Anyone feel the same way? It wasn’t too long ago when headphones from Apple were considered pretty mediocre. However, ever since they developed an audio lab to test their products you can really tell that they care about getting the best sound quality they can out of their devices, all while still keeping the user experience at the highest level. I think the Airpods Pro are the best sounding wireless earbuds Apple has ever made. BTW I don’t think Apple Airpods Pro sound the best out of all wireless earbuds (that goes to Sennheiser MTW for me) but I do think the comfort and overall experience is the best. I’m really excited to see what Apple can do with high end over-the-ear headphones and I don’t consider Beats to be those.
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Apple’s foray into audio products really excites me
- Thread starter LoganT
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Weirdly enough the most exciting things it has brought is connectivity and ease of use. Essentially, it brought the don't-have-to-think-about-it usefulness of 3.5mm to bluetooth devices. Wireless headphones were always horrible compared to wired because they were inferior in every way except for the fact that they didn't have wires. Apple came in and said....this needs to be just as seameless as plugging in headphones and it works. I don't have to think about it.
I do. I’ve never had interest in ”regular” Airpods for several reasons— fit & comfort, sound quality, lack of isolation (and sound leakage by the same token). However, a year ago I bought some Homepods when they were discounted for Black Friday... and they’ve been my favorite Apple product I’ve bought in a long time, I just enjoy listening to them so much.
The Homepod sound alone had me excited for the prospect of some over-ear headphones from Apple, and I agree— I don’t think Beats are Apple’s only answer in that market, I think Beats benefits from Apple’s tech for overall experience, but in terms of sound signature and style they play to their brand / reputation. Clearly there’s room for some premium over-ear headphones from Apple. I kinda had hoped we’d see them this fall.
The Airpods Pro showed up instead, and more or less address my hang ups with the original Airpods. I have avoided Bluetooth headphones for so long due to the compromise in sound quality, but technology has finally bridged that issue, I think.
Here’s one thing that still drives me nuts, though... There is still a complete lack of decent EQ on iOS devices on a system / Apple app level. All of the ”Equalizer” presets in the system settings just sound awful to me. Spotify has a customizable EQ which definitely helps Spotify sound better on the Airpods Pro, and I am able to listen to my iTunes library through other apps that will provide some decent EQ. I just don’t understand the utter lack of this on iOS after all these years. The HomePod doesn’t need it, really, but I find the Airpods Pro do benefit from some EQ to help with the lower end.
So yes... as a former portable audio gearhead and an Apple (iOS & Mac) user and enthusiast, the prospect of sweet sounding audio gear from Apple really does excite me.
The Homepod sound alone had me excited for the prospect of some over-ear headphones from Apple, and I agree— I don’t think Beats are Apple’s only answer in that market, I think Beats benefits from Apple’s tech for overall experience, but in terms of sound signature and style they play to their brand / reputation. Clearly there’s room for some premium over-ear headphones from Apple. I kinda had hoped we’d see them this fall.
The Airpods Pro showed up instead, and more or less address my hang ups with the original Airpods. I have avoided Bluetooth headphones for so long due to the compromise in sound quality, but technology has finally bridged that issue, I think.
Here’s one thing that still drives me nuts, though... There is still a complete lack of decent EQ on iOS devices on a system / Apple app level. All of the ”Equalizer” presets in the system settings just sound awful to me. Spotify has a customizable EQ which definitely helps Spotify sound better on the Airpods Pro, and I am able to listen to my iTunes library through other apps that will provide some decent EQ. I just don’t understand the utter lack of this on iOS after all these years. The HomePod doesn’t need it, really, but I find the Airpods Pro do benefit from some EQ to help with the lower end.
So yes... as a former portable audio gearhead and an Apple (iOS & Mac) user and enthusiast, the prospect of sweet sounding audio gear from Apple really does excite me.
What I really want from Apple is a customizable EQ that can be synced to the device so even when you’re not using an Apple product you still have the sound signature you desire. That’s how a lot of these wireless earbuds from Sennheiser and Bang and Olufsen work. I’ve been hesitant to use any of the built in EQ on the iPhone because I don’t want to get used to a certain sound that I won’t get it when I use it on something like a video game console.
I’d love for Apple Music to start using Apple Lossless. I do think that Apple Music sounds the best out of all the streaming services because of the mastering though.
I have both Spotify Premium & Apple Music & agree - AM sounds better.
Though I haven’t heard Tidal MQA tracks. Also hoping Apple follow Tidal’s lead & go lossless.
I read an interesting thing about Tidal. Now keep in mind this is just a comment I read on the internet so take it for what it’s worth but apparently some of those FLAC lossless tracks are just 320kbps MP3 converted to FLAC. I read about a band who sent their album to Tidal and on Tidal you can listen to it using FLAC but the band had only sent them MP3s so it’s not really FLAC, it’s just an unnecessary bigger file. Not saying that’s how the majority of the songs are but I do expect if Apple did something similar, they’re going to make sure they are truly of the highest quality.
Except when you need to switch devices. Airpods should include multi-device connectivity.
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Just picked up some Airpods and I feel you on the EQ. The bass booster in music settings made everything else sound terrible. I played around with Pop, R&B, Rock, Electronic and they all sounded inferior to just having the EQ off. I agree with you on pretty much everything you said here.
Oh I definitely think the Beats line has improved with a more balanced sound since Apple bought them
They generally are still overpriced if you were judging fidelity. I have the Solo 3, and if it weren’t for the wireless I think the sound is pretty garbage compared to other headphones in its price range. The brand is prominent though due to good marketing.
Regardless of that scenario, some of the lossless content on Tidal is pretty good. I wouldn’t pay for it, but you can hear the difference with the right audio equipment. If you really want to see how that is, goto an headfi meetup like Canjam and try different headphone setups.
Back to your original question, I am thrilled that Apple is getting more into the audio world. What I would like though is for them to continue iterating towards higher fidelity. Right now all my Apple audio gear (App and Beats) is only good because it’s wireless. I would love for them to get to a point where I would stop reaching for my THX789 amps with planar magnetic headphones.
Yeah it’s unrealistic and practically impossible, but it’s a dream still