Airpods Max DAC & Cable Misconceptions Explained 

@@kyleheiser6622 Unfortunately, no. No mic input on this cable. That's a frequent question and definitely something it'd be nice to see Apple change since so many people want.

Apple Music has lossless music as well as Dolby atmos. Do you know if using the cable from a phone, or a laptop will provide a better signal that Bluetooth? Or would I have to use a dac in between the computer and AirPods max?

@@mr.persuasion4571 As I said in the video, that depends greatly on the hardware of your device. Some phones, like the now discontinued LG series had the best sound output on the market by far. Other phones sound pretty lackluster. Some computers have good onboard sound chips, and others go cheap and sound terrible. That's hard for me to say for sure as a general statement about what your experience would be. If the device has cheap sound output, you might be better off with bluetooth and let the APM do the conversions.

Thanks friend for the kind words!

I came here to comment the same thing!

@@onMyOwnAccord-hw2gd Thanks! I really appreciate that.

Good explanation. Thanks!

If I play 24bit/96 KHz (MacBook pros) to airpod max is the airpod max converting that back at but at 24 / 48 KHz or the 96 KHz because I hear a better audio with Tidal on my MacBook Pro vs iPhone. You said you put in better you get better, I just need to understand if there is any bottleneck at the airpod max lighting in point,

I have the same question or rather the same concern. Did you found an answer for this, please? Furthermore, it would be interesting whether there would be a possibility to use with a ("special") Lightning cable with a TRRS jack then the built-in microphones? Thanks in advance, stay safe and a good start to the new year

@@btsr2553 I tried the JSAUX cable, and it didn’t work. Not worth spending the $35 to get the Apple cable because I’m happy with the sound quality I get over bluetooth.

I've had one other person contact me saying something similar, that plugging the APM into their Windows PC didn't output sound. Other than ruling out that the cable is bad (and exchanging it) I am not sure why that would happen. All this cable is supposed to do is take a standard 3.5mm signal and convert it to digital, so I am not sure why the cable seems so finicky about where that signal comes from. :-/

Because Bluetooth codec doesn't work yet for lossless format.

The Bluetooth codec hasn‘t enough bandwith to work directly.

I think the quality is solid. For me the apparent difference between using the APM via bluetooth versus corded through a DAC is the bass is meatier, subtly but pleasingly, and the sound stage seems wider. There might be some subtle improvements to detail but the first two are what stood out to me most. They're never as resolving as other headphones I've used like Denon AH-D5000 or Beyerdynamic DT 1990, but nothing sounds lacking to me on the APM via cord that would make me feel like I made a mistake using those in a session instead of the other ones. For DJ'ing I could see interesting possibilities for the noise cancellation.

It would, but it would also be unnecessary since these headphones have their own internal amp and only use the 3.5 mm cable for the signal. The only real gain you have is by using a higher end DAC, but as far as amps go you might as well just plug it straight into your phone or MP3 player.

Yeah when I'd looked this up before Apple states that it's only a stereo signal carried, no mic. So although the mics work in bluetooth, using the cable is audio only. Because of that, I am not currently aware of any adapter for force it to work that way. If I come upon a third party equivalent of this cable that allows the mic I'll report back, but it's also possible that Apple did not program the Lightning plug on the headphones to deal with a mic signal, either.

I haven't used one myself to try, but as long as it's a reputable brand I would assume so. I've used 3rd party Lightning to 3.5mm adapters for the iPhone, as well as chargers and cables, with no issues.

That's a cool idea but I don't think so. Could be wrong, but I think the computer has to recognize the USB device as a sound card or DAC to send a signal to it, and I don't think the APM would identify that way even if you got the cable config correct like you mentioned. It's a bummer, because you have the right idea.

I suppose theoretically since it does seem to have an internal DAC and DSP that already decodes digital signals. I suspect all the lightning port on the headphones is looking for is a digital signal, so if USB-C could supply that I don't see why not. But we'll see if Apple wants to provide that option rather than their current cable.

@@Digimorphosis Would imagine a lightning male to lightning male would be the obvious first port of call for Apple if they want to allow APMs to have access to "real lossless". Straight from iPhone to APM with no DAC involved (till the onboard DAC in the APM converts and sends to the drivers.)

