If you want a wired, open-back reference headphone you can lie down in with and still hear the room around you, choose Austrian Audio Hi-X65; if you need wireless convenience, active noise cancellation and effortless Apple-device switching, choose Apple AirPods Max. That's the short answer. The useful answer takes a bit longer, because if you're hunting for sleep headphones for side sleepers, neither of these is a purpose-built pillow headphone — and which one suits you comes down to how you actually listen in bed, not which one looks better in a spec list.
Austrian Audio Hi-X65 vs Apple AirPods Max at a Glance
• Austrian Audio Hi-X65, biggest trade-off: it is wired only, with no noise cancellation, no controls and no microphone. Open-back cups leak sound outward and let room noise inward by design.
• Apple AirPods Max, biggest strength: pro-level active noise cancellation, a Transparency mode, personalized spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, Dolby Atmos support and the H1 chip's one-tap pairing and automatic switching across iPhone, iPad and Mac.
• Apple AirPods Max, biggest trade-off: bulk and weight. The spec sheet lists it at 2 pounds against 310 g for the Hi-X65, and its memory-foam cushions and knit-mesh canopy are built to seal — which is exactly what you don't want pressing into a pillow.
• Pick the Hi-X65 if you listen critically, want zero charging anxiety and lie on your side while you do it.
• Pick the AirPods Max if you want one pair for commuting, flights and open offices, and you live inside Apple's ecosystem.
The Hi-X65 is a working tool dressed as a headphone. Austrian Audio built it around mixing and mastering, and everything in the design points that way: the open-back cup, the 44 mm driver paired with a ring magnet and a copper-clad aluminum voice coil, and a motor system tuned so the diaphragm changes direction quickly. In plain terms, that's a recipe for a fast, spacious, precise sound rather than a thick, clubby one. The rated range runs from 5 Hz up to 28 kHz, which tells you the driver was specified to move air well below the vocal range — worth knowing if part of your search is for deep bass headphones for side sleepers, though the open-back design means you feel that low end rather than getting it sealed into your skull.
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-21 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
Physically, it's the more bed-friendly of the two on paper. It weighs 310 g. The hinge and bow are metal, so it survives being folded and shoved into the included carry case far better than a plastic frame would. You get two cables — 3 m and 1.2 m — plus a 1/4-inch adapter, so the short cable is what you'd run to a phone or laptop on the nightstand and the long one stays at the desk. At 25 ohm it's a low-impedance load, which is a strong hint that ordinary headphone jacks can drive it without extra gear.
Who should buy it: anyone who wants one honest pair for critical listening, mixing, or just hearing a recording the way it was assembled. That includes side sleepers who want music while lying down without a battery dying at 3 a.m. and without the slight ear-pressure sensation that noise cancelling can produce. Who should skip it: commuters, flyers, open-office workers, and anyone who wants a mic, on-cup controls or a wireless connection. There's no noise control here at all — none — and that's the point.
The AirPods Max is the opposite philosophy: a computational audio product. Apple's dynamic driver handles the acoustics, then the H1 chip and software layer on active noise cancellation that the company says removes up to twice as much background noise, a Transparency mode for hearing the room, and personalized spatial audio with dynamic head tracking that maps sound around your head. Dolby Atmos content gets the full treatment. The build is acoustic-first too — a knit-mesh canopy up top and memory-foam ear cushions that are deliberately shaped to seal sound in.
The convenience layer is where it really separates itself. Hold it near an iPhone or iPad, tap Connect, done. It pauses when you take it off. Automatic Switching moves the audio between iPhone, iPad and Mac without you thinking about it. It charges over USB-C, comes in five colors with a color-matched Smart Case, and this particular version is the purple one. If your day involves a phone, a tablet and a laptop made by the same company, that ecosystem glue is worth a lot.
Who should buy it: travelers, commuters, office workers, and anyone who wants a single pair of headphones to do everything — calls, movies, flights, walks, casual streaming. Who should skip it: critical listeners who want an uncolored wired reference, anyone who mostly listens at a desk from a laptop jack, and side sleepers in the strictest sense. The listed 2 pounds and the sealing memory-foam cushions are working against you the moment you roll onto your ear.
• Best for lying on your side in bed → Austrian Audio Hi-X65. 310 g, a metal frame, open-back cups and no battery to run down.
• Best for blocking out a snoring partner, a flight cabin or an open office → Apple AirPods Max. Active noise cancellation is the whole reason it exists.
• Best for mixing, mastering and honest detail → Austrian Audio Hi-X65. The open-back, 44 mm ring-magnet driver and 5 Hz to 28 kHz rating are built for close, critical listening.
• Best for deep bass in a sealed, immersive sense → Apple AirPods Max. The memory-foam seal plus spatial audio and Dolby Atmos puts low end around you; the Hi-X65 reaches lower on paper but does it in an open, airy way.
• Best for uninterrupted long sessions → Austrian Audio Hi-X65. Wired and passive means no charging, ever, and no low-battery chime mid-album.
• Best for Apple devices → Apple AirPods Max. One-tap pairing, auto-pause and automatic switching are genuinely hard to give up once you use them.
• Best for travel and storage → Austrian Audio Hi-X65. It folds, and it ships with a carry case; the AirPods Max relies on its Smart Case for protection.
• Best candidate for the best hifi stereo headphone for side sleepers → Austrian Audio Hi-X65, in my opinion, purely because weight, folding metal and open-back airflow all matter more in bed than noise cancelling does.
In my opinion, if your listening happens lying on your side — lights off, one ear on the pillow, music until you drift — I'd buy the Austrian Audio Hi-X65. It's 310 g versus a listed 2 pounds, it folds into a case, it never needs charging, and its open-back design keeps your ears from feeling plugged. The AirPods Max is the better headphone for almost every other situation in your life: travel, work, calls, spatial audio. But it's the wrong shape and weight for a pillow. Buy the Hi-X65 for bed and desk; buy the AirPods Max for the world outside your bedroom.
For listening on your side, it's the more sensible of these two: 310 g, a folding metal frame and open-back cups that don't pressurize your ears. Neither product is a dedicated sleep headphone, so if you roll onto the cup, expect to reposition.
The AirPods Max, clearly. It has active noise cancellation and sealing memory-foam cushions. The Hi-X65 has no noise control at all and is open-back, so it both leaks sound and lets sound in — great for hearing an alarm, bad for a noisy room.
Probably not. Its 25 ohm impedance is a low load, which suggests a phone, laptop or interface headphone jack should drive it comfortably. The included 1/4-inch adapter covers studio gear, and you get both 1.2 m and 3 m cables.
These sit in very different tiers, so check the current price on Amazon before deciding — the button on this page will show you. Weigh it against what you get: a wired reference open-back versus a wireless noise-cancelling headphone with spatial audio.
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