(Music Playing)
What is going on, everyone?
I am Mike.
Welcome back to Tech 24/7 TV.
I am so glad that you are here today because I am excited to
unbox the air pods, Max.
Now, this is Apple's attempt at blending high fidelity
audio with, I would say, the ease in frictionless using
of air pods.
And it's a pretty ambitious attempt if I say so myself.
Five hundred and forty nine dollars.
And there really I mean, there's certainly premium.
The question is whether they're not worth paying five hundred
and forty nine dollars.
Let's get right into the unboxing Now as we get in
unboxing there a few key technologies that Apple
is promoting, highlighting what makes the AirPods Max special.
So there is a unique Apple design dynamic driver that sits
inside of the ear cup, obviously.
But these drivers are not like most drivers that you see that
are actually kind of closer to the year.
They're going to be farther actually into the ear cup
allowing for better placement.
And if you look inside, when we get through the earcups,
the ear cups are rounded rectangle in shape, which means
that this should fit a lot more people's ears.
Now, I know with some of the headphones that I own,
like the Sony MX3, my beat studio fores,
they fit differently.
So you are more easily get ear fatigue when you're using one
of these headphones, because if you look at these, these are
you know, they're just round in nature and there's nothing
wrong with that.
But they don't necessarily have a broad fit to them where with
these they should actually not contribute to ear
fatigue as quickly.
That's not to say that you won't get it because these are
heavy and that ear fatigue is going to be real here.
There is active noise cancellation,
there's transparency mode.
There's adaptive EQ, which uses the nine different microphones
that are around and inside of the ear cups to go ahead and
balance the audio.
So it's optimal.
Now, each one of these headphones has an H1 chip with
inside of it, which is actually kind of unique because if you
have air pods, probe those have a single one chip and that
single H1 chip is only using one quarter for each
of the headphones.
Now, this actually has one H1 chip per your cup, and it's
using all the core.
So it's actually kind of unique in that aspect.
Now, additionally, what these also have is that inside of
each ear cup, there's an optical sensor, there is
a positioning sensor.
These will be able to go ahead and understand if they are
on your head.
So whether that you actually when you put them on and when
you take them off to auto start and stop any content that
you're listening to, there's an accelerometer in each year.
So as you kind of move your head in space, not like
outer space, but space in terms of positioning in a gyroscope
to figure out which way you're turning your head, that also
plays into that spatial audio that this has.
Now that we have these bad boys unwrap.
Let's see what is inside the box.
Oh, the angels sing.
OK, so here we have this is the first look, OK?
Yeah, look, it looks like a purse or a brassiere.
These are extremely heavy, dense, I would say.
Dense for sure.
Put that to the side and let's see what's actually inside
of the box.
As for what's inside the box, nothing special.
All we have are some safety handling guidelines.
QuickStart Guide and a lightning to USB cable.
This is quite the weird packaging.
Let's go ahead and open this up.
This kind of protective layer.
Wow, this is this is almost like an eye mask weird
right now, just picking these up.
These are very, very heavy.
It's interesting this this motion.
So you can only have the ear cups turned this way.
And that means they're only going to fit inside this case.
You can't actually rotate them 180 degrees.
One thing I just heard, I heard my ring scrape
against this here.
So obviously, if you are concerned about the finish
on these, you might want to maybe stick with
a lighter color.
Not that I have a scratch on her already, but I don't this
is a piston or I don't know what you call this design.
It looks like a piston, but I think maybe it's
called something different.
This is quite, quite interesting.
I'll see if I can get this on my head.
For a profit.
Oh, that's interesting.
So the top of my
it's the the top of the canopy is actually you look at it
sitting right on the brim, my hat, so I don't necessarily
get a good fit unless I tip them in just a little
bit back.
So that's just kind of a FYI, if you wear hats all the time
like I do now, I would say it's good.
I'm not getting too much pressure, I think my
head's helping that, though, because it's kind of suspending
the he's a little bit higher than what they normally would.
Now, let's go and pair this with my phone.
The first thing we want to do to pair our airplanes, Max,
to our device is go to the home screen.
Now, if your iPad Macs are not already out of the case or the
brasier who like to call them, go and do so and then hold them
next to your device, you should get a set up animation that
prompts you to go ahead and start paring your device.
If you don't see that, you can hold down the noise
control button, which is that rectangular button right next
to the digital crown.
Once you go ahead and hold that, you're going to get
the prompt, say, to unimpaired iPod.
Max, for our first test.
What we're going to do is we're going to be a FaceTime video
call from my Mac to my phone.
Right.
And my headphones are connected to my Mac.
So we get an idea with the audio quality.
Sounds like while you're using these devices now, I still am
recording from this microphone right now, but let's go and
make that FaceTime call.
You should be hearing the audio from my headphones as opposed
to from this microphone or even the microphone here, because I
have this muted now.
