Sonos Ace vs Apple AirPods Max

“I have been using the AirPods Pros for editing video and I wanted something a little bit nicer a little bit more comfortable to wear.”

“The removable cups are fantastic, and what I love most about them is that they are breathable and very forgiving at any temperature.”

“I tried on the Apple pair first and I really liked them, super comfortable, the music was amazing, like the the quality of the music”

“they are perfectly fit on your head, I don't feel any pressure, they are extremely comfortable”

“If you've ever tried AirPods Max before and you were turned off by the heavy clamping that goes on the sides of your face and the ears, the Sonos Ace lay gently on your head and it's very, very comfortable for extended sessions.”

“Now Sonos say that they have a mechanism in the ear cup that adjusts to equalize pressure and create a better acoustic seal. I have to say, these are probably the best fitting headphones that I've tried.”

“the first thing that I noticed was how comfortable they are. I mean, they are not a big ear cup by any shape by any shape form or whatever the imagination, but they encompassed my ears quite nicely.”

“the headband is no exception it's extremely strong and comfortable. I mean just look at the flex that you get out of this thing. This can fit any head shape or size.”

“The transparency mode on this set of headphones is so good I'm using it right now, it doesn't even sound like I'm wearing headphones.”

“Apple's transparency mode is the best I've ever heard.”

“These have the best transparency mode that I have ever heard in an audio product, bar none.”

“Transparent mode is incredible on these headphones.”

“Transparency mode, wear mode, or whatever you want to call it is for the first time in my opinion actually usable for listening to music while also letting through any and all sounds you want coming through.”

“Apple's AirPods Max do this feature so well that sometimes you forget you're wearing headphones in the first place. And now Sonos has come the closest to matching that same sensation.”

“On the other hand, the Sonos Ace has a more natural sounding transparency mode that lets some surrounding noise in”

“The awareness mode is really good, great clarity of all the audio coming in.”

“plugging these headphones in via the 3.5mm adapter made the experience even richer and it's truly as good as it gets. Honestly it sounds as close to true lossless audio as possible to the point where I really highly doubt you'd be able to…”

“The Apple ones wider, bigger, more open, more my personal preference. It feels more like sitting in a room, better kind of positional room awareness where things are coming from and a lot wider again.”

“I don't regret purchasing the AirPods Max per se because first off, they produce fantastic sound, but most of all, they fit the Apple ecosystem perfectly and respectively my lifestyle and workflow.”

“if you listen to a lot of drum and bass, techno, hip-hop, modern pop, you might lean towards the Apple AirPods Max.”

“The Sonos Ace, on the other hand, aims for a true audio file experience. Sound is incredibly neutral and natural. The bass is tight and accurate, and the mids are clear and detailed. You can hear every nuance in a track, which makes them…”

“the sound stage on the Sonos Ace sounds more realistic and bigger. Sonos was able to better separate things like the vocals from the instrumentals and it makes it sound as if the music was coming from all around me, more so than on the…”

“Like I said, I was impressed with the Ace's sound quality. They're very clean sounding with nice detail and sparkle in the treble along with punchy, powerful bass that doesn't get boomy, and they also have a wide sound stage.”

“Well, Sonos have gone for a pair of custom designed 40 mil dynamic drivers, which is the same size drivers as the AirPods Max, but larger than the QuietComfort Ultras at 35 mil and XM5s 30 mil drivers for context.”

“if you have the Apple TV and if you have these you know how seamlessly they connect to each other as soon as you just pick them up out of the case connect and put them on they are connected to Apple TV and the audio will just transfer…”

“Pairing the AirPods Max is as simple as putting them on and glancing at my phone. That's it. With Big Sur, iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, I don't have to think which device I'm using.”

“Keep in mind with an Apple TV you can pair up to two pairs of AirPods to it where with the Sonos Ace only one pair of headphones can use the audio swap feature at a time.”

“the Airpod Maxes are kind of the easiest to integrate into all of your technology because they'll just seamlessly work with everything else”

“Now, one of the bigger selling points for these two specific pairs of headphones compared to others is that they both have an ability to have very little latency and an easy way to connect to your TV. However, they both require additional…”

“the connectivity between the Sonos Ace and the Arc is much much easier and it's just a press of a button in the app or the button on the speaker you can just press and hold it and it switches”

“This is where the headphones feel the most Sonos-y. You hold down the content key for a second or two, and bam, the audio from your soundbar instantly gets transferred over to the headphones.”

“the TV audio swap feature that tosses playback from the Sonos Arc soundbar to the Ace for Dolby Atmos listening when you're watching a movie or show at home works really well.”

“the active noise cancellation is also beyond top notch. It does the best job in blocking out external noise to the point where I almost forgot the hum of the plane on flights until I stopped using them.”

“It'll totally cancel out the heat noise, but I can still hear people talking. So it like cuts out all this weird background noises, but still allows actual people voices and talking to come through.”

“Where the AirPods Max's noise cancellation algorithm seems to just do a better job with these sudden types of noises.”

“However, the AirPods Max seem to be better at canceling out small conversations and similar mid-range sounds.”

“Despite the sound tuning deficiencies, I actually enjoy using the Sonos Ace. In many ways, it shares the AirPod Max's strengths in terms of ANC and transparency without the crazy weight and in a much better package.”

“So, judging these purely as wireless noise-cancelling headphones, I think they hold their own against the competition. If you're already in that Sonos ecosystem, these are a no-brainer.”

“Noise cancellation acts very well. I sat outside, there was a bunch of noise going on, my kids were in the pool. It does a great job cancelling out all that noise.”

“World class ANC is a bold claim from Sonos especially with the competition out there. But I have to say that the noise cancellation is seriously impressive.”

“Apple chose to use a mesh knit fabric for the ear cups and a mesh material on the headband as well making them much more breathable than the Sonos Ace.”

“you still cannot deny its iconic design and stellar aluminum and mesh build quality.”

“I'd give these a solid seven out of 10 in terms of like the design.”

“I think they're built really well actually. They're all metal. They feel very sturdy, they feel very premium.”

“it's hard not to be impressed by this design, the Ace, Aces, whatever you want to call them. They feel like headphones from a company that's been doing this for a very long time.”

“The design is sleek and modern with premium materials you can feel. The ear cups use memory foam cushions that mould around your ears without making it feel tight or heavy.”

“the way you adjust this is by a single metal bar, which is kind of reminiscent of the Apple AirPods Max, it looks premium and it feels premium as well.”

“The Ace headphones sport a look that's both on-trend and timeless. They feel robust and premium. They feel like Sonos headphones should.”