Cons — Not cheap; easy to lose.

Executive Summary

The Dekoni EARPLUGZ aim to attenuate ambient noise near-evenly across the frequency spectrum by 21 dB while not completely eliminating it. This is designed for situations where one still wants to stay aware of their surroundings at a reduced volume, such as in (heavy metal) concerts or simply on the bus/train on their daily commute or on the job.

Introduction

Noise is unwanted sound. We are sometimes in situations where ambient noise is getting unbearable. Some of us are sensitive towards low-frequency hums emitted from industrial installations, others cannot handle aggressive high-pitched noise from chainsaws and leaf blowers.

In this article, we are not talking about a device that produces sound but rather one that removes some of it. Noise annoys.

The easiest solution would be to eliminate most of the noise with either noise-cancelling headphones, or, much easier, with industrial-grade foam earplugs. This may work as long as we do not have to be aware to our surroundings, let’s say on the job, or when waiting for grandma’s phone call at home. Conventional earplugs also compromise our sense of balance considerably. I speak of experience as I live on a steep hill that ices up in the winter. Try descending with plugged ears…

Dekoni have teamed up with Lucid Audio and hearing-aid/hearing-protection manufacturer Etymotic Research to offer relief in such situations. The idea was to design small, light, and comfortable $30 “EARPLUGZ” that do not switch the sonic world around us completely off, but rather attenuate ambient noise by 21 dB. The user can still hear their surroundings in full sonic context but at a reduced level. The Dekoni EARPLUGZ are not designed as total noise eliminators, let’s say on airplanes or in bed at night.

Sound pressure level in dB is plotted on the logarithmic scale so that sound pressure doubles every 10 dB. If I calculate this correcetly, the Earplugz remove 75% of ambient noise, and this is claimed to happen nearly evenly across the frequency spectrum. This, if true, is amazing, as the majority of noise attenuating materials fail at very low frequencies.

Applications

The idea is noise attenuation while not losing contact to the surrounding environment, and also to protect our hearing from damage. Find a few applications for the EARPLUGZ that came to my mind. I am sure you can add a few more.

Protection from your own Activities

• Lawn mowing, vaccum cleaning
• Drilling, sawing, sanding, grinding, and other handymen chores

Protection from Activities by Others

• rock concert, movie theatres
• office noise, noisy libraries
• traffic noise, on the bus/train/airplane, at railway stations and airports
• car and motorbike races
• neighbour’s leaf/snow blower, hot tub, air conditioner, parties, barking dogs
• construction noise
• visiting mother-in-law

Physical Things

EARPLUGZ are tiny polycarbonate devices that work with the Gemini line of Dekoni’s BULLETZ foams. In the box, you find 3 pairs of Gemini foams (S/M/L), the pair of clear plastic shells, a somewhat waterproof aluminum case, a carabiner, and a lanyard. The Gemini are slow rebound foams with 3 mm bores that also fit a large number of earphones [BULLETZ fit chart]. They can be rinsed to remove earwax but need replacement every 3-6 weeks, depending on use.

The EARPLUGZ are featherlight and tiny that I do not really feel them at all. I doubt that they are easy to see by bystanders. Little handles allow to pull them out of the ear canals easily.

You find more details on the EARPLUGZ product page.

Testing

I had applied to test this product because I have several uses for it.

First, there is the crazy neighbour on the opposite site of the street who has the most aggressive sounding, high revving, 2-stroke weed whacker. When he cuts his grass, the offensive pitch travels right through our house walls.

Second, the neighbour in the attached home has an annoying air conditioner right by my driveway with a low-frequency hum and an aggressive compressor pitch in the higher frequencies,

And she also has a hot tub on her back deck that causes my (attached) house’s plastic siding to resonate, which results in a low-frequency hum inside my office.

Absolutely horrible after a while when sitting on my desk, as emitter and receiver are stationary, and the monotonous noise is excavating my sanity in the hot tub’s 2-3 hour heating cycles.

So when the first-mentioned neighbour whacked his weeds, recently, I stepped up with the EARPLUGZ. And it rounded the sharp, aggressive corners nicely off. The noise become somewhat tolerable, even at a short distance.

Similar with the air conditioner: the noice became less substantial and the nuisance essentially disappeared….at least for the time being.

The problematic low frequencies of the hot tub (120 Hz) were also not a problem as the noise was not very loud to begin with.

BUT, coincidentally, construction took place in the neighbourhood, ca 100 m away, and the ground was compacted by heavy machinery after water and electricity lines had been connected to a new house. This caused a small earthquake, and the EARPLUGZ struggled with those low-frequency seismic waves…and so did my picture frames…they moved.

On the city bus, I like to sit in the back, no the larger, more comfortable benches… right above the vibrating motor. And yes, it calmed the noise, down, too, although, in “real life”, I am using earphones on the commute.

