naughty
Epic Member
Saw a review where the guy said that the Apple AirPod max is better audio wise then the XM5 but he can’t justify the price difference.
I was also considering the Focal Bathys that is said to have an amazing audio quality but they are even more expensive than the Apple Max.
audio quality is a subjective thing - most of the time you can use EQ to change how you hear the sound AND even if that doesnt help you, the issue with Apple is that then the apple stuff does not play half the formats that the Sony does so IMHO i would rather definitely get the Sony - i have heard a few of the Apple items - none of them suited my taste or preferences - and they definitely were out of the range of my wallet
the Focal is probably an example of the stuff that is really world class at what it does but if it doesnt play all the formats then its also probably at a disadvantage in terms of complete utility - i would want audio that is as close to lossless as possible - and my DAP is LDAC capable so the Sony playing LDAC would probably beat the Focal playing SBC or AAC - so its all relative including the quality bit ..... playing all the formats gives you a shortcut to gain superior sound quality - so sometimes the cheaper thing may still land up being the better thing with all factors considered - thats not to discount what products like the Focal are capable of doing - but even being the best at SBC might still land up being inferior in every regard to just being able to play LDAC