But I am meant to be an audiophile!

Summary

The author, a self-professed audiophile and tech reviewer, expresses a surprising fondness for the standard Apple AirPods despite their limitations, due to their convenience, reliability, and satisfactory audio quality for everyday use.

Abstract

Despite being an audiophile deeply involved in the technical aspects of audio equipment, the author frequently opts for the basic model of Apple AirPods. These earbuds, which lack advanced features like noise-cancellation, have become a daily staple due to their ease of use, seamless connectivity with Apple devices, and consistent performance over the years. The author appreciates their simplicity and reliability, particularly during walks and workouts, and acknowledges their decent sound quality for general consumer use. While considering an upgrade to noise-cancelling models for specific use cases, the author remains impressed by the AirPods' battery life, maintenance-free design, and the convenience of the Find My network for locating the small devices.

Opinions

The author finds the AirPods' sound quality acceptable for everyday listening, despite not being as rich or bass-heavy as other headphones.
Convenience is a major factor in the author's preference for AirPods, with their wireless design and easy pairing process being highlighted.
The author is considering upgrading to AirPods Pro for noise-cancellation capabilities, which the current model lacks.
The seamless device-switching feature of AirPods is seen as overly complicated in certain scenarios, leading the author to disable it.
The author praises the AirPods' microphone performance for calls and Siri interaction, noting its accuracy in various environments.
Battery life is deemed impressive, with infrequent charging needed for both the AirPods and their case.
The durability and low-maintenance nature of the AirPods are commended, having sustained regular use over two years without issue.
Despite the appeal of the AirPods Max, the author questions their practicality and the social perception of wearing them in public.

Hearing is believing

For my channel, I deep-dive in to EQ, flatness of sound delivery, soundscape and sound staging. But, for consumer level, general, decent, audio delivery, you can’t go far wrong with these AirPods. In essence, they are pretty similar to what we used to get given to us with iPhones years ago, just with a few year-on-year improvements. Given the physical dimensions of these earbuds, there will always be limitations to what then can deliver, but for day to day life, I can’t really find fault. OK, so there is no spectacular bass, the overall sound is pretty bright and the mids are a little punchy. But hey, that is not what this blog is all about. I have another platform for all of that!

Noise-cancelling… I wish…

My main use for these, is, clearly, when I am not in the studio. On those occasions, I reach for the ‘big guns’. When out for a walk, though, these are my earbuds of choice. They are just so damned convenient. No wires, pairing, (more of which later)or phaffing about. Nope. With these, I simply open the case, pop them in and off I trot. These are the only pair of AirPods I have owned. They are now two years old and are still in great shape. The only, and indeed, main reason I am even thinking of change at all, is to get some noise cancellation. The very few times I don’t take these out with me, it’s because I know I want to listen to a podcast without losing any dialogue. Currently, I take some Sony over-the-ear headphones in that user case experience. But they are cabled and bigger than I am used to. So, in time, and possibly sooner than later, I may upgrade to a pair of AirPods Pro. I use these little earbuds every day during walks and workouts. But, I could do with some noise-cancelling, so for that reason alone, I may change up. I actually, secretly, want some AirPods Pro Max. Putting the ludicrous price to one side for just a moment, though, I don’t know if I can be that person who wears these in public. I am just trying to think if I have ever actually seen anyone in AirPods Max out and about? Have you? I have tried on a pair of AirPods Pro with noise cancellation, and they do a fantastic job at cutting through ambient, background frequencies. Consider a pair on my Apple shopping list….

And also…

Of course, the other thing I miss by not taking my AirPods out with me, is the ability to take or make calls. For that, again, they pack a mighty big punch. They also work brilliantly with Siri. Whether you want to ask Siri to make a call, answer an incoming call or set a reminder, the microphone on these earbuds does a sterling job of picking up your voice, accurately in all situations and environments.

Connectivity — too good damned clever

One of the USP of AirPods, upon launch, was the fact that they would transfer from device to device (as long as they were all logged in to the same iCloud account and Apple ID). It sounds great, but in all honesty, it is one of those cases where Apple are trying to be a wee bit too clever even by their boffin-type standards. In my studio, it is not unusual for me to have two or three Macs and possibly even an iPad within Bluetooth range. The AirPods get themselves in a right old state in situations like that, not knowing what device to connect to as their primary source of audio. This feature has now troubled me one too many times, and it’s currently disabled. I’d much rather transfer manually, and if you want to do the same, here is how you do it. On your iPhone, with your AirPods in and connected, open the Bluetooth menu. Find your AirPods in the list and tap the little, blue ‘i’ symbol. About halfway down the list, you’ll see an option to Connect to This iPhone. From there, check the When Last Connected to This iPhone. Just a little ninja tip for you, as a thanks for reading this blog!

Dare we mention battery life?

Yes, we dare! Actually, the battery life is spectacularly good. The case, which is the charger and battery pack for the actual AirPods, needs charging once a week at tops. As for the AirPods themselves, with regular and consistent use, I reckon I probably get a few days use out of them. For me, a day’s use is possibly around a couple of hours. So, from an energy standpoint, no complaints.

On the newer models, the case is now wireless charging enabled and also falls within the Find My network. Being so small, and therefore easy to misplace, being able to find them around the home is a big bonus.

As for maintenance, they pretty much take care of themselves. After two years of use during workouts and even the rain, the only thing I have done is to use a small soft brush to — well, without painting too gross-a-picture, remove some unwanted, debris. But that has been it. And over two years, these earbuds have had 100% reliability as well.

Overall then?

For me, a man who loves audio, it’s a yes! As I mentioned, there are certain audio shortcomings, but given their size, they have shocked me. The convenience wins out. The listening experience is comfortable and never draining. The audio is clear, present, and entertaining. As mentioned, they are so good at what they do, I will almost certainly be trading up. These little fellas are my best friends. In fact, from all the Apple kit I have, these probably get the most use too!

But I am meant to be an audiophile!

And yet here I am loving my AirPods

iCloud+ the perfect storage solution

If you work on Macs and iOS devices, are you taking advantage of this backup and storage solution yet?

Hearing is believing

Noise-cancelling… I wish…

I predict better iPhone messaging for you!

How to improve your messaging life

And also…

Connectivity — too good damned clever

Dare we mention battery life?

Overall then?

Before you go