James Gordan
Picture : Apple
Apple makes another attempt to enter the audiophile market. The company today announced a brand new pair of wireless headphones called AirPods Max, available at a relatively attractive price of $549. These expensive headphones promise high fidelity in a stunning design and advanced features such as adaptive equalisation, active noise reduction and surround sound.
We wonder to what extent these headphones can provide better sound than millions of other high-quality headphones from brands such as Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic and other trusted brands, but as of today, Apple AirPods Max is available for iPhone users who insist on ordering suitable devices on apple.com. They’ll be here on Tuesday the 15th. December, start of the expedition.
Original press release
Apple today announced the launch of AirPods Max, an innovative wireless headset that puts the magic of AirPods at the forefront of precision sound design. AirPods Max combines a custom acoustic design, H1 chips and advanced audio gain calculation software to provide a revolutionary hearing experience with an adaptive equalizer, active noise reduction, transparency and surround sound. Available in five beautiful colours, including cosmic grey, silver, sky blue, green and pink, the AirPods Max is available today, Tuesday 15 July. December, can be ordered.
AirPods are the world’s most popular earphones, popular for their simple construction, incredible sound quality and iconic design. With the AirPods Max, we’re taking the magical AirPod experience to an amazing behind-the-ear design with high precision,” said Greg Josviak, Apple’s senior vice president of global marketing. A custom acoustic design combined with powerful H1 chips and advanced software enables the AirPods Max to use computer-assisted audio for wireless transmission of a maximum personal listening experience.
Custom Acoustic Design
From the hood to the ear cushions, every part of the AirPods Max has been carefully designed to deliver exceptional acoustic performance for every user. A mesh cover covering the headband is designed to distribute the weight and reduce the pressure on the head. The stainless steel headband frame offers durability, flexibility and comfort for a wide range of head shapes and sizes. The levers of the telescopic harness are gently extended and remain in place to maintain the desired landing.
Each helmet shell is attached to the headband by a revolutionary mechanism that balances and distributes pressure on the helmet shell, allowing it to rotate and rotate independently to adapt to the unique contours of the user’s head. Each headset uses memory foam, designed to create an effective seal, a critical factor in the transmission of immersive sounds. Inspired by Apple watches, the digital crown provides precise volume control and the ability to play or pause sound, skip tracks, answer or end calls and activate Siri.
A new experience for an audition
The AirPods Max features an Apple-designed 40mm driver that delivers deep, rich bass, precise midrange and a sharp, accurate tweeter that lets you hear every note. The unique neodymium motor with double ring magnet allows AirPods Max to maintain less than 1% total harmonic distortion over the entire listening area, even at maximum volume. Equipped with an Apple-designed H1 chip in each earpiece, a custom acoustic design and advanced software, AirPods Max uses computer audio to ensure the best possible hearing quality. The use of each of the 10 chips in the audio core, which can perform 9 billion operations per second, represents a breakthrough in sound perception, including adaptive equalisation, active noise reduction, transparent mode and spatial sound.
- Adaptive Equalizer: The AirPods Max uses an adaptive equalizer to tune and seal the sound to the ear cushions. It measures the sound signal sent to the user and adjusts the bass and mid frequencies in real time to produce a rich sound that captures every detail.
- Sound pressure active : The AirPods Max emits immersive sound with active noise reduction, so users can concentrate on what they hear. Each headset is equipped with three outward-firing microphones to detect ambient noise, while a microphone inside the headset tracks sound reaching the listener’s ear. Using the sound of the computer, the noise reduction continually adjusts to the headphones and the movements in real time.
- Transparency mode : With the AirPods Max, users can switch to transparent mode to listen to music while perceiving their surroundings, so that everything, including the user’s own voice, sounds natural while the sound plays smoothly. You can switch between active noise reduction and transparency with a simple press of the noise reduction button.
- Spatial audio : The AirPods Max uses spatial audio with dynamic headtracking to place sound virtually anywhere in the room – delivering an amazing cinematic experience when recording 5.1, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos content. Using a gyroscope and accelerometer in the AirPods Max and an iPhone or iPad, the movement of the user’s head and device is acoustically tracked in the room, the movement data is compared and then the sound field is returned, so that it remains connected to the device even if the user’s head moves.
Magic AirPods
The AirPods Max joins the existing AirPod family and offers unparalleled wireless audio quality whether the customer is listening to music, making phone calls, watching TV shows and movies, playing games or communicating with Siri. The magical configuration experience enjoyed by current AirPod and AirPod Pro users extends to the AirPods Max with one-touch configuration, followed by automatic pairing with all devices registered in their iCloud account, including iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV.
The AirPods Max uses optical and position sensors to automatically detect when they are on the user’s head. Once installed, the AirPods Max produces sound and can be paused after removal or when the user only lifts one earpiece. With AirPods Max, Siri’s calls and voice commands become clear and distinctive thanks to jet microphones that block ambient noise and focus on the user’s voice.
Batteries and energy
Max AirPods have a long battery life and offer up to 20 hours of high quality sound, talk time or movie playback with active noise and environmental noise reduction.
The AirPods Max comes with a thin, flexible case that makes the AirPods Max very low power consumption, so your battery stays charged when you’re not using it.
Additional features
The automatic switchover allows users to switch seamlessly between iPhone, iPad and Mac. When listening to music on a Mac, users can easily take a call on an iPhone, and the AirPods Max automatically switches between devices.
Audio Sharing lets you easily share audio between two AirPods on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple TV 4K. Bring the AirPods Max to your device and connect it in one step.
Siri’s features include the ability to play music, make phone calls, adjust volume, receive instructions and much more. Siri can also read incoming messages if they are received at the same time as the Siri announcement messages.
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Simon Leonard