By the way Moondrop Aria 2 are out soon. It might be better to cancel you order and wait reviews for Aria 2.

Yeah bro you had spatial audio turned on, turn that shit off and test again.

The Cadenzas don’t compare with those Airpods at all. Every time I put them on I’m reminded how much better the Airpods sound. Its just okay(Cadenzas) for its price point.

APP2 aren’t bad, but I’d never expect them to compare to even entry level IEMs in terms of sound. You’re paying for convenience, form factor, and features.

The aria is by all accounts fine, although maybe a little dated now. The IEM market moves at a blistering pace, and there are now arguably better options at the same or lower price points.

Sounds like you have spatial audio turned on, make sure it is off. It’s a gimmick that creates some soundstage at the expense of the tuning/timbre.

That is not my experience at all with the APP2. I own them, along with Blessing 2 Dusk and IER M9, and I APP2 stand up well to those two well-regarded IEMs.

Just get used to the sound signature. They are technically better IEMs and on par with something like an Aria (according to Headphones.com etc)

The airpods pro dont sound amazing like most already pointed it out but what you are describing sounds like you maybe have the spacial audio turn on?

They’re smaller than a lot of highly recommended chi-fi earphones on the market and have batteries among a list of other electronics they need to do fancy things like transparency and anc.

Naturally, even if the space wasn’t going to be used for much else, it will affect the sound.

It’s like comparing an EV to anything gas powered. Don’t expect anything mind boggling from any bluetooth iems or headphones for that matter, they all have the same short-comings.

Just keep in mind that realistically, the anc could probably improve your experience. I’d much rather be able to hear music from medicore speakers without distractions rather than vice versa. Same goes for transparency, simulating open backs with the touch of a button is convenient.

Were you using spatial audio (Apple’s Dolby 360) mode or something? That sound effect happens with poorly designed 360 audio.

*I’m not a fan of Apple’s designs for audio gear. Their engineers made it clear several years ago, audio quality isn’t important them. Kind of like Spotify not having high resolution audio files.

That’s the opposite of my experience with the APP2 lol. Without spatial audio or headphone accommodations turned on I feel like they sound dead and borderline claustrophobic, requiring high listening level to sound any good. Not to say their implementation of spatial audio is good, I mostly consider it a gimmick, but it sounds to me like you might have had it turned on.

You had spatial audio turned on most likely, turn that shit off.

APP2 are significantly better than the Cadenza and better than Aria, unless you just have a strong preference for bass boosted warm tuning the Aria are not an upgrade.

General consensus is that the Kiwi Cadenzas are a very decent, rather accurate, neutral set; ala 7Hz Salnotes Zero, Timeless, KZ EDA Balanced (lesser extent) and KZ Castor SILVER (also not as good as timeless, but it’s there).

But you will get guys with their graphs telling you your Chi Fi are rubbish (with the exception of EW200, Timeless, some Wan’Er, etc. Really dunno why, it’s how they think)

Equally you’ll get guys telling you Airpods Max and Pros are the best audiophile equipment you can buy, and send links from 20 sources supporting their opinion

I feel we, as consumers, rely on reviews and other’s opinions too much rather than our own ears!

Any decent wired system will best the apple wireless products. This is a fact.

Another fact is, I’m tired of wasting money, buying “professional reviewers/golden-ears” recommended products without testing them 1st. Wasted so much cash, this pandemic, buying underwhelming stuff.

Taste is subjective, also a fact.

The AirPods Pro 2 sound pretty blunted, especially when listening to music. Their main draw is the insane noise cancelling, comfort and convenience. That said, I don’t ever listen to music on them due to the aforementioned blunted sound. Podcasts sound pretty good.

We’re you using them with iPhone? Did you have spacial audio turned on and weren’t really used to it? They have a few different modes that will change the sound pretty extensively.