 You guys seem to think I don't like the Airpods Max. Well, let's find out. Hey guys, Thundie here and welcome to my review of the Airpods Max with of course its lovely case handbag style. Alright, I'm gonna stop making fun of that. Don't forget to subscribe, hit the notification bell to get notified with our latest videos. Now My video of the Airpods Max versus the Sony Mk4s Got a lot of comments and a lot of you talked about how I was one of the few people who didn't pick the Airpods Max over the Mk4s and why that I was wrong. Some of you said okay. I was wrong with the soundstage all that stuff So I want to address some of that before we even jump right in You hear a lot of people say sound is subjective and that is very true But also when you look at a comparison I'm looking at what they do and how they stack up together And that's one of the things with the Airpods Max is that look it's a great looking device It's a solid device overall. So is the Sony Mk4s But they both are in two different price points and you have to kind of gauge that now How does that? Reference within this video and especially within the review, right? So you take a device like the Airpods Max price to $550. There's a certain expectation Right, you're going at that price point some people say look does it doesn't talk to Jesus, you know Does it whisper sweet nothings into my ear? There are many things that people want to know that this vice can actually do and Then when you compare it to something else you have to gauge that together Now Apple has done a really good job with the build quality the design It looks really nice. It looks really premium. I take it out of the case It feels really nice metal finish that mesh band, which I will tell you you have to be careful with it but overall the build quality is really solid and You're going okay. Is that all that makes a device at 550 bucks? No, it's more than that. Especially when it comes to audio. You're looking at You know, just the audio quality itself are you looking at the active noise cancellation in this case? Transparency mode that kind of stuff in their battery life. All those things come into play. Now, let's go over to battery life That's one of the things that you know, I pull this out in here 20 hours of battery life, which is good It's not an industry standard We know very well like Sony's are roughly around 30 hours Bose is around 24 Other manufacturers between 24 and 30. So the numbers are higher. So this is lower than even expected But it still lasts quite a while. I've been using it since I got it on Tuesday Today you're watching this video. It's Saturday and I eventually charged it on Friday So I used it for about four days basically getting close to about that 20 hour Use case. So it's good. It's good that it does that but it doesn't have fast charging At least doesn't have fast enough charging. We know other devices have USB type-c Align for that 10 minutes giving you five hours or seven hours or whatever the case may be So those are the things that I would say look I'm gonna pay 550. I want to see some of those features there. I wish you had a USB type-c port I wish it had a 3.5 mm jack Granted it's Apple. We know that's probably not gonna be the case because they don't like it But it doesn't come with a cable In the in the packaging you have to buy that separately for 35 bucks for a lightning to 3.5 mm cable which to me is outstanding like it's one of those outstanding things you go in like when I say outstanding I mean like it's outstandingly like annoying Really for you to actually go that route, especially when you're already priced that high I should see accessories in the package, but let's leave that aside and go to the main aspect the audio So this is where I have Mixed emotions about the audio now generally it is very good It's very good. It is solid. It's cleaning. It's crisp. It's nice. It's also really low volumes Yes, the reason I say that is that when I was in the comparison With the mark fours and also just listening to music directly on my iPhone Yes, I use my phone for the Airpods max because that's where you're gonna get the best experience. I Had to crank my volume up to about 80 90 percent to get the full breath of what they were delivering Now for me normally on most of my headphones. I push them at around 50 to 60 percent I don't go past maybe 65 because it's just no need now Some people say I can crank it up high and it doesn't give me a lot of Reverb or feedback. No, it just means that the volume levels are really low because I don't need to go that high That's how I see it. So for me, that's something that I want them to fix now The other thing also is the fact that like I listened to a lot of tracks now Some people ask me what kind of tracks we listening to what kind of music you use to gauge So my standard of course has always been a lot of Michael Jackson self beat it is really It's really good track to use. I also used a lot of tracks for muse muse propaganda is a good one There's a lot of reverb coming in and out listening to some System of the down just to have for just for that, you know that that metal comparison there some hip-hop Just to give you give myself a range of how it does and I would say it handles stuff really well The drivers are well tuned on the Airpods max so the highs are solid the mids are really good the lows not so much So if you're not a low-end guy, then sure But it still does a good job overall. It almost feels like Apple is compensating for all the Low-end and beats tight tries to put in and they've kind of done a better job here Now when it comes to the soundstage itself, I initially said yes the soundstage felt smaller than the Mark 4s now Granted, you know the mark 4s don't have a huge sound stage and this also to me is not something that it's really small It's nothing bad about it. It's just that it felt small for me now a lot of my listening on the mark 4 is well tuned You know that I've actually customized it to fit a certain style and I've also done a lot of tuning for my ears With that so it sounds very different than what you expect from just putting on the headphones There's a reason why they have an app and that's something Apple doesn't have here I want to get some more customization because I really think these headphones can drive quite a lot and they do a really good job Now Apple doesn't use high-end codec to use a see a definitely check out My buddy snazzy labs video on on the airport to max. He goes into some of the things about codecs and things like that I still think that codecs are really important. I think that high-end codec is important because Running, you know, run your music on LDAC also using higher string quality gives you a better idea of how well These headphones sounds and also gives you a truly unique listening experience. It's like it's just really divine You know, so I use title a lot because I can stream masters high-file audio Highest quality possible to actually get the most out of these right Now active noise cancellation They've gone done a really good job here Apple has really come in to match What Sony's done? Yes, I said it to match because Sony I think has been the leader here Now a lot of people have said the max is better than the mark 4s I can see why but I would suggest try this out. I'm just putting out there is Make