I've used 1000XM4 extensively, and NC700 for a brief period.
If you think XM4 doesn't sound thick/ full, don't know what is!?
Even my modded Mad Dogs and Woo Audio tube amp combo has thinner sound ( I've never heard anything with this amount of layered good bass including the the Denon 2K and 5K)
XM4 sounds really really unrefined and outright bad, but the sound is definitely thick ( only the crazy Nuraphones can make thicker sound, but it's a crazy piece of tech)
Now coming to airprod Pros, they are very convenient, very well designed but the sound quality is really no better than XM4 except a touch less mid bass. The treble is completely artificial ( possibly a TW trade off), overall it's just another typical consumer grade garbage sounding product ( only garbage sounding, must be great for other uses...but the sound quality is PURE GARBAGE) Even a pair of Momentum TWS sound considerably better ( they are possibly more expensive also)
Coming to YouTube reviewers...MKBHD praised headphones like M50X ( absolutely bottom of barrel sound quality) 1000 XM3/XM4 ( the most hyped rubbish sounding wireless headphone), yes he reviewed Sennheiser HD800S, but see the quality of that review!! He doesn't care about sound quality ( possibly not passionate about sound quality)
I've never seen Dave reviewing an headphone before...he took literally 2 minutes to describe the sound quality.
People need to understand one simple thing...no matter how hyped the 1000XM4s are, any half decent headphone will win the battle of sound quality with that POS!!
This Apple headphones need to be compared with similarly priced relatively tolerable wireless headphones..like Dali IO6, Grado open back wireless ( only the sound quality...to judge the DSP correction) or even the lowly PXC550, or the insane B&O H9i.
Comparing something with XM4 only checks the ANC capabalities, nothing more..even 100USD wireless cans sound lot cleaner!!
I'm not bashing Apple, but these stupid reviews!! You don't have to be an audiophile to review a headphone, but you must at least know certain basics of audio, must have listened to a large number of headphones and most importantly understand frequencies with your ears...these reviews are hopeless..but the problem is, most experienced audio reviewers have minimal interest in wireless audio and zero interest when it's made by Apple, which is very wrong thing to do.
Maybe the word I'm using to define the sound is wrong perhaps? It sounded cheap compared to my airpods. And no, this is not because I'm a fanboy, I really did check multiple times to believe what I'm hearing. I love great sound and can easily make out between cheap and good quality audio. But by no means I'll consider myself an audiophile since I've never even went close to even the budget hifi range.
I've always wanted a good pair of headphones/ earphones since maybe 12 years of age. I remember I got an a-Jays Two as a review unit when I was 13 (haha long story) and was beyond disappointed. I bought several IEMs (under 2k) and none of them were satisfactory and every thing needed to be heavily EQed to sound okay. Most expensive blunder was getting the XB75AP thinking it would be endgame for me lol. I was around 16 or 17 and I had to save for quite a while to buy them. Instantly regretted after getting it and somehow convinced my brother to take it.
Then started my KZ journey. Bought multiple HEAVILY hyped IEMs and while I grew accustomed to the sound signature with heavy EQ, I wasn't particularly impressed from the start. With each release got heavy hype and that's when I realised it's all bullshit. Last one I bought was the ZS7. While they were clearly really good for the price, they were certainly not upto the hype. After buying 5 (afaik) KZs, I finally decided I should step up. I started saving more for a real audiophile grade headphone (something like Massdrop HD6xx).
For some reason I decided to try out one highly rated cheap TWS called Tronsmart Spunky and boy I was super impressed with the convenience. Sound quality took a considerable hit compared to the ZS7, but the ease of use and comfort were next level. Immediately started looking for higher end TWS and that was exactly when Airpods pro launched. I'll agree I was a little biased towards the product and I could've bought the Sony or Senn based on internet reviews. However I'm more than happy I listened to myself. I know what I want.
First day when I tried them on (with OnePlus), I was immensely disappointed with the sound quality (which did not sound 10x better than the chinese TWS I had). I almost decided to return it. But the comfort , convenience, mic quality and transparency mode (this is a
godsend feature) were holding me back from doing so. Next thing I tried was pairing them to an iPhone and made slight adjustments to Spotify EQ. It made ALL the difference in the world and FINALLY I had audio quality I always wanted. Full bodied, clear highs with NO sibilance at all.
And no, it may sound worse than audiophile stuff, but it is FAR from garbage.
See here, finally at least somebody to tell the truth. The airpod pros do sound better than sony which really is garbage.
And another surprise, he says Pros sound better than Max. I'll reserve my judgement till I hear it myself.