No it became 3.5mm output

As far as I know, currently the only way to do lossless is via cable since Apple's bluetooth is AAC and is 256kbps IIRC.

I have only tried it on a desktop computer via cable, not bluetooth, so I can't comment on the bluetooth bit from a computer. Gaming with the APM via cable is pretty solid, though.

@@Digimorphosis without cable was there a big latency?

@@empty_peace Not really that I've noticed. I've even edited videos with the APM via bluetooth and felt it kept up and synced with the video perfectly.

Well, "better sound quality" would be a hard assertion for me to make since the HD 650 headphones have a different sound signature than the Airpods Max, before even exploring the MBP's 3.5mm output versus bluetooth. I would say that yes, theoretically the MBP's output, if made for higher impedance headphones, is transmitting more data since it's not being compressed like bluetooth. (As long as you're listening to lossless music and not an mp3.) But whether that ends up being "better" to one's ear or not is up to the listener. Personally I prefer the bass on the Airpods Max to the HD650s, and so for me regardless of bluetooth/cable that's one way I would not prefer the HD650s, for instance. Hope that's helpful.

@@Digimorphosis that was very helpful, thanks again!

Hmm. I don't usually max the Airpods Max, but I do tend to keep them at 70% or so on the APM, and then adjust from there with the source device. Usually halfway up on the source player is good, sometimes a little higher when it's movies and not music. Luckily I don't really notice distortion when I have the Airpods Max cranked (and use a lower source signal) so I'm guessing Apple has them capped at a volume level before distortion.

I've briefly used the DT 1770 and the detail is on par with the DT 1990, which I use a lot. Not familiar with the other two, unfortunately. But I would say the DT 1770/1990 have a bit more overall detail and imaging for sure than the Airpods Max. As a pure audiophile headphone the Beyerdynamic sounds better -- the AirPods Max still sound good and make up for slightly less detail with the wireless and noise cancelling features, I'd say. I was pretty skeptical of wireless headphones until I tried the Airpods Max and now I use them pretty regularly even though I have the DT 1990.

@@Digimorphosis and do u recommend to buy airpods max or waiting new model and when apple will have new airpods max ?

Well for what it's worth my experience is that they do sound a little fuller on the cable. The soundstage seems a bit wider and I found the bass is a bit punchier than on Bluetooth, but it's not a huge difference. So if you dislike the sound of the AirPods Max that much I am not sure whether using the cable will be enough of a change for you to be honest.

Not that I've noticed, and I don't find the Bluetooth delay is much either FWIW even for games and occasional editing I've done with them. I've been pretty impressed in that regard, even if the cable definitely has other shortcomings.

Just don't turn it up super high (or it could cause signal distortion). The Airpods Max always use their own internal amp even on 3.5mm, and don't use the power from the cable to power the headphones. So while you aren't benefiting from the power of the headphone amp the way you would on other headphones, it also shouldn't hurt anything at moderate levels. I've used my Airpods Max with my Sound BlasterX G6 many times and that has a headphone amp in it.

Agreed. I don't think anyone including myself was contesting that. The distinction I made was that if you're running the cable out of a really low end DAC/headphone jack it may sound so shallow and degraded that in those cases bluetooth might be better only because you're relying in APM's (in that case) superior DAC to decode the signal rather than an awful one. Consider that tested and upheld as well. For all other cases where the source DAC isn't terrible, what you said holds.

Thanks for the kind words! I've talked about the Lightning to 3.5mm cable in this other video if it's helpful: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qC5bvk6x1kA.html The TLDR would be they sound pretty good, but there's not enough power to drive high ohm headphones and the cord is pretty thin. I do list a third party alternative that also sounds pretty good and is built more ruggedly.

Yeah this cable isn’t meant for microphone input. It’s only stereo and not stereo plus mic (the 3 rings on 3.5mm). The analog to digital conversion is also only one direction, the way they want you to use it, so you can’t reverse the cable to say run Lightning into 3.5mm. It is a bit confusing to people because the AirPods Max have all the mix’s built into them that people probably assume the cable supports mic inputs, but it doesn’t.

