packaged in a sturdy cardboard box, with the actual box for the stand being very Apple like.

Just one screw to attach the stand to the base unit, and that's it.

Perfect fit for the Airpods Max. 😎