Concluding Remarks

The Dekoni EARPLUGZ perform as intended in that they round the corners of ambient noise off. They even attenuate the low frequencies on buses and the low-frequency hum at my neighbour’s air conditioner to a tolerable level, and they really took the bite out of my other neighbour’s aggressive 2-stroke weed whacker.

Until next time…keep on listening!

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DISCLAIMER

The EARPLUGZ were provided by Dekoni for my review. And I thank them for that.

Get the EAPLUGZ from Dekoni.

Our generic standard disclaimer.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

The post Dekoni Earplugz Noise Attenuators Review – 2 Efficient Volume Knobs For Your Ears appeared first on Audio Reviews.

Cons — The atrocious, hilariously horrible carrying case Airpods Max comes with (that you can’t avoid using)
– 9KHz peak with ANC on
– Sounds overly processed with noticeable BT compression
– No high bit-rate codec support
– Clamp can be uncomfortable, can feel heavy
– Call quality is mediocre, voice sounds muffled even in a quiet room
– Overpriced

INTRODUCTION

The moment Apple removed the headphone jack from its latest iPhone 7, it spelt doom for the headphone jack itself on all flagship devices. It’s incredible how something as innocuous as the 3.5mm jack became the bane of existence for Apple and how they called it “courageous”, but that rant is best delivered elsewhere. 

This is a review of the Apple Airpods Max, Apple’s most expensive headphone, and one of the most expensive bluetooth headphones out there. If you are someone who is enamored (!) by the Apple ecosystem and also an audiophile, this review shall address your concerns regarding the tonal and technical proficiency of the Airpods Max.

If, however, you are someone who wants the latest trend, I think you can skip the rest of the review and just get the Airpods Max right away (the prices are dropping nowadays). It is definitely the most advanced Bluetooth headphone out there right now, and the competition will take a year to catch up at the very least. However, caveats apply, as always.

All relevant specs here.

Note: the ratings given will be subjective to the price tier. I bought the Airpods Max with my own funds.

Sources used: Apple iPhone 11, Apple iPhone SE, Google Pixel 4XL
Price, while reviewed: $550. Can be bought from Apple’s Web-store.

PHYSICAL THINGS AND USABILITY

PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES

The Airpods Max come with the (now infamous) “Smart Case” and a lightning-to-USB-C cable. That’s about it. The “smart case” is the worst headphone case in existence and $5 Aliexpress cases with questionable design decisions are less useless.

This smart case is an absolute abomination in design (it looks like a silicone bra), the material choice (attracts gunk/dust and gets dirty real quickly) , the absolute lack of protection (doesn’t even cover the headband), and the absurd requirement for the Airpods to be kept in the cover to put them in deep sleep mode (they don’t turn off otherwise). Usability nightmare.
1/5

BUILD QUALITY

Premium, super-solid, futuristic — these are the operative words. The Airpods Max is built exceptionally well. It’s mostly anodized aluminium with some rubber and plastic parts. There is a curious lack of branding all around, no Apple logo/branding to be seen anywhere.

Let’s talk about the headband first since I find the headband design quite interesting. It’s a two-piece metal construction with the inner steel frame adding rigidity whereas the outer frame (rubber coated) houses the upper-portion of the headband (a fabric layer). The sliding mechanism for size-adjustment is also very solid, though I wish there were some markers for finer adjustments.

The earcups themselves are two chunks of aluminium and are packed with several mics, sensors, receivers, and buttons. This is the most sophisticated earcup design I’ve seen till now and is an impressive feat of engineering.

The right earcup has two buttons up top: the rotary dial (digital crown, as Apple says) that acts as both volume and playback control (press down to play/pause, press twice to skip), and a square button that toggles between Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) on/off. Lastly, The lightning port (ugh) is at the bottom for charging.

Opting for lightning instead of type-C is baffling, but I guess they thought of the ease of use for existing iPhone users. The left earcup is bereft of any controls but has an antenna cut-out for RF transparency.

What’s not immediately apparent but catches your attention once you look closer: the numerous microphone holes in both of the earcups. In fact, there are a total of nine microphones. Eight of these mics (two on the top and two of the bottom of each earcup) works for the ANC and the remaining one is used for voice pickup. Two of the eight ANC mics also help in voice pickup, and that rounds up the entire mic assembly.

Other than that there are other interesting design decisions. The earcups can rotate into a flat position for storage, and there is a spring-loaded swivel mechanism which I haven’t seen anywhere before (and a great design decision IMO).

The earcups attach/detach magnetically, and there’s an IR sensor inside each earcup (underneath the cutout in the earcup on the inner-side) that detects if you’ve worn the headphones or not (something that doesn’t work on Android/Windows for some reason).

