- Joined
- Jul 3, 1997
- Messages
- 66,796
- Real Name
- Ronald Epstein
Some of this I have talked about previously.
I never intended to purchase Airpods Pro. I own a pair of Sony's MX2 headphones (now upgraded to MX3 and MX4), and they provide exceptional audio and noise canceling. Though the Sony headsets are not nearly the best audio experience you can buy, for most mainstream consumers, they are among the top-rated and most loved headphones out there.
Why would I want to invest in dinky, stick-in-ear, earphones?
Then came the WWDC 2020 virtual event that introduced Spatial Audio
I have to say, it was love at first sight. Surround sound within headphones is something I have always strived for. Dolby introduced their headsets in 2018, but at $500, they were cost-prohibitive. In fact, I just did a search for the current price on Dolby Dimension Headphones and I don't even think they make them anymore. Perhaps another failed Dolby product?
So, soon after WWDC I put in an order for my first pair of Airpods Pro. Over the past few months, they were barely used. While I was extremely impressed with the way they connected to Apple products, I still didn't see a need for wearing them.
Over the past few days, I have been visiting my brother in North Carolina. I am without my Home Theater. I brought along my 12" iPad Pro and have been using that to view TV shows I generally watch at home. It has given me a great opportunity to try the Airpods Pro with the new Spatial Audio feature.
It seems like once you connect your Airpods Pro to an iOS 14 device, the Spatial Audio is turned on by default. However, you can make adjustments by going into Settings -> Bluetooth and click on the information button ("i") next to the connected Airpods Pro indicator.
I watched this week's episode of LOVECRAFT COUNTRY, via HBO MAX, in spatial audio. I was completely blown away by what I was hearing.
The entire audio soundstage is completely opened up. The first sense that you have is that the audio is absolutely not coming from your Airpods Pro. I had to take them out of my ear as I thought perhaps the audio was playing through my iPad instead. It's absolutely hard to believe that this kind of audio is coming from those dinky earbuds nestled in your ear.
We could stop right here and already, I would say my investment in a pair of AirPods Pro was warranted.
But taking a huge leap forward...
The added Spatial Audio for home entertainment viewing now makes the AirPods Pro a better choice than the Sony MX headphones.
I don't know what kind of magic the audio engineers at Apple are doing, but they have mastered the art of manipulating your brain and fooling it into thinking sounds are emanating from different directions, in the same manner a 7.1 system would accomplish.
I am sitting here watching this week's episode of LOVECRAFT COUNTRY. There's a scene where the character of Montrose Freeman (Michael Kenneth Williams) is hearing voices in his head. With Spatial Audio, the voices that this character was hearing, seem to rotate in front, behind, and to the side of me. I compare it to memories of the first impressive surround track I heard on my Home Theater system, which was listening to the 5.1 mix of 12 MONKEYS.
It gets wilder...
As you sit and listen to this amazing audio coming from the AirPods Pro, turn your head or move around and the sound follows you. The first time you listen to a surround encoded TV show or movie, you are going to find yourself moving your head from side to side just to experience the amazing way the audio travels with your movements.
And the future looks amazing...
Apple is about to announce its over-the-ear Airpods Studio. I suppose I don't need to tell you what that means, but I will nonetheless. That Spatial Audio technology should carry over into the new headphones.
So, now, there's going to be over-the-ear professional-grade audio headphones with Spatial Audio and noise cancellation. It will probably cost $500, the same price as the Dolby Dimension Headphones. However, in this case, it's an Apple product designed to seamlessly work with their mobile hardware and as a result, I suspect Apple is going to succeed where Dolby seems to have failed.
I would never consider spending $500 on the Dolby Dimension Headphones. I would absolutely buy the Apple Airpods Studio at that price already experiencing what the company has done with the AirPods pro.
It sort of amazes me how much the Spatial Audio announcement was underplayed by Apple. Out of all the great things they have been doing, this is perhaps one of its finest accomplishments. With the introduction of HomePod and HomePod mini, the company has already demonstrated how well its engineers can improve audio coming from portable speakers. However, not enough emphasis has been put on what they have done with in-ear audio. I have a feeling that once they announce AirPods Studio with that Spatial Audio technology embedded into it, Apple could very well become the leader in consumer-level headsets.