@@Digimorphosis sorry, I don’t understand. Thank you for replying. I just connected it to my Nintendo switch and other devices such as radio, I can’t hear anything. I know the cable doesn’t have microphone. I just would like to plug my AirPods in a device that takes 3.5mm and listen normal. The battery is charged and the cable is new but I don’t hear a thing…

@@doiscorposumameta Hmm. Well it should definitely be able to do those things. Maybe you got a faulty one?

@@Digimorphosis hmmm good to know. Thank you for the reply, it makes me feel less frustrated cuz now I know there’s hope 😂

Wow. What DAC are you using? I definitely have noticed the bass is better with the cable and a DAC, but in my own experience I certainly wouldn’t call it muddy or overkill. Admittedly I do like more bass than some but I don’t like muddy bass.

@@BrianWatkins9000 I currently have The Sound BlasterX G6 Whenever i switch the Gain from Low to High. That's where my Airpod Max starts to sounds Muddy/Bassy? Beyond Heck. I mean Low Gain sounds Fine not exactly Loud Enough.

@@mr.kermit3761 Interesting. I use the same card actually. Not sure if it’s a settings difference or I guess I just like the extra bass. I’ve always thought it was weird that there was such a difference in that way between Bluetooth and cable. Quality difference, sure, but I didn’t expect the bass part either.

Depends pretty significantly what you were plugging it into. If the source was a low end DAC with poor output, yeah, you'd be better off with bluetooth because that's at least decoded by the APM in a more reliable way. As I made pretty clear in the video, source matters and anyone claiming that using the cable is an automatic improvement is misleading people.

Not sure where you got that idea (other than the cable being black rather than standard white? Check for yourself; Apple sells both.) Aside that, as it relates to a DAC and the actual point of my video, that wouldn't even necessarily matter. Why you'd wanna throw shade on Christmas Eve either unless you're a troll is a better question. Listen better, criticize less. Especially when you're wrong.

@@Digimorphosis I was myself to apple store with my headphones and they came to me saying that the airpods max doesn't support cable

@@carismaticul So to be clear, first you call me a liar for not using a genuine Apple cable, which is untrue. Now you claim that Apple told you that the headphones are not compatible with the cable in the first place -- with the very cable Apple sells specifically for these headphones, that are marketed for these headphones, and that every review and piece of literature out there about these headphones mention? Do you think it's more likely you're confused? I will do you the kindness you would not do in return and say Merry Christmas, I hope you find some peace, and hope you become better informed.

That's a great point and certainly something to remember. These are indeed wireless headphones and the cable is meant as an afterthought, like you said.

That may well be true, but 550 for headphones that you can't connect to all your devices? Are we sure that is a good value proposition? I am not talking of the inibility to pay hi res, can I connect them to my hi fi? Nope, what about my TV, nope. So what your response is really saying to me is that you believe $550 for a pair of bluetooth only headphones, that as a result of blue tooth limitations and no proprietry thing such as LDAC, can't play beyond AAC is good value to you. Well, that's obviously your position and an absoloutley fair one, but let's be honest about it. Also, define excellent job? By the by, they are awesome so I am not a hater.

@@ggproductions7078 as cliched as it may be, my answer is then don’t buy it. Plenty of brands do this. Super expensive tv’s with brilliant display but absolutely crappy speakers. Apple focused on excellent connectivity, excellent ANC and transparency and by most reviewers excellent sound quality in a wireless headphone. If you want a WIRED experience, don’t buy AirPod Max.

@@sharonb.9128 Indeed, again, they are awesome and you are right, it is your choice whether you wish to pay that price for something with selective usage. We know that as part of apples branding they will pump out super expensive items ( £700 wheels anyone?) and that's cool and aspirational and no problem with it. THe TV comparison is not quite fair though, untill apple, to their credit on the new imac, managed to develope a new way of doing things, the thickness of TV did not allow for great speakers, that was a trade off you made. I feel that pumping out a hugely expensive pair of headphones that are your most expensive audio product and they aren't able to play an audio format you have released to great fan fare is stretching it a bit. As far as wirelss headphones go they are likely the best. As far as $600 (after you have bought the cable) headphones go, well no they aren't. But as you say, it's all about choice. Though the expensive lead was released at the same time, so not an after thought and there is no way that the Hi res audio came as a surprise, so let's have a conversation in the round is all I ask.

