Apple's Airpods may be innovative, but they are pitched at a price that gives them some serious competition from established manufacturers of headphones.
Whether audiophiles go for them remains to be seen. They certainly look good, and time will tell if they stand up to criticism in the sonics department.
It is well proven in the audio world that you don't need to make a decent product to watch it sell. Bose is a case in point. Their marketing is second to none, while their quality is, at times, dubious. Relying on the fiction that they are the best works well for them. Beats is another example. I recently saw a tear-down of a pair of Beats headphones, on an audiophile site. The merriment was clear. The things were clearly garbage, produced for a mass market that does little research and buys what looks pretty.
It probably won't bother Apple if people go for Beats instead of AirPods. They own the company, after all, but Bose should give them some sleepless nights. Bose will be a serious competitor, and cannot be ignored.
Moving on to products that many audiophiles WOULD consider, we can find the Sennheiser HD598, presently on sale at Amazon for $151.99, Audio-Technica ATH-PRO700 Mk2 for $129.08 and over 3000 other examples of all descriptions from over-ear closed back headphones to earbuds, both wired and wireless. Included in the ~$150 region are some products that have the critics raving.
I have no doubt that the AirPods will sell, or that the build quality is up to Apple's usual standard. I hope that the audio quality is also there, and that these devices live up to what we have come to expect from Apple's design team.
Whether audiophiles go for them remains to be seen. They certainly look good, and time will tell if they stand up to criticism in the sonics department.
It is well proven in the audio world that you don't need to make a decent product to watch it sell. Bose is a case in point. Their marketing is second to none, while their quality is, at times, dubious. Relying on the fiction that they are the best works well for them. Beats is another example. I recently saw a tear-down of a pair of Beats headphones, on an audiophile site. The merriment was clear. The things were clearly garbage, produced for a mass market that does little research and buys what looks pretty.
It probably won't bother Apple if people go for Beats instead of AirPods. They own the company, after all, but Bose should give them some sleepless nights. Bose will be a serious competitor, and cannot be ignored.
Moving on to products that many audiophiles WOULD consider, we can find the Sennheiser HD598, presently on sale at Amazon for $151.99, Audio-Technica ATH-PRO700 Mk2 for $129.08 and over 3000 other examples of all descriptions from over-ear closed back headphones to earbuds, both wired and wireless. Included in the ~$150 region are some products that have the critics raving.
I have no doubt that the AirPods will sell, or that the build quality is up to Apple's usual standard. I hope that the audio quality is also there, and that these devices live up to what we have come to expect from Apple's design team.