I never intended to purchase Airpods Pro. I own a pair of Sony's MX2 headphones (now upgraded to MX3 and MX4), and they provide exceptional audio and noise canceling. Though the Sony headsets are not nearly the best audio experience you can buy, for most mainstream consumers, they are among the top-rated and most loved headphones out there.
Why would I want to invest in dinky, stick-in-ear, earphones?
Then came the WWDC 2020 virtual event that introduced Spatial Audio
I have to say, it was love at first sight. Surround sound within headphones is something I have always strived for. Dolby introduced their headsets in 2018, but at $500, they were cost-prohibitive. In fact, I just did a search for the current price on Dolby Dimension Headphones and I don't even think they make them anymore. Perhaps another failed Dolby product?
So, soon after WWDC I put in an order for my first pair of Airpods Pro. Over the past few months, they were barely used. While I was extremely impressed with the way they connected to Apple products, I still didn't see a need for wearing them.
Over the past few days, I have been visiting my brother in North Carolina. I am without my Home Theater. I brought along my 12" iPad Pro and have been using that to view TV shows I generally watch at home. It has given me a great opportunity to try the Airpods Pro with the new Spatial Audio feature.
It seems like once you connect your Airpods Pro to an iOS 14 device, the Spatial Audio is turned on by default. However, you can make adjustments by going into Settings -> Bluetooth and click on the information button ("i") next to the connected Airpods Pro indicator.
I watched this week's episode of LOVECRAFT COUNTRY, via HBO MAX, in spatial audio. I was completely blown away by what I was hearing.
The entire audio soundstage is completely opened up. The first sense that you have is that the audio is absolutely not coming from your Airpods Pro. I had to take them out of my ear as I thought perhaps the audio was playing through my iPad instead. It's absolutely hard to believe that this kind of audio is coming from those dinky earbuds nestled in your ear.
We could stop right here and already, I would say my investment in a pair of AirPods Pro was warranted.
But taking a huge leap forward...
The added Spatial Audio for home entertainment viewing now makes the AirPods Pro a better choice than the Sony MX headphones.
I don't know what kind of magic the audio engineers at Apple are doing, but they have mastered the art of manipulating your brain and fooling it into thinking sounds are emanating from different directions, in the same manner a 7.1 system would accomplish.
I am sitting here watching this week's episode of LOVECRAFT COUNTRY. There's a scene where the character of Montrose Freeman (Michael Kenneth Williams) is hearing voices in his head. With Spatial Audio, the voices that this character was hearing, seem to rotate in front, behind, and to the side of me. I compare it to memories of the first impressive surround track I heard on my Home Theater system, which was listening to the 5.1 mix of 12 MONKEYS.
It gets wilder...
As you sit and listen to this amazing audio coming from the AirPods Pro, turn your head or move around and the sound follows you. The first time you listen to a surround encoded TV show or movie, you are going to find yourself moving your head from side to side just to experience the amazing way the audio travels with your movements.
And the future looks amazing...
Apple is about to announce its over-the-ear Airpods Studio. I suppose I don't need to tell you what that means, but I will nonetheless. That Spatial Audio technology should carry over into the new headphones.
So, now, there's going to be over-the-ear professional-grade audio headphones with Spatial Audio and noise cancellation. It will probably cost $500, the same price as the Dolby Dimension Headphones. However, in this case, it's an Apple product designed to seamlessly work with their mobile hardware and as a result, I suspect Apple is going to succeed where Dolby seems to have failed.
I would never consider spending $500 on the Dolby Dimension Headphones. I would absolutely buy the Apple Airpods Studio at that price already experiencing what the company has done with the AirPods pro.
It sort of amazes me how much the Spatial Audio announcement was underplayed by Apple. Out of all the great things they have been doing, this is perhaps one of its finest accomplishments. With the introduction of HomePod and HomePod mini, the company has already demonstrated how well its engineers can improve audio coming from portable speakers. However, not enough emphasis has been put on what they have done with in-ear audio. I have a feeling that once they announce AirPods Studio with that Spatial Audio technology embedded into it, Apple could very well become the leader in consumer-level headsets.
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