@@sharonb.9128 Okay but isn't it still reasonable for people to critique a product? By that logic you should never ever critique any product because you're not compelled to buy it. I'm going to go and guess that you critique products sometimes.

Agree with you there 100%.

Exactly, there should be a lightning to lightning digital cable, period.

@@kylethor0 *USB-C to Lightning

I don't see why not in either case. The APM are looking at the 3.5mm connection for the signal they're going to process and amplify, and both of those DACs output a very clean, high quality signal. The APM won't really benefit from the headphone amp parts of both of those since the APM do their own amplification internally, but in terms of sheer signal I see that being beneficial and can't see any way that'd be harmful. I'd recommend turning the volume on the APM up to close to max so you can keep the input level as low as makes sense, since I have heard some distortion when the 3.5mm level gets too high. Also note that as far as I understand it, the APM cannot be passively driven since they always use their own internal amp, so it will still slowly use the battery to use the 3.5mm cable.

The people use iFi Hip-DAC 2, I ask to chatgpt and say iFi Hip-DAC 2 instead cobalt xD. But actually use a dragonfly black, In a near feature I want to buy a iFi Hip-DAC 2 I know is less portable but seems better

You need more DACs in the final chain 😂. You already have a DAC in the usb to 3,5mm then ADC in the 3,5mm to lighting and another one in the headphones. You could definitely add more. In 10 years of audiophile listening I learnt the more DACs the better. My home listening setup consists of 10 DACs and 10 ADCs in one chain. 😂😂😂😂😂😂

I wanted to do the same thing with my iPhone 12 promax. Does the dragonfly DAC, make any improvements over the cable all by itself with the higher bit music?

@@oneonebravo11B Yes I think it does but it is a confusing subject.

Hmm. I've had them cut out for a few when it seemed they were doing a firmware update via my phone and they rebooted, but that was fairly quick. I'll do some digging myself and comment back if I come upon anything you can try. For the moment, though, I don't have any specific suggestions. Sorry to hear you're having that issue.

I can confirm that you can indeed record and play instruments in your DAW with the AirPods Max, the latency is negligible while wired. If you sing and/or play acoustic guitar you can also make use of transparency mode to hear the guitar on the room while still listening to the metronome and playing along a track, which is something I think no other headphone can do. You can buy a 3.5mm adapter to extend the cable length, they are not expensive.

Agreed, and I don't believe I ever said connecting a DAC to an analog output from a laptop is ideal or preferred. (Or what I do.) "Crap in, crap out" I'd also said. I feel like we're in agreement here and perhaps you misunderstood what I said, because what you are arguing against is not a point I was making. My point was precisely that you fare better with the analog out of a DAC compared to running straight out of a motherboard's 3.5mm out. One bit that might have muddied the waters for you there was that I was refuting someone else's claim that connecting the APM cable to a DAC at all would make the sound worse. Because ultimately, as opposed to what? Any 3.5mm output has gone through a DAC at that point, whether a good or bad one. So what I was getting at was, to use the 3.5mm APM plug at all, you must be connecting it to some kind of DAC source. The only alternative would be to forgo the cable altogether and stay bluetooth. You are absolutely right that ideally APM should have simply had a USB end so it'd be all digital rather than, as I also mentioned, the silly back and forth switching of taking analog, turning it digital, only to turn it back to analog within the APM. 👍🏻

Hmm, no that is strange. I've used my APM with the Lightning to 3.5mm several times with no issue out of the G6. I am not sure if it's an issue of a defective dongle or maybe the volume on the APM is all the way down in this mode and needs to be adjusted? I'll do some poking around and see if I can find anything.

Hmm. If the iPad has a 3.5mm headphone jack, which I've used also on an old iPad Air, it should work. Can you confirm the cable works when plugged into other devices, just to rule that out?

Appreciate the kind words! I would say even if you aren't using lossless on Apple Music, I believe their non-lossless music is 256kbps AAC which is higher quality than the free version of Spotify. So if you are comparing those things I would say it's still worth it to go with Apple Music, unless you really like Spotify's features and then you may spring for Spotify premium to unlock higher quality (non-lossless). The AirPods max are definitely high-quality enough to appreciate that difference even without lossless. Hope that helps.

