My Steel Series Actis Pro met a premature death yesterday, all audio in the right channel stopped working (even when the receiver was turned off). A bit of Google Fu suggests that there is a cable which can come loose so I opened a support case and they're authorised a replacement. Since I use them for work calls (which they are excellent for) I needed a fast temporary replacement as I don't really have much else suitable at home. I've had my eye on AirPods Max for a while and having recently received a decent bonus from work (and some luck with Crypto currency) I thought I'd treat myself and relegate my QC35 II to spares or for use by the mrs.
So far I like the work call clarity apart from transparency which feels utterly fake. Music wise I really should let them bed before passing judgement in but I'm not really impressed with the 'fake' bass sound of them, the QC35 II seem much more natural. As an example, Foo Fighters Times Like These is overly heavy in the bass department. I'll try some more songs but 90% of my listening will be rock music.
My initial impressions are that for £550 or whatever they cost they're going back but I got them from John Lewis as I needed fast delivery and I'm unsure if that's even possible.