A highly sophisticated build with premium materials. I guess I can’t really ask for more.
5/5

COMFORT, ISOLATION, AND FIT

The earpads have a cloth exterior with memory-foam inner. Unfortunately, the clamp force is a bit too high. Competing products like Sony 1000XM4 and the Bose QC35ii have superior wearing comfort, and that acts as a detriment.

The headband material is surprisingly comfortable though and distributes pressure evenly across the top of the head. It’s the clamp around your temples that is uncomfortable. The ~400gm weight is also noticeable while wearing.

As for noise isolation, the Active Noise-Cancellation here is class-leading indeed. You can only hear faint irregular noises, but most noises like hum of your laptop, the noisy bus engine are well taken care of.

I also like the transparency mode and found it fantastic during commute (as you can hear the surroundings while crossing the street, or trying to follow a conversation).
4/5

CONNECTIVITY

The BT reception is generally strong, but there were some connection drop issues with older iPhones that had BT 4.0. With BT 5.0 devices and the newer iPhones (that are compatible with the H1 chip) the connection was rock-solid. Pairing was also quite simple irrespective of OS/device.

The biggest downside here is the lack of any lossless codec as Apple is using the archaic AAC codec even in their flagship headphone. It’s a major shame and the BT compression is quite noticeable in many tracks. Call quality is also middling as the voice sounds somewhat muffled.
4.5/5

AIRPODS MAX DRIVER SETUP

Apple doesn’t tell much about the driver setup apart from that it’s 40mm. Looking at iFixit’s teardown I think it’s a PET diaphragm with a PVD metal plating (likely Titanium). The driver looks cool in a matte-black finish but that’s about it. I don’t think there’s much to write home about here (otherwise we wouldn’t hear the end of it in Apple’s promo materials).

TONALITY AND TECHNICALITIES

The Apple Airpods Max has a warm, slightly V-shaped (or U-shaped, as some say) sound that focuses more on the “fun” side of things rather than going for neutrality.

The bass response is definitely north of neutral with a sizeable sub-bass boost but the mid-bass is left untouched, resulting in a clean bass-response with no mid-bass bleed. Bass is fairly textured but lacks in definition and speed, partly due to the driver limitation and partly due to the BT compression that takes a toll on the bass region. 

The midrange is perhaps the best aspect of the Airpods Max. The recession in the lower mids tend to drown out male vocals in some tracks with lots of instrumentation, but that’s about my biggest complaint here.

The slight warmth in the lower-midrange coupled with lack of shoutiness in the upper-mids and generally correct tonality makes the Airpods Max good at reproducing both male/female vocals and string instruments. Acoustic guitars sound especially nice with crisp attack and a natural decay. 

The treble is where things start to get divisive. With the ANC on, there is a noticeable rise in the 9KHz peak and the treble becomes fatiguing. With ANC off, however, that issue is mostly mitigated, and in the transparency mode it is completely gone.

It’s ironic that a headphone that went through so much trouble for ANC sounds its worst with that feature turned on. If you are treble-sensitive and want/have the Airpods Max, I’d highly recommend keeping the ANC off/transparency mode on.

As for the rest: resolved detail is middling. This is about as resolving as the $65 Philips SHP9500 and I’m not exaggerating in the slightest. In busy tracks, the cymbals turn mushy and it’s hard to pick apart leading edge of notes.

The staging is fairly tall but lacks height and depth. Apple uses heavy DSP to give you a sense of space (esp when listening to songs with Dolby Atmos) but such tracks are rare and most of all: the DSP tricks sound artificial and lacks the natural stage expansion of an open-back headphone. However, compared to other BT headphones, the staging here is above-average indeed.

Finally, imaging is fairly accurate. Center-imaging suffers though, as is the case with most headphones. Dynamics are fairly good with the macrodynamic punch being delivered with authority (though the sub-bass emphasis can make snare hits and pedals sound a bit muted). Microdynamics are decent for a BT headphone but nothing to write home about.

Bass: 3.5/5
Mids: 4/5
Treble: 3/5
Imaging/Separation: 3.5/5
Staging: 3.5/5
Dynamics/Speed: 3/5

SELECT COMPARISONS

vs Sony 1000XM4 ($300): The Sony 1000XM4 is widely popular for a few good reasons: it’s very comfortable, it’s got the branding, and the sound signature is a bass-boosted V-shaped that many find “fun” to listen to. It’s also got LDAC support and good ANC.

However, the Airpods Max has better build and controls, and the ANC on them is superior. Also the sound has better midrange resolution and imaging. Almost twice-the-price better? I don’t think so, but hey – it’s Apple.

vs Bose QC35ii ($200-ish): The Bose QC35ii has been on the blocks for a long time and I find it to be a very enjoyable pair of BT headphones. The ANC is fantastic (nearly as good as the Airpods Max) and they are supremely comfortable to wear. The lightweight helps in carrying too.