@@Digimorphosis thanks a lot for your answer. I really appreciate it. I have a dragonfly dac I used with other headphones. I don’t know if it would help (and buying the cable is expensive). Anyway, You answered the most important thing: Apple Music has more quality so i guess I’ll go for that. Thanks a lot and good wishes from Spain!

Yeah it's pretty inconvenient in that regard. 🤦‍♂️

Yes, it should since it's bypassing bluetooth and its inherent latency.

at wired time does it's microphone works??( *while phone's Bluetooth off* ) ___and is it's a big sound difference *wired vs wireless* please reply 🤒

I don't think you would have compatibility issues with an older portable CD player since the beauty of 3.5mm headphone jacks is a pretty universal format. As far as drawbacks go I would say that most of those portable CD players were intended for people using small earbuds that weren't necessarily great quality, so the DAC behind the audio output in that portable player may only be mediocre. (Earbuds back then were considerably worse than AirPods or Galaxy buds of today.) And since it is the source of the audio signal, you may not be getting the best experience of what the AirPods max could offer compared to a higher end source, but I don't see any reason it couldn't be done. Your question brought back fond memories of an Aiwa CD player with my big over the ear headphones back in the day, and I recall at one point having a CD player that would read MP3 data discs as well. Good times.

@@Digimorphosis Ahh haha that changes my perspective. I was so caught up about how most older CD players, especially some of the cheaper ones in today's age, in conjunction with the CD format in general would technically have consistent/high quality throughout that I never considered the quality of the output as well as DAC. Guess I gotta do some more research to see if the players I've been looking at actually do any of that well. As a young person I've been meaning to get into physical media for a while now since I missed out on that as my love for music only spiked as I grew older. Vinyl seemed like a pain to carry around and a good cassette player feels like it'd cost wayyy too much (Remains the case for quality vinyl players too) so CDs have seemed like the best middle ground.

@@karti9117 That's cool that you're getting into all this. Yeah it's not to say a portable CD player from back then couldn't have a robust output, but I recall a lot of ones I used back in the day having weak bass, even when I was wearing big, bassy headphones, for instance. (And they were all low impedance headphones so it wasn't an ohmage issue.) I think sometimes you run into the issue where the player is reading the audio off the disc at perfect "CD quality" but then passing that digital signal to a DAC that doesn't always do it justice, and that's the analog signal that heads to the headphones. A rack CD player, like you'd see as part of a stereo system, would probably have a much better output although admittedly doesn't have that nostalgic coolness about it. I agree with you about CDs as a good happy medium for physical media. Vinyl has a very classic vibe to it listening to it, and a lot of people prefer its sound to CD because they describe the sound as more "alive" almost, whereas a CD is so clinically precise some think it has a comparatively sterile presentation. YMMV of course and I've enjoyed them all, but the downside of vinyl is it's large, requires a not-portable dedicated player, and can wear out physically when played enough times. Same for cassettes -- although I don't think you're missing much there. Cassettes were only good for their portability back then, but had fairly fuzzy audio quality in general compared to vinyl or CD. CD's are fairly portable and if you have a good player will bring out all of what your headphones can offer. 😊👍🏻

hey dude you probably got the wrong cable,, airpod maxs lightning input means you need apples certified lightning to 3.5mm specifically,, if u watched the video youd understand,,, basically your cable is most probably transmitting audio only from lightning direction towards the 3.5mm. when in fact we need the other way and is only available from apples cable but apparently its ass anyways

I tried looking up on RU-vid if anyone has plugged a DAC TO AIRPODS Max and what would happen. Well I purchased the ifi hip-dac with the apple USB CAMERA adapter with lightning and the 3.5mm apple headphone cable and let me tell you OOOOHHHH BABY YOU Better Go and try it out. You won’t regret it.

@@JuanCruz-et8so can you please just test if music has better quality when i connect it with apples dongle ?

