Apple AirPods Max (USB-C) vs Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000

Apple AirPods Max (USB-C)

Apple

8.2

Recommended

Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000

Audio-Technica

8.5

Audio-Technica's best open-back yet — flaws and all

Apple AirPods Max (USB-C)

What Reviewers Agree On

Premium build quality — aluminum and stainless steel feel luxurious
Excellent spatial audio and Dolby Atmos support
ANC is among the best available
USB-C finally replaces Lightning

Deal Breakers

$549 price is hard to justify vs Sony or Bose at $350-400
Smart case still does not fully protect headphones

Pros & Cons

Apple AirPods Max (USB-C)

Pros

Premium build quality — aluminum and stainless steel feel luxurious
Excellent spatial audio and Dolby Atmos support
ANC is among the best available
USB-C finally replaces Lightning

Cons

Detailed Comparison

Sound Quality

Apple AirPods Max (USB-C)

Rich, detailed sound with exceptional spatial audio for movies and music.

Computational audio and spatial audio with head tracking are genuinely immersive
Warm, rich sound signature excels with vocals and acoustic music
No aptX or LDAC — limited to AAC Bluetooth which caps lossless potential

Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000

Reviewers describe a deliberate break from Audio-Technica's bright W-shaped house sound: the ADX7000 is warm and bass-forward yet stays open and uncongested, with an immense soundstage and strong dynamics. The treble is the one polarising element, varying from listener to listener.

The ADX7000 abandons the bright, polarising W-shaped tuning of the ADX5000 and ADX3000 for a warm, neutral-leaning balance that reviewers call far more broadly appealing.

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Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000

What Reviewers Agree On

A warm, bass-forward yet open and spacious sound — reviewers agree the ADX7000 abandons the bright, polarising ADX5000 house tuning for something far more broadly appealing
Exceptionally lightweight at ~270-275g, with a magnesium-alloy frame that makes it one of the lightest flagship open-backs available
Genuinely surprising bass impact and weight for an open-back — punchy and textured, with a gentle roll-off below ~50-70Hz
An immense, holographic soundstage with clean imaging and layering that holds up on busy mixes
Two earpad sets (velvet and Alcantara) meaningfully change the tuning — effectively two headphones in one box
Strong dynamics and physical note impact that rivals or beats pricier planar and electrostatic flagships
A premium hard carry case and flagship-level unboxing presentation

Deal Breakers

A thinly-padded dual-rod headband creates a top-of-head hotspot, often within an hour of listening
The two stock cables are heavy, stiff and very microphonic — widely called underwhelming for a $3,499 product
Proprietary A2DC connectors sharply limit affordable aftermarket cable options
An uneven treble response with a notable ~8kHz dip and a ~10-11kHz peak that varies significantly between listeners
The 490-ohm impedance demands a capable desktop amplifier to perform at its best
Limited sub-bass extension — not for listeners who want deep, rumbling low-end

$549 price is hard to justify vs Sony or Bose at $350-400

Smart case still does not fully protect headphones

Audio-Technica ATH-ADX7000

Pros

A warm, bass-forward yet open and spacious sound — reviewers agree the ADX7000 abandons the bright, polarising ADX5000 house tuning for something far more broadly appealing
Exceptionally lightweight at ~270-275g, with a magnesium-alloy frame that makes it one of the lightest flagship open-backs available
Genuinely surprising bass impact and weight for an open-back — punchy and textured, with a gentle roll-off below ~50-70Hz
An immense, holographic soundstage with clean imaging and layering that holds up on busy mixes
Two earpad sets (velvet and Alcantara) meaningfully change the tuning — effectively two headphones in one box
Strong dynamics and physical note impact that rivals or beats pricier planar and electrostatic flagships
A premium hard carry case and flagship-level unboxing presentation

Cons

A thinly-padded dual-rod headband creates a top-of-head hotspot, often within an hour of listening
The two stock cables are heavy, stiff and very microphonic — widely called underwhelming for a $3,499 product
Proprietary A2DC connectors sharply limit affordable aftermarket cable options
An uneven treble response with a notable ~8kHz dip and a ~10-11kHz peak that varies significantly between listeners
The 490-ohm impedance demands a capable desktop amplifier to perform at its best

Bass is the biggest surprise — punchy, textured and weighty in a way that is 'typically unheard of in open-back headphones,' with a gentle roll-off below roughly 50-70Hz.

headphones.com calls the bass straight-up better than the open-back flagships from Audeze, HIFIMAN or Meze — mid-bass/upper-bass centric, full and never congested against the open background.

The midrange is vibrant, clean and natural, with a tasteful upper-bass lift that gives male vocals extra presence without sounding overcooked.

audio46 found the midrange transparency a highlight, with vocals sitting dead-center and 'singing right in front of you' while everything else filters behind.

The soundstage is unanimously praised as immense and holographic, with imaging that locks into place and layering that survives busy mixes — 'easily flagship-level.'

Dynamics and physical note impact are a standout — ecoustics describes a rare 'wow' moment where you not only hear the note but sense the air being moved.

den-fi found dynamics outstanding enough to make the Focal Utopia 'sound like it's been usurped,' and rated the ADX7000 among the most resolving headphones he has heard.

Treble is the polarising element: headphones.com hears narrow-band peaks and a noticeable 8kHz dip plus a 10kHz peak that makes hi-hats splashy and 'T' sounds sharp on bright recordings.

ecoustics heard the opposite — a smooth, clean, glare-free treble — and notes the ADX7000 seems to react to individual ear anatomy more than most.

The Headphone Show was the dissenting voice, finding the mid-range overshadowed by excessive upper bass and treble features, and said it would struggle to recommend the headphone over many cheaper rivals.

Den-fi rates the treble as legitimately his favorite on any headphone — clean and resolving without the upper-treble boost he finds fatiguing on most modern flagships.

Sub-bass is the clear limit — reviewers agree planars like the Audeze LCD-5 dig deeper, and the ADX7000 is not built for 20Hz rumble.

Limited sub-bass extension — not for listeners who want deep, rumbling low-end