Apple - Pro (2nd generation)

AirPods Pro for me, mainly for the convenience. The thing is that because I wear glasses, I don’t really like the feel of over-the-ear headphones pressing the frame of the spectacles against my ears. https://www.khadas.com/tea I did try using the Khadas Tea, together with a cheap pair of IEMs (aria moondrop), but honestly, I couldn’t really hear the difference in Apple Music, and the presence of the headphone cable annoyed me more than I thought it would. I found it amusing to pay for what was essentially a very expensive headphone dongle, but it is what it is. 🤣

AirPod pro.

In the same price range, in order of sound quality, Denon Perl Pro (with AAT) Technics AZ80, and Sennheiser Momentum TW 4 (with Sound Personalization). In order of ANC/transparency performance, the MTW4, Perl Pro, AZ80. Because of app and feature set, I daily drive the MTW4, but without question the Denon’s are the better sounding set and the one I reach for if I’m just consuming media. My only gripe with the Perl Pros is the tips, which are too shallow for my tastes; I run them with the Divinus Velvets (if you change tips you’ll want to also rerun AAT). There are sets that are better from a pure sound quality perspective, like the Gemini II, but they’re not priced competitively and need some further revisions to codec, BT and application/feature set support before they’re ready for prime time. The Geminis reminded me a lot of the Levinson 5909, a phenomenal sounding set held back by the hardware and software included. Unfortunately, the APP2s are extremely difficult to beat from a pure value perspective (if you’re an iOS user). I still use them often during travel when I need the best ANC possible, but fit and other issues hold them back from being in my top 5. That, and Apple really needs to consider its prosumer customer base and provide access to some form of parametric EQ (something they’re unlikely to ever implement, sadly).

AirPods Pro by far for everyday use. Super comfortable, lightweight, excellent ANC, Atmos support, decent sound. And then pair it with an IEM that is designed purely for music and may only be comfortable for 1 or 2 hours.

the soundstage is the area where APP2 excels at. All the in-ear monitors go straight inside your ears and the sound goes funneling at once as a result. Sometime it can get hard to get a distance with the music without weird quirks in the tuning to achieve it (e.g. extreme v shape). On the other hand, APP2's midrange is superb. Its boosted with a midbass warm but doesn't sound shouty or in your head due to the advantage it has being a earbud. The oval style eartips also helps to create a wider soundstage in comparison to a circular eartip (why wider bore just allows more of the sound to pass than a narrow entrance that would sound hollow). Personally I never found the APP2 to be claustrohpic, maybe slightly lacking in note definition and treble sharpness, but that's probably saved for airpods pro 3 as improvements. It's genuinely expressive how well the tuning on the APP2 is. Its not easy to create a sound that appeals to such a wide range of listeners who may prefer more bass, vocals, or treble, etc without regard to other sound characteristics like soundstage & technical performance. APP2 is actually more renowned in the audiophile sphere as being amazing in its tuning department that is engaging with even tonal balance. Bass for example is dead on accurate, scored a [9.9/10 on rting](https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/apple/airpods-pro-2nd-generation-truly-wireless) measurement in their target compliance for neutral.