Apple introduces over-ear AirPods Max for Rs 59,900

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AINDRASIS_GUPTA said:
Well, there's a good option around every available price point:
  1. Around 1K INR: CCA CST (Alternative: Cat Ears Mimi, which is an earbud though but great build & sound)
  2. Around 2K INR: BLON BL03
  3. Around 3-4K INR: Tin T2 Plus (great sound signature but Tin has terrible quality assurance)
  4. Around 6K INR: Fiio FD1, Fiio FH1S (Dual Driver), iBasso iT00
  5. Around 8K INR: Moondrop Starfield
  6. Around 12K INR: Fiio FH3
You can't go wrong with either of these ones.
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Except for the FD1,iT00,FH3 ( for a brief period) have/ had them all.
Would include the new Sennheiser IE40 PRO in that list too. Personally like the signature slightly more than Starfield.
And the hype around bl03 is worth it, with proper tip ( possibly the most tip / isolation dependent IEM ever made) they are fantastic!!
 
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AINDRASIS_GUPTA said:
You never know what gem you might find.
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This is what drives Chi-Fi, hunt for the next gem in a pile of dust.

I actually am shifting away from iems completely let alone Chi-Fi world. Full size headphones is what I am looking at but don't know where to start from, entry level or jump straight to mid level stuff. There is just 1 iem that I want to try atm ie. Sony IER-Z1R.
 
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Try it before buying ( Z1R may completely disappoint you..it sounded VERY CLEAR but VERY STRANGE to my ears in an audiophile meet-up in 2019 driven straight from some AK DAP)
Regarding full sized can, start and end your journey with a mid range planar like Sundara or a dynamic from Focal or both. Spend rest of your budget on amps.
From experience can assure you present Sennheiser/ Beyer lineup isn't worth it. If you wish to spend a LOT...consider Abyss. Don't waste it on HD8XX series.
 
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red dragon said:
Try it before buying ( Z1R may completely disappoint you..it sounded VERY CLEAR but VERY STRANGE to my ears in an audiophile meet-up in 2019 driven straight from some AK DAP)
Regarding full sized can, start and end your journey with a mid range planar like Sundara or a dynamic from Focal or both. Spend rest of your budget on amps.
From experience can assure you present Sennheiser/ Beyer lineup isn't worth it. If you wish to spend a LOT...consider Abyss. Don't waste it on HD8XX series.
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if at all in the future i have the budget for a true audiophile can, how much should i look at in total including dac and amp and everything? sundara is around 25k ig. and how comfortable are those? most low end headphones i tried are so good in making my ears uncomfortable in no time which in the reviews everyone mentioned those are really comfy. very particular about comfort.
 
Yes, they are very comfortable. With common options (modi and magni) shouldn't cost you all that much ( I don't know about pricing in India)
I've given away pretty much everything except Sprout and the Topping T90 ( which I didn't even unpack..) oh!! I also have a great tube amp from Woo audio ( bought it used years ago, yet to change the tubes).
Strictly personal opinion, a good DAC and a solid state and tube amp ( even basic ones..don't spend too much on tubes, it's a rabbit hole).. you're good to go for upto 600 ohms ( never had anything more power hungry)
A word of caution regarding amps, I can't distinguish between a Cambridge / Woo audio tube amp setup from a cheap Chinese one even with something like Focal Clear or hifiman Arya ( don't own the first one, I'm not rich by any stretch of imagination)
Infact distinguishing Sundara to Arya will be very difficult for me unless I'm extremely familiar with the source.
I'm 100 percent sure that I won't be able to distinguish between the holy Trinity of Focal open cans despite the price gap. All of them are extremely good.
The only high end headphones I can pick up from a bunch would be really bad ones/ unique ones like Sennheiser HD700 ( it's possibly the absolute worst Sennheiser ever made) HD800 ( that massive soundstage!! And ****ed up everything) anything from Stax ( anybody can do that)
The difference is so miniscule once you cross the400- 500 bucks....or is it my ageing ears!??
 
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Nalin said:
This is what drives Chi-Fi, hunt for the next gem in a pile of dust.

I actually am shifting away from iems completely let alone Chi-Fi world. Full size headphones is what I am looking at but don't know where to start from, entry level or jump straight to mid level stuff. There is just 1 iem that I want to try atm ie. Sony IER-Z1R.
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It would depend on your budget. As usual with everything, you will get best bang for buck with the mid-range products.
With audio products, nothing beats being able to audition stuff before you buy. Most people won't have this option in India, especially when it comes to audiophile stuff. So, if you can't audition, it's very important to know what sound signature you like and then choose from the options available within your budget. Personally, I don't like discounting or recommending any brand or product because everyone has their own preferences when it comes to sound signature and so what doesn't work for someone else might be the best choice for you.
 
