Just ordered the AirPods Max 2! Looking for your thoughts and wired audio experiences

Hello.

First, congratulations on the acquisition of the Airpods Max 2 when they arrive! I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy my original Airpods Max! They are the best over-ear headphones ever in my experience in terms of both sound and build quality. I've had mine since August 2025, and I love them! As for wired audio, I cannot say for sure, however they do seem more responsive compared to wireless. This was tested on an iPhone 16+ using one of many USB-C cables I have lying around the property.

Hi AbdulMajeed. I'm definitely a self professed audio junkie. I've been through almost every version of the higher end Airpods line. I just received my Airpods Max 2 yesterday, here in the US, so I've had limited time to play around with them. However, I did have some time this morning to compare them to the original AirPods Max with lightning, Airpods Pro 3 and Pro 2. If you're coming from Airpods Pro 2, I think you're going to be floored with the upgrade in audio quality, emersion of spacial, or even two channel stereo. The audio quality is a big step up from the AirPods Pro 2. More on par with the AirPods Pro 3 as far as fidelity in the range of lows to highs, but superior when it comes to the over ear design providing a better spacial envelope.

So short version, I don't think you'll be at all disappointed with your new purchase.

Now on to the boring stuff.

In comparison to the original Lightning version, the new ones do have superior audio quality. It's noticeable by far. Listening to music with good range of instruments, low end frequencies mixed with high end, it's all there. The bass is clear and wonderful, whereas it was weaker with the original Max. And the higher ends now feel clipped on the originals, where that isn't the case with the new ones.

As for wired, I can only speak to the USB-C connection to Apple devices at this point. I don't have a USB-C to 3.5mm cable handy, though i'm interested to try that out soon. But, I'm currently using the wired connection to my mac as I write this. I was wired to my iPhone before this, for music. My iPhone was playing 48khz lossless from downloaded audio files through the wired connection. When i yanked the connection and the headphones reverted to the Bluetooth 5.3 connection, the difference was slight, but noticeable to my "age appropriate" hearing. It still sounded great over wireless, but the wired was worth having. It was...more present, more detailed. I think if you have a good audio source, you'll be pleased with it. And the braided USB-C cable that came with the headphones is just the right length to make that wired connection.

Remember to upgrade the firmware when you receive yours. I had to do a soft reboot on the headphones by holding both buttons for around 10 seconds, but less than 15 to avoid the full factory reset. They say the light on the bottom of the ear cup will flash amber, but, well, I'm sure you can see the difficulties there. You'll know if it's restarting by putting them on after releasing the buttons, and they sound like they're dead. A few moments later they'll come back online to whatever sound mode you had set.

And on that note, having the ADaptive audio is wonderful. Having them respond to head movements as response to incoming notifications is great. All in all, these will get a lot of use.

Oh, and the ANC is amazing. Some ANC applications on other devices make my ears hurt, like something's pressing in. These are borderline on that, but just on the outside, so to speak, and don't hurt my ears. And still, they block out a lot. I have a humidifier humming in my room right now, and the ANC blocks that out almost 100%. I say almost only because with no audio playing, I hear, well, dead air, loop feedback, like you get when you pick up an old style phone handset and you know it's not dead because there's just enough of something coming through to let you know it isn't dead. But when adding Apple's Classical Edge playlist, it's like listening in a void, with no other distractions. it really is wonderful. Though my personal preference is for the adaptive, which strikes a nice balance of transparency and ANC.

I hope to pick some up myself at some point.
For you, how does spacial audio sound compared to the originals?
I have the 2024 USB-c version, but adaptive audio, conversation awareness, and other h2 exclusive features and better audio quality really make me want to upgrade.
I can definitely tell between wireless and wired connection, and I realy love spacial audio on a wired connection.

I agree with everyone's opinions on the improved audio quality. Spatial audio is also far superior on these compared to the original Max. I just got them, so I haven't used them wired to my phone very much yet, but I have plugged them into my gaming handheld and would like to add that they also work great for games. I have a ROG XBox Ally running Windows, and I'm using the Max 2 with the included USB C cable, and they sound wonderful and are very responsive. I even enabled Dolby Atmos for Headphones in Windows settings and it works very well even though it's not listed as something they support over wired connection with Windows.
One thing I would like to add here though is that they do have the exact same drivers that the original Max had. Apple only upgraded the chip and the amp they used, which is why they sound better. But the drivers are identical.

He review them and he went nuts over them. He like the sound, transparencyand noice reduction. Check it out.

Hi Levi. Sory for the slow reply. (I need to figure out how to enable notifications for replies to threads...)

HOnestly, I seem to struggle with some spacial content. But in general, I went back to the first source that really blew my mind with the original AirPods Max, and that was when I fired up, of all things, the movie Casablanca on my iPad while sitting on an airplane mid flight, by the window, over the wing/engines. I had to do a double take when the audio of the movie wasn't coming from the space in middle of my (thick) head, but from the space in front of me, with a resonance of an open space, such as the cafe in which much of the movie's action takes place.

With the Max 2 the new High Dynamic Range drivers made it sound all the better for the fuller range and depth of the audio. On the Made for Spacial playlist on Apple Music, I was able to find some tracks that really do give a good sense of space, and bass. presence of dialogue/lyrics is noticeably better.

Short version, I'm happy with it. And it seems to carry over the "lossless wireless" with Vision Pro that they started with the AirPods pro 2.1/USB-C version. It's a snug fit with the over ear cups and the vision pro straps, but watching the Director's Edition of Star Trek the Motion Picture was...very satisfying, which is high praise for a movie that is often panned for being, well, pretty craptastic. Next up will likely be Godzilla v. Kong, when time permits. I'll let you know how the roars sound.

Hi, so I just saw another entry on this thread that mensioned high dynamic range drivers, and I feel I need to state again that the drivers of the AirPods Max 2 are the exact same as the ones in the AirPods Max 1. They have high dymamic range processors and a better amplifier now, but the actual drivers, or the speakers in the headphone cups if you will, are identical. That's one of the main reasons the Apple community as a whole is not happy with this product update. Other than the fact that they were expecting a full re-design, they also figured Apple would have designed a new driver since they have done so with most of the other AirPods releases. Don't get me wrong. They do have better sound quality. But that's just because they have better processors and amps powering the drivers.