sure you get the app on the mark 4s and do the ANC tuning because I have this very Annoying sound by my desk right there. It's this high-pitched whistle that comes from the fact that some of the Window seals are not just fully sealed. So With the AirPods max it cuts off most of that. I'll say about it goes about 95% I can I can still hear it, but it's very little when I put on the mark 4s I could hear quite a bit and then when I tuned it it went about maybe 98% That's why I said that it's it matches again It's really good. Like there's no argument here. Like I'm just saying that it is but the thing about audio and picking back on what's the AirPods max can do is that it does a really good job, but at its price range Is it really that good? So I decided to compare it to something else quickly in this video Took a look at the drop THX Panda, which actually came in a day after The max I got the max in and I've used it for about maybe three days or so And the THX Panda is about $400 it faults in certain departments. He doesn't have ANC There's no really a fault. It's just a feature that's not built-in But again a price point you're looking at very simple clean design all black It's got a little knob for control which also works well just like the crown But I like the position here and it's got it's got plan a magnetic drivers and those drivers really do a good job in oh my god, they are so good and That's also it's one of those things where when you look at it and you look at the placement of the AirPods max You go what else is out there? That's what that price point does and I think people have to get that specific right there It's the at its price point. It's that's challenging a lot of norms and saying okay If you're at 550 how you compare to something like the panda at 400 and in terms of audio the panda wins for me Soundstage is really good. Oh my god. I mean the levels each aspect comes out really clear It drives really well good isolation as well, you know, it doesn't have noise canceling But good isolation and just a solid clean Performance USB type C fast charging all that stuff now it sounds like I am Railing on the AirPods max. I'm really not trust me. I promise I'm just saying that for me, especially with the amount of headphones. I've listened to I Have headphones that cost a thousand bucks. I've got in-year wide headphones that cost like 1500. Yes In-year wide headphones and they do a phenomenal job in giving me great audio I won't recommend them to a lot of people because of course like it makes no sense So when you come up to that price point passed out say 350 400 You get into that range where it becomes a bit difficult You have to justify what you're bringing to the table now I also wanted to bring a different opinion here my buddy GameSki, I reached out to him to ask his thoughts on what he felt with the AirPods max And I want you guys to take a listen. All right guys So first up I want to say it's an honor to be a part of this video and when being asked what I think Audio quality wise of the AirPods max. I think overall it's very good I think a lot of people are going to be completely happy with these But I think for people that are used to the Sony 1000XM4's a pair that has really nice bass That's one area the AirPods max definitely dropped the ball. I feel like bass presence. It's there It's kind of like it's a quick punch and it just kind of pulls away It doesn't have that subwoofer type feel But you can tell that there's a lot of focus on the mids and the highs It's a very detail sounding headphone. You can hear vocalists really nicely It has a wider sound stage which in my opinion makes it sound pretty natural It doesn't feel like you're in a closed-in space But not having that punch in the blow-end is definitely what would keep me from Recommending these over some of the other noise-canceling headphones. I just don't think it justifies the $550 price tag where I think you're paying more for the build quality But you're also paying for that Apple name. That's attached to it. So guys, that's my opinion on the AirPods max I don't think you're buying a bad product. I just think you're paying a lot more for other things that aren't sound Yeah, so I mean I think it makes a lot of sense and I think a lot of people will find different ways to Justify or unjustify this device What I will say is that Apple has done a really good job in crafting their first over the ear headphones whether it's taking some of the ability and heritage they've inherited from Beats and A lot of the things they've done themselves with the AirPods Pro. They've done a really good job Transparsive mode is really good. It's clear. It's crisp It feels like you're talking to the person just for headphones on your head Now in terms of the build quality, it is nice and solid. I forgot to mention earlier comfort for me These are not comfortable. Honestly, they are not I know a lot of people like them and all of them think they're very comfortable The max I can wear them is an hour. I spent a whole day during the snowstorm trying to wear them for long periods of time I used it out in the snow And yeah, it's not water-resistant But you can use with you know, like you know light rain and stuff like that But wearing them for long periods was a little bit difficult because for me my problem stems from this Right here is where I get a lot of pressure on there The dispersion on the top is fine, but right around here. It just keeps clamping and clamping and clamping It's a slow process So it's something designed wise can be fixed, but I think the band flex for me just doesn't work So that's my opinion. Okay. I've gone long and I've rambled I've talked about how I like I don't like it sounds like I'm wavering in between in between and The reason is because there's a lot of things they've done. Well, and they're things. They just happens. I Don't have to say anything else about this, but that's one and when you think about the competition and think of them About the other headphones out there. You're going 550 300 300 has all the features sounds the same It's great 550 sounds really good, but doesn't have all those features. So you have to justify I am not saying they're bad, but I will put it in the words of Linus when he took a look at The airports max when he said I take issue already with Apple's claims that what did they call this the the best Audio experience possible or on the market or something like that. They're fucking not like Within about four seconds, they're not I definitely agree that claim is just not justified They've built a really good product with the airports backs that make it makes a lot of sense for what Apple does Is this something you should buy even if you're in the Apple ecosystem? I will say no Simply because you can find alternatives that will work in that ecosystem giving you same quality in terms of audio more features long a battery life and Give you a better case Hopefully that makes sense to you guys if you have any questions any comments leave them down below I would love to discuss you with you about audio if you want to see me do more headphone videos I know I haven't done a lot in the last year leave a comment down below and I love your opinion guys I appreciate it. I love all the thoughts you guys have dropped. Thank you very much and Always enjoy entertainment