The sound signature is more mid-bass focused than the Apple Airpods Max and tends to sound thicker in general with less treble presence. A non-fatiguing sound that’s middling in resolution but very inoffensive.

The Airpods Max, again, has superior build and ANC. However, the tonal profile is different enough to cater to different audiences. Moreover, the price is markedly lower on the Bose. It’s an inferior headphone to the Airpods Max no doubt, but for the price, it’s a very good performer.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The Apple Airpods Max has stunning looks and perhaps the best balance of sound among wireless headphones around $500. There’s one BT headphone that’s superior in almost all aspects to the Airpods Max, the Hifiman Ananda BT, but it retails for twice as much ($1000) and is an open-back headphone. Plus, the design isn’t anywhere as cool.

In terms of raw sound quality and comparing against wired offerings, the Apple Airpods Max stand no chance. It’s slightly worse than the Philips SHP9500 and that tells it all. Sennheiser HD600/650 duo are on an entirely different dimension altogether, and the Hifiman Sundara/Beyerdynamic DT1990 are technically far more proficient. 

However, you don’t get the Airpods for sound quality. The entry level Airpods are about as resolving as $10 earbuds, and Millions of people bought them. The price point is a bit too high on the Airpods Max though and for non-audiophile, style-conscious consumers it might be a bit too high a premium to pay. 

If you are someone who loves the Apple “ecosystem” (though said ecosystem barely helps here) and got the budget for it, Airpods Max will probably earn you more style points than anything else out there. The sound without ANC is quite good and the easy to use control scheme can be refreshing.

Unfortunately, I can’t recommend the Apple Airpods Max to the regular audiophile as they are overpriced, over-designed, and under-performing. They look cool, but you can’t see them when worn. You can feel them though, and the high weight coupled with high clamp-force is not ideal. The sound quality is way below average and will be bested by certain wired headphones under $200.

If you really need a BT headphone, the Bose QC35ii will be an inoffensive, inexpensive option with good ANC as well and great comfort. The Airpods Max, meanwhile, belongs more in lifestyle photo-shoot than actual real-world use.

MY VERDICT

3/5

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Full Specifications are found on the Sony website

The $349 plastic-and-leatherette Sony WH-1000XM4 won’t win any awards for aesthetics; compared to comparably-priced metal-enhanced Masters & Dynamic or B&W, the Sony WH-1000XM4 seem rather dowdy and probably less durable. Comfort, however, is excellent (if not quite as class-leading as Bose)—the phones are lightweight, without undue clamping pressure. UI is intuitive and reliable—other than buttons for power and ANC mode, the most-used functions are controlled by touching the panels. Built-in smart technologies like automatic pause, proximity sensors, etc. are very impressive, as is 30-hour battery life. Microphone quality is flawless.

Noise cancelling on the Sony WH-1000XM4 is eerily good—these are a virtual isolation chamber into which none of the outside world  can penetrate. That said, the ANC does veil the highest frequencies and compromises sound quality significantly—especially considering that the XM4 isolates very well in passive mode, unless you work in a foundry you’re best served with ANC de-activated.

So how do the Sony WH-1000XM4 sound? Pretty good for wireless, actually. Signature is generally balanced, with a rich-textured, slightly warm tonality; soundstage is wide and enveloping and stereo separation is excellent, with lots of air between performers. Presentation is lively—the (not half-bad) Bose NC-700 sound somewhat flat in comparison. Bass is well-sculpted but surprisingly muted in quantity—these are not thumpy Beats—there’s no bleed into the mids and the phones are coherent overall. Mids are forward, with good body and clarity, while high end is smooth though lacking some extension and realism; nuances like cymbals and piano keys some a bit synthetic.  Source material sounds less compressed than most Bluetooth phones (Sony uses some sort of upscaling codec), but these overall lack the realism and timbral accuracy of good wired phones—<$300 models like Sennheiser HD600 OR KEF M500 etc. play on another level, albeit for an entirely different class of user. While missing micro-detail, the Sony WH-1000XM4 does avoid stridency at the extremes and were not fatiguing for extended listening.

Ultimately, these Sony WH-1000XM4 are something of a technological landmark. They are not, however, an audiophile tool and not the best pick for a music-first consumer. I’m also of the mind that the $349 SRP is a bit rich for their generic build and looks, although if you can find them discounted for Black Friday or whatever, they’re a very solid product within their limitations.

MY VERDICT

Our rating scheme explained

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DISCLAIMER

Bought them myself.

You find an INDEX of our most relevant technical articles HERE.

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