Right now, what you are hearing is my audio coming from the
headphones and you're not getting feedback from,
you know, this microphone or from on my phone because I've
muted both those microphones.
Now, what am I going to do?
So you get a better idea that I'm going to go ahead and turn
on this hairdryer, which is not mine?
Obviously, I shaved my head.
It's my wife's.
But let's go out and get an idea what that noise
cancelling sounds like.
OK, so now it's a lot here.
I have this early on before we even have a windy day here.
And so now you get an idea what the noise
cancelling sounds like.
Wow.
Out back.
What we know what you think about this down in
the comments below.
Now that we've wrapped up the audio quality tests and what it
would sound like if you were using this to make calls,
whether it's your voice or video, I would give you some
do some sound comparisons now.
Again, this is gonna be kind of hard for me to share this with
you only because, well, one, you can't hear the music
because you don't have the headphones on.
That's obviously the real hard part.
That would be cool if we solve that problem.
But to you know, there's different
styles of music.
Now, what I'm going to do is I'm going to go ahead and use
title as the type of content or the content library where
it's coming from.
And I've really just selected an eclectic use or eclectic
catalog of music.
I like all different types of music.
So we're going to open up title.
And the very first song I'm going to go ahead and play is
People are Strange Out.
All of the songs I'm listening to are going to be what they
call master quality MQ, massive quality audio.
So they're the highest bit rate audio that are available.
And what I'm judging this by is just the clarity and the
breadth of different instruments or different notes
I can hear within that.
Now, again, I'm not claiming I'm an audio file, but I do
have I think what I would consider a pretty good
understanding of of what a good audio sounds like.
But I'm not that a person who would spend several thousand
dollars on speakers, but that's just kind of how I
would evaluate myself.
So people are strange.
Jim Morrison Rocks.
Hmm.
Sounds really good, a
very, very wide sounding, the sound stage here,
the drums.
And the organs.
Yes, this sounds really good.
I stopped the track, so it sounds very, very good.
It's kind of hard to articulate, but each there's
not a lot of muddying between his vocal track and the in the
instruments are being played.
So that's what I would how I would describe that.
Now see here.
I am going to go from the doors, we're going to go to
the Kinks, you really got me.
Yeah.
The guitar sound great, so you really got me thinking this
sounds really good, I could say that for sure.
That sounds really good.
Now, I'm going to go to something about a
little bit different.
I like, again, very many different types of music.
I'm going to go to some hip hop, hip hop, hip hop,
a lot of us.
I'm going to go to hypnotize.
Oh, oh, oh.
Sounds really good.
So what I think is really cool is that you get the you're able
to hear, at least in my my evaluation, you're able to
hear things that were not previously kind of audible to
you or maybe not present because the breath
of dynamics, you know, the lowest lows and the highest
highs are very clear.
That's how I would describe this.
Let's try I want something other than
another notorious B.i.g.
who happens to be the best lyricist ever.
And if you don't agree with me, then I
really don't care.
Let's see.
OK, here is 70 Shamie by the White Stripes.
Do the guitar riff is just about.
Yeah.
Sounds great.
So the various forms of music, right?
I got some rock and roll, I have some hip hop.
Let's see, what else do we find o come together.
Take five, which is Ringo Starr singing the the lead vocals.
Such a badass track, such such a badass track, I don't know
all the words no shame sounds good as well.
And so I think here is the thing that I want to underscore
all of the audio that you're going to get for
streaming from this.
It's going to come from, you know, mostly iTunes.
If you listen to audio that is going to be on your iOS device
from title, everything's going to be encoded in AC.
So unless you're using the desktop application where this
is going to be Kuai, everything's going to
be encoded, encoded in AC and AC is Apple's the it's a
lossless audio codec for the most part.
You're always going to get 240 kilobits per second unless you
are connected to cellular on your phone and then it's going
to be at a lower rate.
That is, unless you go into the application and say that you
always want high fidelity or high quality streaming,
then it's going to kick that up no matter the type of air
interface you're under, no matter whether you're
on cellular Wi-Fi.
So that is the big thing here.
So for most people, these headphones are going to
sound very good.
If you are someone who is using these headphones and you're an
audio file, it's going to leave a little bit.
I say you want to leave you wanting a little bit because
obviously the DAC that's in here is not designed or not
engineered to be an all around deck for high quality audio.
You know, this is not audio that is 320 kibbutzes
that and higher.
It's something that is it's going to meet the needs of the
majority of people, not kind of the smaller minority of people
that want the high quality audio.
So I would say that in terms of these headphones and how
they sound, I think they absolutely sound great.
They're really, really good all around headphones.
They're built for the masses.
You know, they're built to be all around or great
all around headphones.
Whether you listen to podcasts, you know, music,
high quality music and air quotes, even if you're
editing audio like I use these with the three point five
millimeter Jack, which is right here.
And the latency was acceptable to me.
So in terms of better usage, I can tell you that I've been
using these headphones for about the past three days and
every day it's about three to four hours.
