Comment by tptacek
18 hours ago
I've never had a pair of headphones with a cable connection that survived more than 2 years. Can't say that about the Airpods Max.
Like, I have opinions about high-end headphones based on how easy the cords are to replace. That shouldn't be the case.
I was a discrete headphone amp guy, just to situate myself in this market. I didn't expect to get good wireless headphones and think "I'm never going back", but that's precisely what happened.
I'm sure that there can be situations where it's better to sacrifice sound quality and reliability for the convenience of wireless but I think the ability to replace cables is a huge advantage and not a pain point at all. The only problem I've ever had was with an old pair from Sony where by the time I needed a new cable they'd stopped selling a replacement cable but I knew I was rolling the dice when I got that pair because the cable wasn't standard.
Even in the extreme case where you're replacing them every other year you could buy a handful of spares right away so you have them on hand when you need them and your headphones will outlast the batteries in your airpods
Wired headphones are also 1/10 of the price of airpods. So they still come out ahead on the cost of ownership front.
What high quality wired headphones (that you’d drive with a dedicated amp and have a replaceable cable) cost $55?
For context, I was generally using H6's, HD-280s, and HD-550s (when open-ear "ear-mounted speakers" are OK). The price point here is $100-$300. All of them have replaceable cables, but none of them are standard cables, so you have to stockpile extra cables for them.
The audio quality difference between that class of headphone and Airpods Max is within the threshold of "speaker cable differences". All 4 of them put you in territory where source quality and delivery is the primary issue.