4 ms·

From a speaker stand point that may be the case, but I'm sure Apple threw a lot more money for the electronic hardware and software integration. I'm not sure wh

From a speaker stand point that may be the case, but I'm sure Apple threw a lot more money for the electronic hardware and software integration. I'm not sure why 10 audio chips are needed from a technical standpoint but it is probably different than what Shure does. Probably some innovations in digital to analog conversion and processing bluetooth data.

sudosysgen 6y ago
There's three reasons Shure IEMs don't need any processing to sound as good or better than the AirPods Max, and it boils down to physics too. Firstly, the Shure IEMs are IEMs, not on-ear headphones. Secondly, since they use physical isolation, there is no need for ANC, which means much less calculation power needed. Thirdly, they bypass the outer ear. This means that the outer ear won't color the sound, which means that you don't need to correct for that (which is what modern autoequalizers do). Of course this is a bit less natural, but carefully tuned drivers work around that excellently. Fourth, they are wired, which removes the need for processing the audio signal. Modern DACs are practically indistinguishable from perfection, so that's not an issue. Fifth, they use balanced armature drivers instead of dynamic drivers. This means that they are not affected at all by resonance and other effects. This is why Shure IEMs can do both better isolation and better audio quality than even experimental smart headphones. They simply eliminate all the issues by physical means. The one issue that can't be quite fixed is that Soundstage won't sound as wide as would be possible with open back headphones, but these are closed headphones with ANC so it probably won't be any worse. Basically, the point is to remove the physical issues so that you don't have to fix them in software. This is a lot more cost efficient and, for things like ANC that can't be done perfectly, gives a better result.
- gmadsen 6y ago
  thanks for the informative post, the only qualm I have is that "wired" is an objective improvement. Obviously it is easier to get better quality with wired, but for many people,the benefits of wireless are a huge win over wired. If that requires a lot of processing, so be it, but that is value added to many people.

sudosysgen 6y ago

There's three reasons Shure IEMs don't need any processing to sound as good or better than the AirPods Max, and it boils down to physics too. Firstly, the Shure IEMs are IEMs, not on-ear headphones. Secondly, since they use physical isolation, there is no need for ANC, which means much less calculation power needed. Thirdly, they bypass the outer ear. This means that the outer ear won't color the sound, which means that you don't need to correct for that (which is what modern autoequalizers do). Of course this is a bit less natural, but carefully tuned drivers work around that excellently. Fourth, they are wired, which removes the need for processing the audio signal. Modern DACs are practically indistinguishable from perfection, so that's not an issue. Fifth, they use balanced armature drivers instead of dynamic drivers. This means that they are not affected at all by resonance and other effects. This is why Shure IEMs can do both better isolation and better audio quality than even experimental smart headphones. They simply eliminate all the issues by physical means. The one issue that can't be quite fixed is that Soundstage won't sound as wide as would be possible with open back headphones, but these are closed headphones with ANC so it probably won't be any worse. Basically, the point is to remove the physical issues so that you don't have to fix them in software. This is a lot more cost efficient and, for things like ANC that can't be done perfectly, gives a better result.

gmadsen 6y ago
thanks for the informative post, the only qualm I have is that "wired" is an objective improvement. Obviously it is easier to get better quality with wired, but for many people,the benefits of wireless are a huge win over wired. If that requires a lot of processing, so be it, but that is value added to many people.