AirPods Pro (1st Gen) Audio Quality Comparison
I compared the AirPods Pro (1st gen) with my Audio-Technica ATH-M40X on a variety of songs, and concluded that the Audio-Technica is a better headphone, for far less the price (₹10K vs ₹25K).
The AirPods fared better than the Audio-Technica for:
Pagan Dream Machine (Psychedelic Electronic)
Locked with the crystal ball (Blackmore's Night)
The main benefit of the AirPods was bass, which is important for electronic music.
The Audio-Technica fared better than the AirPods for:
Gamma Phase (Chillout)
Children (from Robert Miles - Trance)
Zanana Reflections (Lounge)
Otto's Journey (House)
Theme from Harry's Game (Clannad, New Age)
The Sound of Silence (Simon and Garfunkel, Folk)
You are the reason (Air Supply and Mehnaz, fusion)
Living in Danger (Ace of Base, rock)
Nemo (Nightwish, Symphonic rock)
Mellaga Karagani (Varsham, Telugu)
Deham Thiri (Yuva, Telugu)
Ariyathey MF (Mallu)
Gupt Gupt title song extended (Hindi)
The main benefit of the Audio-Technica was clarity.
Both the Audio-Technica and AirPods did equally well for:
Through the Rain (from Sol System — Mars: Space Music)