Headphone Thread 5: Beats are good now?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Headphone Thread 5: Beats are good now?

The Grumbles: Jun 5, 2006

Hello new thread. Has anyone been able to try the new adaptive noice cancelling on the AirPod pros 2, via the new iOS beta? Any good?

# ¿ Jul 14, 2023 10:48

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 23:00

The Grumbles: Jun 5, 2006

Scythe posted:

In the market for new headphones and looking for recommendations.

Budget - Multiple hundreds USD is fine. Not gonna do a thousand though. Mostly looking for best price/performance anywhere in the 3-digit range.

Source - Bluetooth (presumably; must be wireless either way) from an iPhone or (relatively rarely) a Macbook.

Intended use case - Wireless music listening late at night when I want to be in my living room and not in my office anymore.

Preferred headphone features - I'm really just looking for the best possible sounding wireless headphones that'll work with my phone so I can listen to music in my living room while my girlfriend is asleep (which is the only reason I wouldn't just use my stereo instead). I want wireless just so I can not worry about a cable knocking things off the coffee table as I move from the couch to a chair or walk into the kitchen to get a glass of water or whatever, and because wireless sound doesn't suck anymore it seems like. I do not need a voice assistant, ANC (there isn't any noise to cancel), any particular kind of controls (though I guess physical volume adjustment would be nice), or really anything but good sound. I don't even care about latency since this is just for music.

At the moment I have Sony MDR-7506s in the office and I love them; they're very comfortable and sound good and if they were wireless I probably wouldn't be looking for additional headphones. I've also got Beats Fit Pros for the gym and love them too for that purpose (I think they sound significantly better than the Airpods 3rd gen I also have and now mostly use for work calls). I listen to lots of genres of music but most of my more frequently-listened genres are electronic and not acoustic (though I will still listen to small jazz combo/solo piano/string quartet kind of stuff occasionally).

From reading the end of the last thread it sounds like Sony XM4 was the standard rec for things like this. Am I right? What else should I look at, if any?

People seem to really like the AirPods Max. If you feel comfortable and happy spending that much, they're worth a look in, especially if you're in the Apple ecosystem. They're comfortable and well tuned. They've got a big ol' physical volume knob too.

The Sony XM5s are another close contender. Both have do have ANC, although you'll probably struggle to find a well reviewed set of premium wireless headphones.

You could also pick up a bluetooth receiver for your current wired headphones, if you like them. If you really don't wanna splash out on ANC you don't feel like you'll need (I was the same but am now an ANC convert - I can use them as earplugs to get to sleep if there's noise outside! I can listen to music on public transport at a sane volume! etc), just bluetoothing up your wired headphones might be a good bet. Especially if you're set on only using them around the house.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2023 09:36

The Grumbles: Jun 5, 2006

Yep you'll find loads of perfectly fine pads on Amazon or Ebay!

# ¿ Aug 2, 2023 13:05

The Grumbles: Jun 5, 2006

Not a Children posted:

Looking for a couple of recommendations here.

First and foremost is for my partner, who I just discovered has been using half-broken raycons for the past year (as in, one of them straight up doesn't work and the other crackles constantly). I cannot abide this, even though she does. I want to get her some replacement buds. She does not care about sound fidelity much at all - what's important to her is staying in when she's running, and being able to wear them comfortably to sleep. I think ANC would be a nice touch if that's possible. Hoping to spend less than $150.

For me - I'm looking for a good noise cancelling headset to use in my home office. Preferably either wired or with a USB dongle, as my office setup entails using a USB switch to swap my headset, mouse and keyboard between my home computer and work docking station. I currently use Bose QC35 iis with an aftermarket boom mic; while the headset itself is great, the mic constantly swivels and needs a 2.5-3.5mm adapter and after 3 years I'm just sick of it. Tried a couple that "click" into the headset and they all had loose connections that would constantly generate static noise. I would like something of similar comfort, as I tend to wear the headphones all day. Noise canceling is also important because I get a lot of road noise by my office. Hoping to keep it under $300 but I'm willing to stretch.

Why is it that the partners of people who are way too into sound and headphones and whatever are always the total opposite. Like if one person is conscientious about good headphones, then its a certainty their partner is going to be rocking a gunked up pair of 2009 earpods where you need to be grasping the cable at right angles to the connector to reliably get sound out of maybe the left earbud. For the record my own partner is currently using a single wireless knockoff beats earbud (they lost the left-side bud a while ago).

# ¿ Aug 2, 2023 15:45

The Grumbles: Jun 5, 2006

youd for i posted:

Are there any decent Bluetooth/wireless in ear options for under $100? I�ve been using a cheap pair of QCY for a long time but the cord that connects the headphones to one another is completely frayed at this point.

I don�t expect anything amazing for the price but hopefully something that will last for a while and not sound too terrible. The main use will be while commuting via public transit / the occasional flight and probably a split between music and watching movies on an iPhone.

I got gifted a pair of JBL Tune 230NC TWS a while back which I liked but had to return since they were constantly cutting in and out when connected to my phone.

Samsung sometimes do a rebate on their old bean buds, which you can combine with whatever discounts Amazon etc are offering. I loved my beans (up until I lost them), because I'm a sicko

# ¿ Aug 3, 2023 11:45

The Grumbles: Jun 5, 2006

Morpheus posted:

Kinda looking for something specific here: I'd like to get a pair of inner-ear earphones that I can use while sleeping. Basically I just want to listen to noise, or a sleep podcast, or something, but since it's while sleeping, I need something that's got a real small profile so I could potentially rest my head on it without it jamming into my ear canal. And my ears are a weird shape so nothing stays in them unless they're going into the ear. Sound quality isn't a big issue. Anyone have experience with something like that?

Oh, also those sleep headbands aren't an option. Would either give me a migraine or get me way too warm.

A lot of people love those sleepbuds that Bose made, although they're discontinued and not officially supported any more as far as I'm aware. But they're made specifically for sleeping.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2023 10:51

The Grumbles: Jun 5, 2006

Coxswain Balls posted:

Is it like Airtags where it just passively connects to any Apple devices that are around? The name when I connect them is Airpods Pro - Find My, so I'm assuming that the owner realized they lost them and are trying to find them now. I don't have any Apple devices myself but I've got family who are all in on the ecosystem, would being near them be enough for them to show up if they try to geolocate them?

Alternatively, if I change the name of them to something like my phone number, would it show up in the owner's Find My app?

It sounds like your quest is already over, but in case you were curious they show up as AirPods Pro - Find My on any non-apple Bluetooth, so I don't think it means the owner is currently using the find my network. I connect them to my PC and that's what they get called in the list of bluetooth devices.

# ¿ Sep 19, 2023 11:09

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 23:00

The Grumbles: Jun 5, 2006

Setec_Astronomy posted:

Tried out the AirPods Max today. The passthrough is incredible; SO much better than the XM3's. Ordered a set when I got home.

They do look nice, and my AirPods Pro 2s have really impressed me. I hear a lot of grousing over the weight of the Max's though. I realise everyone here will have an enormous Goon head, but what's people experience with comfort/weight?

# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 14:09

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Headphone Thread 5: Beats are good now?