@@edinabdic6798 i will check, after watching a couple of videos including some of yours I purchased the Ifi hip dac and the apple 3.5 mm cable for the max i also had to get the usb lightning camera adapter to plug in the DAC and i was impressed how much drastically the audio signature changed. Im also impressed on how much it can handle without any distortion in music. Getting back to your question I wanted to compare with dongle but I can’t seem to find mines but I will check. One more little neat trick to change your headphones 🎧 audio signature without breaking bank is to go to your settings on the accessibility option select Audio/Visual and play around with the Headphone Accommodations Settings. lol i was intrigued and is a bit helpful.

@@edinabdic6798 i finally found iphone dongle and I noticed a big difference between Bluetooth and regular headphone dongle, Bluetooth is louder than regular wire. but oh boy with the portable DAC you unlock a whole different world

Yep, this video was aimed at someone confused by how all this works and what goes into it, which sounds like is not you. So to you, this is obvious and that's fine. But given the other feedback I've gotten there are plenty of folks for whom none of this is obvious. And sure a statement about better analog signal meaning better output sounds simple when phrased that way, but people without your knowledge don't know which outputs equate to better analog starting points. Disagree about speakers in an ideal room being the best/only audiophile experience versus headphones, but to each their own. That's the best part about this hobby. Thanks for watching.

My comment is just putting the product in perspective, certainly not criticizing your explanation! But I suggest listening to the old Bang & Olufsen speakers with the acoustic lens, for example. Or for that matter any big studio main speakers in a good control room. Headphones can’t match that kind of impact. Much bigger (not louder!) sound, and the kick in the chest! I do like headphones, though.

@@derivativemusic I appreciate that. I feel you on the impact as someone with big floorstanding speakers and a 1000W 15" subwoofer in a custom cabinet in my living room and surely headphones don't deliver the same smack in the chest. But then, my speakers also don't deliver the same degree of fine detail or sense of intimacy I can pick up from my DT 1990 headphones either. I hear what you're saying, but I also suspect that were either of us to say, "Try these expensive speakers and you'll see!" someone else will counter with, "Try these $1500 Sennheiser headphones with $1000 DAC and you'll see!" Anyone can point at some super high end setup they've heard and view it as the standard by which everything else is measured, but it shouldn't take away from some other "lesser" setup. That's what I love about the audio hobby and what makes it beautiful for each listener. 👍

@@BrianWatkins9000 Well, great speakers do deliver the sense of intimacy with the right material - and in the right room. My point isn’t necessarily their cost, it’s that the room they’re in adds a lot to the sound. Headphones don’t have walls for the sound to bounce off. That’s not saying you aren’t allowed to prefer listening on headphone, of course!

Having said all that, I wonder whether someone makes a bidirectional 3.5mm - Lightning adapter with better DACs than the ones in the Apple cable (or one that goes the right direction for this application). If it's too expensive it wouldn't be worth it, but within reason it might be.

The 3.5mm end is only a stereo connection and not the tip with 3 stripes (which includes mic). So the lightning->headphone jack cable is audio only, just for listening unfortunately.

This has been asked and answered a few times, but in short, some people claim the APM isn't set up to handle real lossless. Though I think they're confusing Apple's AAC bluetooth with the corded experience when they say that. My experience has been that it does sound better with cord, and when run with a lossless source through a good DAC, you'll definitely notice the difference from bluetooth. Also to note, "be able to play lossless" isn't the right way to look at it when you're using a DAC. The DAC is turning the lossless into analog, and anything that can take analog (3.5mm) from there can "take" whatever signal is sent to it. Hope that helps.

Good question and I've not found it yet myself. Although depending on who you ask, many audio folks say that you can't hear the difference of 24-bit 48KHz and 24-bit 192KHz or higher anyway. If true, not showing the spec is less significant since it makes no difference. I can't say I've heard a definitive difference on DACs I've used with other headphones even when going above 24-bit 192KHz for what that's worth, but I don't say that to be dismissive of your question.

@@Digimorphosis Thank you sir! I agree with your analysis and it’s a matter of principle that the spec should be available… especially for $35 when the 24/48 variety costs $8 or $9. Enjoyed your videos and appreciate you taking the time to answer my question.