So I mean, I have the either connected to my Mac,
to my iPhone, to my iPad, and I'm getting somewhere in
the neighborhood of about 15 percent usage out of that.
So, you know, I started 100 by the end of those three
or four hours.
I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of like 80 to 85.
So it's not bad.
And the battery drain, when you don't have them in the
charging case, because I think the charging case is dumb,
is not that not that significant?
In my experience, everyone is comparing these headphones to
the Sony Amex threes and fours.
These are the Amex 3s.
The Amex force, in my opinion, didn't offer a significant
upgrade over the 3s, which is why I didn't purchase them.
But if Apple can deliver these headphones for five hundred
forty nine dollars, I think that Sony has been under
delivering at 350 dollars what they have been giving us.
Think about the the audio quality experience.
But the manufacturing in the design experience, in the in
the the aesthetic experience of those headphones is
a little underwhelming.
So I think what we'll see next year from Sony,
our headphones, you know, they mix fives and they're
going to be much more much better materials than
they do today.
And they'll have a richer feel to them.
Whether that price point stay the same or not, that's going
to be interesting to see.
So that's what I would suggest.
If you are looking to get these headphones, they are not
something for people who would consider themselves audio files
because of the lack of applicability with getting kind
of that high quality music.
You know, iTunes or iOS does not support FLAC or ELAC,
which is a very high quality lossless format.
And unfortunately, that's not what that's what that what
they're designed for the design to build and deliver an optimal
experience for the majority of people across a number
of different applications.
If you have, you know, a very small number of applications,
were you expecting high quality audio?
This is not those these headphones for you in terms
of build quality.
These are certainly heavy.
So as I mentioned the beginning, you might
experience your fatigue at some point, not necessarily
from wearing them pressure on your ears, but just
kind of overall.
Wait, you don't necessarily notice the wait while sitting
here listening to music.
But if you think you're going to walk around or try working
out with these headphones, you're going to have trouble.
I would not suggest using these headphones while working out
just because they're so heavy and they are not
waterproof at all.
The one thing that I just don't agree with it, I've got to pay
thirty five dollars for the three point five millimeter
to lightning cable.
That to me is a rip off.
Then I think that just underscores that Apple believes
most people will use these via Bluetooth.
For me, when I'm editing video, I want to go
ahead and use I want to be as close proximity to the audio
possible and that's why I need this cable.
Otherwise, that's not it's not really needed for you unless
you think that you have that some kind of unique use case.
I can tell you that I have not found a way to use the
headphones connected via cable to like an iPad, like a
lightning iPad, unless you're using this breakout adapter.
Which is a USB key or lightning to three point
five millimeter, Jack, you have to use one of these if you want
to use it with your iPhone or a USB iPad.
So that is a little bit of a bummer.
I wish there was another way to go in and get around that.
If you are someone who thinks that you can get better value
out of a lower, lower cost headset.
I certainly agree with you that you'll probably find better
value if you think you're looking for the headphones that
offer better performance than are either somewhere in
the same neighborhood.
You know, these are probably, I would say, minteer for audio
file headphones in terms of cost.
But if you were looking for something that's, you know,
several hundred dollars, these are those headphones will
probably outperform them because of the very specific
use cases that you're getting from them.
You are thinking about picking up these headphones for
yourself or for a loved one as a gift or whatever the
case is, these headphones are really going to knock out
the park, in my opinion, because they fit the majority
of use cases.
Right.
They provide enjoyable experience.
And for what you're getting in terms of the frictionless usage
or the frictionless ability to connect it from one device
to the other.
The transparency mode, which is bananas, they sound
really great and I think it's a good value.
Now, what I can't say, it's a lot like the home pod where if
you think that the home pod offers a great experience and
that experience is enjoyable.
Right.
That's the word enjoyable.
And you don't mind spending the money for the home pod.
This is the same thing you're going to like.
These headphones are going to sound good.
They're going to applicable to all of you know, all of it,
not the majority of your use cases.
I would consider definitely buying them.
I think I'm going to keep these at this point.
I enjoy them.
The only thing where I'm probably not sure whether I'm
going to keep them as where, like many of you, I am at home
for my days.
So having over the ear, closed back headphones is not
necessarily a requirement for what I do.
I have three other pair of headphones desk, I got
power beats, I have these iPods or John Warner, Gentoo,
AIBA Air Pottsboro.
So I don't necessarily need all of those devices, but all
around five hundred forty nine dollars, I think that this
is going to fit a broad number of use cases for people,
you know, are sound good broadly across applications,
many different, you know, music types of sound.
Signature is very good.
They've got a good fit.
And I think that if you don't mind spending the five hundred
and nine dollars, you will not be disappointed.
But I would love to know what you think
about these headphones.
Let me know in the comments below.
I am Mike.
This is Tech 24/7 TV.
I hope you have a great day and I'll talk to you next video.