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Very true, I am still feeling lousy for recommending the hd25 to you. But honest to God, I really love that thing ( even compared to something 10-15 times more expensive)
Now knowing your preference I'm pretty sure you would love Meze 99 classics.
@rdst_1 , since you have the lg G8X, can you please tell me about the HP out of that phone? Is it comparable to an entry level DAP like FiiO M3 Pro or X3 ( the last one with Android)? Is it sufficient to drive multi balance armature IEMs?
 
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red dragon said:
Very true, I am still feeling lousy for recommending the hd25 to you. But honest to God, I really love that thing ( even compared to something 10-15 times more expensive)
Now knowing your preference I'm pretty sure you would love Meze 99 classics.
@rdst_1 , since you have the lg G8X, can you please tell me about the HP out of that phone? Is it comparable to an entry level DAP like FiiO M3 Pro or X3 ( the last one with Android)? Is it sufficient to drive multi balance armature IEMs?
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No need to feel that way mate. You are very passionate about the way you feel about somethings and that shows in your posts. I probably feel the same way about my HD650s, but I know that not everybody might like them and hence the way I deal with such queries.
The G8X has pretty good output. It drives the HD25 with ease. I know many people who are using 300ohm HPs like my HD650s with them and pretty happy with the performance. It definitely is as good, if not better than the entry level DAPs, considering it has the same DAC as the M3 Pro. The reason I didn't go for M3 Pro was because I didn't want to charge and carry another device and buying the G8X allows me to do that.
 
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True, I am very passionate ( not healthy at all) about audio and certain things in life.
Moreover, the biggest problem...I tend to judge headphones/ IEM/ speakers from point of mixing/ mastering ( this started with mixing our own music, as we can't afford to hire an engineer, eventually did some online courses which ended with a massive Ableton certified trainer course...I was not even using Ableton Live while enrolling for the course, Live always eluded me with the clip view and had to learn it during the free time in 2020... Live is not only a DAW , it's a strange software with absolutely endless sonic possibilities...YouTube videos don't even cover the 50 percent of the possibilities, you must learn from the engineers who are involved with the creation of the software..it's like Photoshop of audio..)
Anyway, I'm again drifting away...point being 80 percent of time I'm listening to music, I'm actually listening to things that I have to mix/ master for poor bands from all across Europe.
I don't charge them any money ( so they can't give me deadlines) but few bands' have started to pay!! Since I'm in a hotel now for more than a month( with nothing much to do) doing everything on headphones.
Few somewhat sucessful musicians have heard my productions and few very generous among them are sending me real solid monitoring headphones ( have 2 pairs of NDH 20 now!!)
Some youtubers like Zeos Pantera and DMS have also sent some nice portable analog gears, I have a pretty decent mobile production rig at the hotel room now, thanks to these generous people. I get to listen to many types of unreleased fresh music almost everyday, and since there is no money involved, can work without any time restrictions. In fact I'm mixing just a fantastic drum recording for last 4-5 days. Money won't give me this kind of satisfaction.
 
Tushar Sharma said:
At the time period when people are buying smartphones worth lakhs of rupees, I don't think this should be a surprise for many people. I would try to relate this with an incident. Many famous scientists in the world were first mocked by people. The reason to this is that the people were never able to think at the same level as the scientists and considered them mad. However, nobody remembers these people but the scientists became immortal.
Similarly, Apple is producing such products for only a small section of people, not involving the mass audience. The large bit of audience may consider them crazy because such headphones would not work in India, but think of those who are earning enough money to afford a couple of such headphones. Indians are not short of money, but they always like their life according to their needs. However, when status symbol turns much bigger a factor than needs, there comes the role of such products for people.
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Science is objective.

Sound is subjective.

Gravity will have the same meaning to every person out there, regardless of their tastes.

But, not every person may like the sound of Apple headphones and therefore will not think of spending a substantial amount, especially when much better alternatives are out there.

Your example simply didn't make any sense.
 
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Really nice review. I bought the APM thrice and returned them everytime, the last time was really close, Sennheiser took some time to replace the PXC 500 ii and I found a perfect excuse to buy the APM and justify the stupid purchase.
Apple really messed up with the case ( it's impossible to carry the headphones around in that weird ass case)
While they sound REALLY GOOD ( wireless can standard) these are not travel headphones ( as travel does include walking in the airport, subway stations etc.) The moment you start walking around, you will feel the ridiculous weight.
1000XM4, despite the really unnatural sound signature, is perfect on the go headphones.
 
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