bomonike

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Here are my notes on choosing and configuring headphones.

Why? I’ve cancelled flights if I don’t have a noise-cancelling headphone on the flight.

In-ear headphones is painful in my ear.

Mike O’Brien’s ANC test showed Bose QuietComfort Ultra the best at blocking aircraft jet humm, with AirPods Max coming in 2nd at 60 dB.

Apple Airpods Max

The reason I wear it is the automatic switching among different Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, MacBook). That’s even though it’s heavier (386 grams) and doesn’t support Lossless playback.

  1. With $549 MSRP at Costco it’s the most expense headphones.

    Its sound quality is weaker than others.

  2. Charge up the headset using a Lightning cable like on older iPhones. The Max 2 announced in 2024 has USB-C charging.
    • Amber light appears below 95%
    • Green light appears above 95%

    It’s rated for 30 hours between charges.

  3. The “case” is used to power down the headphone. Strangely, there is no power ON/OFF button on the Apple headset.
    • Hard Shell case - https://amzn.to/3aQ9DMa
  4. Get accessories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDaf-2Cqmj4
    • 13:17 Spigen PowerArc (GaN) USB-C Charger
    • $35 Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack for use on airplanes

    • Alternately, a device to broadcase Bluetooth from headphone jack.

    • 09:39 Benks Desktop Headset Stand https://amzn.to/3A3uGIa
    • Spigen cover https://amzn.to/41akN7j with different colors
    • 03:45 AWINNER Headband Cover https://amzn.to/3GIqCR9
    • 05:35 WIWU AirPods Max Case https://amzn.to/3oj64IU

  5. In the back inside each earpiece fabric there is a “L” for Left and “R” for Right

    • Buy different colored ear pieces?

  6. PROTIP: Grab the headset side with two hands to avoid touching the buttons by accident.

  7. To adjust how the crown and button work on iPhone:
    1. Settings > Bluetooth
    2. Press the blue (i) icon to the right of “AirPods Max”.
    3. Select Transparency and Noise Cancellation.
    4. Personalize Spatial Audio.

  8. To turn Spatial Audio on or off…

  9. Press big button to switch between Transparency and Noise Cancellation mode.

    Turn off Transparency or Noise Cancellation for better battery life and better sound quality.

  10. When playing music: default crown:
    1 press plays or stops playing music or to answer phone call
    2 presses plays next song
    3 presses plays previous song
    Hold down to invoke Siri.

  11. To share audio (have another headphone listen)…

  12. To listen remotely from your iPhone’s microphone:
    1. Click “Hearing” to add it to your Control Center. Note the icon shape.
    2. Swipe down from the upper-right for the Control Center.

    3. Press the Hearing icon.

    4. Click and hold. Drag the volume bar to adjust level of sensitivity.

    5. Press the “Spatial Audio” on or off. Available since iPhone v14.
  13. For best quality, use the Apple Music app instead of Spotify premium. Apple Music uses the AAC codec rather than Spotify’s compressed mp3/ogg.

Videos: