Matthew Jens auditions this feature-packed, attractively priced wi-fi over-ear headphone providing…
Yamaha
E700B Wi-fi Headphones
AUD $499 RRP
Ever heard that previous basic Yamaha joke? An individual walks right into a Yamaha retailer and says, “I wish to purchase a piano”. The Yamaha rep replies, “In fact”. The particular person then quips, “Ah – truly, I additionally want to purchase a bike. Do you occur to know the place I can discover one?” Grinning, the rep replies, “Okay, nicely, you’re not going to imagine this however….”
Your favorite native bike and piano vendor, Yamaha, has come bursting out of the gate with a full-blown revision of its flagship Bluetooth noise-cancelling headphones, with a spec sheet spectacular sufficient to make the large manufacturers nervous. The factor is, it has positioned these at a value level that undercuts the competitors simply sufficient to make it sting.
Should you needed the equal Bose, Sennheiser or Sony mannequin, the value enhance is borderline negligible; nevertheless, in case you have been trying to examine this pricing to the equal Bowers & Wilkins or Apple merchandise, neglect about it! It’s a crowded race, and the standard suspect flagships have all taken their spots on the grid. So has the Yamaha E700B achieved sufficient to deserve a spot on the rostrum?
UP CLOSE
When diving into the Yamaha web site, the E700B is positioned beneath the umbrella of being a product particularly for transportable music listening; the options are ‘private theatre’ or ‘audiophile’. With this in thoughts, it’s price contemplating two major components that make a wonderful product for transportable music – battery life and weight. Fortunately the E700B delivers right here in spades…
Having a Goldilocks second at 335 grams, the Yamaha is 40 grams heavier than the Sennheiser Momentum 4 however 50 grams lighter than the Apple AirPods Max. The burden is properly distributed alongside the highest of the top, and the clamping power is sufficiently agency. When worn on the top, the pads sit half on and half off my ears, which isn’t uncommon for noise-cancelling headphones, however they appear exceptionally plush. Yamaha describes the pads as “elliptical”, however I might describe them as oval-shaped pleather, which jogs my memory of the previous Fischer FA003 pads.
The construct isn’t as luxurious as the present Bowers or Bose choices however could be very straightforward on the attention (particularly in white). The headscarf comprises a mushy fake leather-based pad, the pads are agency, and the buttons don’t have a lot journey. All of this provides as much as a light-weight expertise that folds up neatly to eat up solely a small quantity of bag area however is much less luxurious in hand.
However who wants luxurious experiences when we have now such technical prowess beneath the hood? Nice to see Bluetooth 5.2 included right here; I had no points with connection or vary consequently. The aptX Adaptive codec can be very welcome, with the bonus of a low-latency gaming mode. I used to be happy with the outcomes when testing this out with some video games on my Steam Deck; near-imperceptible latency is a rarity over Bluetooth.
Not simply flexing within the codec division, the E700B additionally gives Superior Adaptive Noise Cancelling, some loopy “tune the sound relying on the match of your ear” expertise, and a monstrous 32 hours of marketed battery life. Contemplating I solely charged the headset as soon as in the course of the assessment interval, I imagine these figures.
The drivers have been particularly matched, and the baffle has been overhauled to create an ideal mirror picture between them. Yamaha says: “Either side of the stereo picture are completely balanced, with sound localisation fastened on the meant level – guaranteeing that the perceived place of every instrument and every sound, in addition to the general atmosphere of the music, may be flawlessly skilled.”
It’s at all times good to see a brand new proprietary listening setup when a brand new model of a headphone is launched; often, this division will get carried over from mannequin to mannequin, whereas the devices and back-end get all the jazzing up. I’ll additionally provide my kudos to Yamaha for permitting good old school 3.5mm headphone jack listening. Sadly, this characteristic is turning into much less commonplace, making in-flight leisure with headphones far more awkward.
When the time got here to fireside up the app, I once more bumped into what I name ‘the Yamaha Conundrum’. There are two apps within the app retailer for Yamaha headphones; one known as ‘Headphones Controller’, and the opposite is ‘Headphone Management’. Should you’re confused, be careful for the opposite Yamaha listening-related apps, ‘AV Controller’ and ‘MusicCast Controller’…
As soon as I took a protracted sip of espresso and skim the guide, I decided which app was appropriate and dove in. There I discovered some attention-grabbing nuggets – a five-band EQ, a gaming mode toggle, and one thing referred to as ‘listening care’, which provides full-range sound at decrease listening volumes. It really works nicely sufficient, and that is possible some DSP magic inherited from Yamaha’s dwelling theatre lineup.
Controls on the headphone are delightfully intuitive – simply {hardware} buttons for quantity up and down, an ANC toggle and energy, with no fiddly contact panels and no customisation. What you see is what you get, and I respect how direct, and to the purpose these are. This idea additionally carries by means of to connectivity; whereas the Bluetooth 5.2 connection is as robust as an ox with loads of vary, the E700B doesn’t permit multiple connection without delay. I might like to see multi-point choices to maintain tempo with opponents within the subsequent iteration.
THE LISTENING
It’s exhausting to not keep in mind the basic NS-10 studio displays when listening to Yamaha merchandise. There’s a distinct sound signature goal that many Yamaha transducers attempt to hit, which feels considerably by-product of those authentic legendary small audio system.
With that in thoughts, firing up Higher Days Will Come by Leaving Lauren appeared acceptable. The pairing was immaculate; the 40mm drivers of the E700B leaned into the mushy, weepy piano notes, portraying them with a lean, impartial accuracy that did the piece justice with out an excessive amount of colouration or distortion. When the bass kicked in, the extension didn’t fairly attain down low as a lot as I used to be anticipating, leaving me with a crisp, analytical presentation as a substitute.
The E700B offers a stable, neat exhibiting when presenting vocals, however the 40mm drivers don’t present a wonderful rumble to make bass-heavy music shine, reminiscent of when listening to Monday by Choomba. Irrespective of, as due to the 5-band EQ within the app, I may dial this choice into the headphone and rumble away to my coronary heart’s content material.
The 40mm drivers seize loads of element and dynamics, rendering an outstandingly lifelike high quality to Sonatine by Chilla and Sofiane Pamart. It grew to become obvious that acoustic and heavy vocal music makes this design shine. Not fairly light however falling wanting being something near piercing, this monitor performs to the E700 B’s energy by combining pitch-perfect piano and vocals to create a beautiful concord.
Lively noise cancelling is an enchancment over the E700 B’s predecessor, and paired with the stable passive attenuation of the physique of the headphone itself, it makes this an honest noise-cancelling expertise general. Should you examine it on to the costlier opponents, it might be higher, but it surely’s an enough providing that will get the job achieved.
It’s an analogous story with transparency mode; it really works. It permits by means of a number of the vocal vary, arguably essentially the most important element of a pass-through choice, but it surely gained’t be a full-frequency “I forgot I used to be carrying headphones” expertise. Nevertheless, it’s excellent for letting in-flight bulletins, listening out for the youngsters, or eavesdropping on the desk subsequent to you (if that’s your factor).
Telephone name high quality is tough to choose fault with; from my testing, listeners on each ends of the calls had zero points, even when out and about in a busy road. The microphone pickup sample isn’t completely centred on the listener, and a few exterior noise will nonetheless be let in. Nevertheless, the E700B could be an ideal workplace companion with its glorious battery life and fast connection.
THE VERDICT
An excellent exhibiting from Yamaha then, and a marked enchancment on its E700A predecessor. The E700 B’s Bluetooth 5.2, crazy-good battery life, helpful low-latency gaming mode, Adaptive Noise Cancelling, and ear-fit tech make this a pretty alternative at this value level.
It’s refreshing to see bodily {hardware} buttons and a 3.5mm jack, however disappointing to overlook out on multi-point connectivity and any management customisation. The Adaptive Noise Cancelling is nice however falls wanting its opponents. Nevertheless, the pricing makes up for these shortfalls.
It’s a crowded race, and the standard suspect flagships have all taken their spots on the grid. Yamaha’s new E700B might fall shy of a podium end however has left its predecessor within the rearview mirror. Make no mistake, Yamaha is racing within the grand prix and never the dash race – proving it has the potential to, someday, take dwelling the trophy.