I suppose that’s theoretically possible since it being inline would avoid relying on the headphones themselves, which would ignore the mic signal. Of course it’d also mean connecting all the inner wires just right and not damaging the analog to digital converter that is somewhere in the line. Interesting question.

I'm not as familiar with those headphones but yes IIRC those headphones allow to be passively driven, meaning that using a cable relies on the source output for power and DAC to drive the headphones.

I am wondering if there's interference where you're listening causing the lag. I don't experience that with the APM myself, and have even edited videos with them and found the audio and video sync up fine doing that.

Either. The regular volume dial on the Airpods still works on wired connection.

That's technically true, though in my own experience using the 3.5mm cable and a good DAC definitely sounds better than bluetooth, even if it's not done in the most ideal sense. I guess I say that to say, my ears pick up far more in the improvement from bluetooth (with a good source DAC) than are drawn to any minor imperfections introduced.

I don’t think so because the cable has to have the digital to analog converter in it and a regular USB-C to Lightning wouldn’t have that.

@@Digimorphosis that’s what I thought.

I could certainly do a review about lossless music period through the 3.5mm cable. As far as Apple Music specifically, I've already demoed the Airpods Max with the cord with lossless Ultra HD via Amazon Music HD (24-bit/48+KHz). If Apple's equivalent is truly lossless, there should be no audible difference between the two coming out of my high end sound card through the cable to the APMs. (Since in either case the lossless track is an exact replica of the CD or studio master.) I'll give what I'd say about it beyond that some thought.

Looking forward to a proper review about this!

@@rodolfozuniga7392 Ok, I'll keep that in mind for a coming video!

Thank you for the kind words! And sure, I would be willing to do another video comparing only those two headphones directly.

@@Digimorphosis got my set of apples AirPodsMax today… so far so good. Should probably give the brand new drivers a few days to get "burned in" before judging about anything. First impression is good, not great. But I was not expecting being blown away after having gotten used to my DT 1990s via my RME ADI-2 Pro FS R DAC. Got to admit that my foremost choice of the AirPods Max is their use with my 2021 Apple TV 4K+ and giving my wife a rest from my Dolby Atmos Home-Cinema experiences… hopefully that will do the trick: spatial audio and Dolby Atmos via headphones. That is up until now a thing my Beyerdynamik DT 1990 simply cannot do, nor my RME DAC for that matter…

Yeah it's only one direction unfortunately and doesn't carry any signal back to the 3.5mm jack. That does seem like a real letdown for cord users on a phone.

@@Digimorphosis yeah I just got it in post today . I can use the headphones with pro tools now at least…

As I understand it, there's no way to avoid the needless conversion here because the Lightning port on the Airpods Max is digital only. It's possible that a USB-C to Lightning cable that keeps it all digital would work (without having to be analog and then back into digital) but I haven't yet seen anything like that.

@@Digimorphosis I see. Do you know anything about the AirPlay rumour? According to Jon Prosser, the AirPods could come with a firmware update that could allow audio streaming via AirPlay (which uses WiFi), but Bluetooth would still used to retain the connection. You seem to know your stuff; do you think this is likely or even possible? It would be awesome if we could listen to lossless (or near lossless) wirelessly.

@@PD-ws4td I hadn't yet heard that particular rumor -- thanks for sharing. That would definitely be awesome, especially if wi-fi meant real lossless without the Bluetooth compression. Apple seems to be really leaning into wireless, so I could certainly see that being possible. I'll start tracking that.

@@Digimorphosis Sure, thanks for you comment 😊

Yep it should. I've used a Sound BlasterX G6 via my iPad Pro in the same way and it sounds great on the Airpods Max.

Yeah I’ve read about people using the camera adapter for that if not the regular lightning to 3.5 mm adapter. Good luck and I hope you enjoy!

​@@Digimorphosis Thanks! The lightning adapter is only capable of 96khz whereas the camera adapter jacked directly into the phone (as it's just data transfer at that point) supports 192khz (with the right cans and IEM's of course).

No, I am not suggesting that at all. I agree that they should've provided that as an option. The conversion between the two seems only necessary when you really need a 3.5mm option from a given source. Otherwise yeah, why not stay digital to the APM's internal DAC.

​@@workingclasa2582 lol...all right then!!!cheers!!!