• Registered: 2008-12-24
  • Posts: 53

Topic: Are AirPods Max 2 useful for music production or not (delay)?

I saw a woodwind player soloing uptempo jazz with unwired AirPods Max headphones. And I was really surprised as I am aware the bluetooth delay is significant. He might have compensated that in the DAW by later offsetting the play track but if he had audio plugins for monitoring they would have been seriously delayed.

Which brings me to the question:

Are wired AirPods Max 2 useful for music production or not (delay)?

Is seems they have USB cable support now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU-RBiW7EYc

What is the fellow RME musician perspective on it? Are they suitable for semipro, enthusiasts or not?

Reason why they are interesting compared to other headphones is:
- they are widley used, so people are looking to have their music play well on AirPods Max sound profile
- can be used for other stuff in daily life

2 Reply by waedi (edited by waedi 2026-03-17 11:55:41)

  • waedi
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: Swiss Zürich
  • Registered: 2020-12-08
  • Posts: 7,326

Re: Are AirPods Max 2 useful for music production or not (delay)?

tronics wrote:

What is the fellow RME musician perspective on it? Are they suitable for semipro, enthusiasts or not?

Yes, suitable.
The product description on the Apple website is confusing, but the video is clearing this up.
It is analog connection over the USB-C connector in the headphone thru a cable USB-C to headset plug.

It is not zero latency but well enough from the MacOS Core audio driver, a few milliseconds if you plug in to the headphone socket of the Mac.

Semipro enthusiasts and hobbyists and also most pro musicians will be able to use it.

And you are right, connection over bluetooth has too much latency.

M1-Tahoe, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue