In India, the Yamaha brand name might make you think about a motorcycle or a scooter. However, you will also find that Yamaha is a reputable name in many other product segments including musical instruments, AV receivers, amplifiers, speaker systems and headphones, many of which are technologically advanced, premium products for high budget buyers. The company recently announced a new range of wireless headphones and earphones in India, including the flagship YH-L700A over-ear headphones that I’m reviewing here.
34,990 worth Rs. Yamaha YH-L700A It is a flagship over-ear headset that focuses on the listening experience with advanced Bluetooth codec support, a ‘3D sound field’ mode with head tracking for directional sound, and active noise cancellation among other features. Is this the best premium wireless headset you can buy right now? Find out in this review.
Yamaha YH-L700A supports SBC, AAC, and Qualcomm aptX adaptive Bluetooth codecs
The Yamaha YH-L700A Headphones Sound Great, But Are Heavy
In an industry filled with lookalike products, the Yamaha YH-L700A stands out with its bold, distinctive design. The headset isn’t as sleek or trim like popular options in this price segment from Sony and JBL, instead going for a bigger, premium look apple airpods max, That said, the Yamaha YH-L700A is a bit smaller in sheer size than the AirPods Max, but the ear cups and padding are a bit thick.
The styling is also unique, with generous use of fabric on the surfaces of the ear cups as well as on the headband. There’s thick foam padding around the ear cups for a proper over-ear fit that completely covers my ears and ensures good noise isolation. The headband of the Yamaha YH-L700A features a metal frame with comfortable padding, and is adjustable to ensure a good fit. The ear cups can rotate and bend which contributes to a good fit. Yamaha’s distinctive logo has been badged on the outer edges of both the ear cups.
The padding certainly helped me get a comfortable fit, but the Yamaha YH-L700A is still a big and bulky pair of headphones, weighing in at 330g. Its heavy weight felt a bit overwhelming over long listening sessions, and the clamping force with my glasses was sometimes too intense for me. I got used to it over time, but I still needed to give myself a break every 45 minutes.
Unlike some competing products that use a combination of physical buttons and touch controls, the Yamaha YH-L700A has physical buttons to control everything from power and mode to playback. On the right is the power button, a 3D sound button, a USB Type-C port for charging, and playback and volume controls, while on the left is a button for cycling between active noise cancellation and ambient sound modes, and a pair of wired connectivity options. For 3.5 mm socket.
Playback and volume control buttons are on the edge of the right ear cup, and are covered by a leatherette sheet. It looks good in my opinion, but the buttons were not as tactile and easy to understand as I would have liked. Even after a few days of use, I sometimes accidentally press the wrong button. Although not as bad as this, the controls weren’t particularly easy to use.
Yamaha’s Headphone Controller app (available on Android and iOS) is used to configure and control basic customizations and functions on the YH-L700A headphones. Once the headphones are paired using Bluetooth, the app will detect them and offer device-specific options and functions to choose from.
On this pair of headphones, which includes settings for 3D Sound Field Mode, Listening Care, and Listening Optimizer; ANC and ambient mode activation; and an auto-power-off timer. You can also check the exact battery level of the headphones, but strangely, there’s no way to adjust the equalizer settings to tweak the sound to your liking. Overall, the app covers the functionality of the headphones, but is a bit too simple for a high-end headset like this.
The headphones look good, but the Yamaha YH-L700A’s massive size and clamping force can sometimes feel a bit excessive
The Yamaha YH-L700A is powered by 40mm dynamic drivers, and has a frequency response range of 8-40,000Hz. For connectivity, the headphones use Bluetooth 5, with support for SBC, AAC, and the Qualcomm aptX adaptive Bluetooth codec. There is also support for the default voice assistant on your smartphone. Included in the sale package are a charging cable, stereo cable for wired listening, a flight adapter, and a hard carry case for the headphones.
The battery life of the Yamaha YH-L700A Headphones largely depends on how you use the features; Naturally, heavy usage of ANC and 3D sound modes will drain the battery fairly quickly. The headphones are rated for up to 34 hours of listening with only ANC running, and up to 11 hours in operation with both ANC and 3D sound.
In practice, with ANC running and occasional use of the 3D sound feature, I was able to use the headphones for over 23 hours on a single charge. It’s not exceptional compared to the competition, but it’s more than enough for hassle-free full day listening.
Sound is great on the Yamaha YH-L700A, but 3D sound isn’t for everyone
Many people looking to buy high-end over-ear headphones settle on options from one of the major brands in this space: Sony, Bose, and Apple. However, options like the Yamaha YH-L700A offer a rewarding listening experience to anyone looking beyond the obvious options; This is a very good pair of headphones when it comes to sound quality. Features like 3D sound and active noise cancellation also work well, although the former may not really be something you want or need to use very often.
Other features such as Listening Care and Listening Optimizer work in the background to improve the usage experience. The former maintains volume level balance to avoid sudden spikes, while the latter is said to optimize the sound based on the level of sound it picks up inside the ear cups. I didn’t really notice any noticeable difference in my music with these on or off, but these modes are meant to be used with caution in any case.
The Qualcomm aptX adaptive support on the Yamaha YH-L700A means that audio quality is slightly better when used with Bluetooth source devices that support the codec, and as expected, I found the sound quality to be better when using one. Started. oneplus 9 ,Analysis) than a iphone 13 ,Analysis) Beginning with Frankie Sinatra by Avalanche, the headphones immediately showcased Yamaha’s years of experience in the audio industry.
The soundstage was spacious and spectacular, giving a very real sense of direction and feel with this lively sample-based track. The faint sample elements, mid-tempo beats, and all the equipment were present and well positioned, and this was interestingly with the 3D sound mode turned off. The large drivers and great tuning of this pair of headphones made up for its natural tendency to amplify even a simple stereo signal, and it was able to reproduce detail on par with a good pair of full-size speakers.
While the Yamaha YH-L700A headphones’ beautiful soundstage is, in my opinion, its distinguishing feature, there was more to like about the headphones. The sound signature is balanced and incredibly sophisticated, giving all the frequencies plenty of room to shine.
As with David Guetta’s Dirty Sexy Money, the bass was tight and aggressive without ever feeling overpowered and out of control, while Only Human by Onur Ozman managed to get the slow rumble to the point, providing a great deal of listening. It was a wonderful and pleasant experience, which is exactly what it felt like. Delightful with my current top pick among high-end headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM4,
3D sound mode and head tracking work well, but I preferred listening to music with these features turned off
A key feature of the Yamaha YH-L700A headphones is 3D sound, which is similar to the spatial audio technology it offers for Apple’s own AirPods headphones and earphones. Interestingly, when switched on, this mode works for any audio content regardless of the app or operating system, and is not limited to certain apps as is the case with Spatial Audio Is.
The different 3D sound modes added different listening effects, but definitely degraded the audio quality, especially when listening to music. Only the ‘Audio Room’ mode was good in terms of maintaining some level of sound quality without creating a very strange depth effect. Head tracking worked just as it does with Apple’s Spatial Audio, and sounds seemed to “move” across channels precisely and quickly based on my head movements. However, overall, I found the mode a bit gimmicky and only really worth using while watching TV shows or movies, if at all.
Active noise cancellation on the Yamaha YH-L700A headphones is good, but far from the quality of headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM4 or so. apple airpods max, The muting effect was noticeable and helped indoors, but didn’t do much to dampen distinctive outdoor sounds.
It also largely relied on a noise isolating seal for effectiveness, and my glasses made enough of a difference in normal wear to reduce effectiveness by a substantial amount. Ambient sound mode gives a decent amount of sound to allow you to hold a conversation or stay aware of your surroundings, but it felt a bit ‘piped’ and didn’t have as much of a natural effect as on the AirPods Max. The headphones are good for making calls indoors and out, and connection stability and quality were never an issue for me, working well at distances of up to 4 meters from the source device.
Decision
In the premium headphone segment, which is dominated by a handful of brands and doesn’t see new launches often, the Yamaha YH-L700A comes as a breath of fresh air. This is a good looking pair of over-ear headphones with great sound quality and some interesting features, all of which make for a good overall experience. The company’s years of expertise in high-end audio products certainly helps make it an interesting product for the price.
Although average ANC performance and less-than-ideal controls hold the experience a bit behind, the Yamaha YH-L700A headphones deliver wide, pleasant sound that’s on par with flagship products in the segment such as Sony WH-1000XM4, Approx Rs. 35,000, this Sony WH-1000XM4 and . is also a bit more expensive than JBL Tour OneBut if you’re looking for great sound quality and the benefits of its 3D sound mode, it’s worth investing in.