Headphone reviews are my favorite because I get another excuse to listen to my favorite rock and roll tunes all day long. Over the years, listening to more and more music has made me become an audiophile.
I recently invested in new audio equipment for my computer. I use Pandora Pro for higher bit rate audio, which goes through my soundcard to be transmitted to my digital-to-analogue converter (DAC), then out through the amplifier to my headphones. Believe it or not, it does make a difference to how things sound.
To complement my audio configuration, Beyerdynamic has been a great fit. Over the years, I have reviewed a number of their headphones from the MMX 102 iE earbuds to the elitist DT 1990 Pros. Each and every Beyerdynamic review has always ended in a satisfying conclusion.
However, a lot of Beyerdynamic’s greatness requires equipment that is hooked up to my desktop computer or requires a cable to use. I could plug their high ohms headphones into my smartphone, but it wouldn’t do the headphones justice. Then, the earbuds are nice for travel but tether me to a device.
What we need is a hybrid between portable and exclusive audio that we fall in love with.
In a new lineup by Beyerdynamic, the German company is creating a new set of to-go sound equipment with a personalized application to make your headphones specific to you.
Lightweight, stylish, and great sounding, the new Aventho wireless headphones are Beyerdynamic’s latest entry into the post-headphone-jack-from-smartphones market. With summer approaching quickly, it’s time to drop the cables and explore the outdoors. That’s what the Aventhos are here to help you do.
Welcome to my review of the Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless Headphones.
Design
One of my favorite things about Beyerdynamic headphones is that they are meant to perform while maintaining a splendid look. I believe that anyone who wears a pair of Beyerdynamics can pull off the appearance.
In fact, it was their marketing advertisement on the Custom One Pros that won we over. The product box contained a picture of a retro-looking man with a short beard wearing them. I thought it looked cool, so I bought a pair. Years later, they still look modern and cool while still sounding perfect.
Handcrafted in Germany, Beyerdynamic’s new Aventho headphones are a new wave of headphones reaching the market. Ever since Apple’s “courage” to remove the headphone jack, a lot of headphones have begun transitioning towards Bluetooth connectivity.
Beyerdynamic’s Aventho headphones are a Bluetooth wireless design with the option of plugging in a cable if you so desire. That cable is supplied inside the box, but it’s a little short for my liking.
When I opened up the product box and took out the Aventhos I had a huge smile because the headphones looked so great. On top of that, they felt premium to hold in the hands.
Upon further inspection, I noticed it had a thin aluminum headband and an exposed height adjustment mechanism. I questioned the build quality of a thin frame and whether or not it would be like the Beyerdynamic T51is where my hair would sometimes get stuck in the mechanism.
Luckily, the Aventhos were designed to be absolutely comfortable and to be the centerpiece of your travelling attire.
Starting with the aluminum headband, the headband is rigid and sturdy while still providing a fair amount of outwards flex for wider heads. Somehow the headband is resistant to twisting motions, which provides a rigid feel.
Covering 90 percent of the headband is a soft touch leather wrap. Behind the leather covering is a plush foam pad. The headband foam is not what you may be used to. In fact, it’s quite lacking compared to many other headphones on the market.
The reasoning for a lackluster headband foam is because the aluminum frame makes the headphones extremely light and all of the weight is housed in both of the earcups. There is little to no pressure from the headband when the headphones are being worn.
As for the remainder of the headband, there are two Beyerdynamic branding badges that attempt to cover the height adjustment mechanism.
This height adjustment mechanism goes from small to large with the range being more than enough to fit most heads. Unfortunately, if you adjust the height while the headphones are on your head, your hair can sometimes get stuck in the slots. The problem was insignificant, but if you have longer hair, it is something to take note of.
The earcups connect to the headband by an aluminum U bracket that allows both of them to twist 90 degrees in either direction. When the Aventhos are resting around your neck, you can lay them flat against your chest or facing outwards.
Moving on to the earcups, they are a circular-shaped on-the-ear design. I prefer oval-shaped earcups, but these Aventho earcups are actually comfortable for a long period of time even knowing that they are pushing inwards on your outer ear.
To minimize pressure, both earcups use the same leather-wrapped foam padding found on the headband. Unlike the headband, there is an acceptable amount of foam, and it is squishy. The squishy foam forms to your ears well. I even had others try the Aventhos, and they agreed that the padding was acceptable.
On both earcups, the foam pads can be easily removed for cleaning or replacing. They are also labelled with an R and L on the inside cover. It’s nice being able to quickly see which earcup is either right or left.
These earcups have a significant weight as they house all of the speaker components as well as the high capacity internal battery.
To protect all of those components, the earcups are made from a satisfying-feeling strong plastic. They are also ringed by a diamond-patterned aluminum band.
Regarding the I/O, the right earcup is the powerhouse for the Aventhos. It contains a 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth connectivity indicator LEDs, a physical on/off/pairing button, and a USB-C port for charging. With the USB-C jack, it shows Beyerdynamic made the Aventhos for the future as more things are coming with USB-C.
A USB-C charging cable is included and terminates in a normal USB plug.
On the face of the right earcup is a capacitive touchpad. Here, you can adjust the volume, skip, pause, and play your music. Everything is done by your finger and controlled using gestures.
Finally, the Aventhos come with their own travel pouch. This soft touch, soft padded pouch is made from a woven duck cloth material. When the Aventhos are placed inside the pouch, they are fairly well protected from accidental bangs and drops. The pouch even has a hard bottom to help it from being crushed or crumpled.
Everything about the Aventho headphones screams premium. From the matte black and silver coloring to the solid feel of the headphones when placed in your hands, it was made to make you look stylish and for you to be the centerpiece of the room.
With summer approaching quickly, I could easily see myself using these everywhere I go and just knowing that they will fit with every outfit and every style.
Functionality
So, they look fantastic. That’s great, but how do they sound?
Beyerdynamic gave the Aventho headphones their Tesla Technology speakers for that superb sound. Beyerdynamic’s Tesla speakers are reinvented speakers that use a powerful magnet to provide stronger and clearer sound.
Tesla speakers help set Beyerdynamic speakers apart from their competition. Most of my headphone reviews for Beyerdynamic have used this Tesla Technology, and I have enjoyed it ever since it first came out. Information on Beyerdynamic’s newer speaker technology can be found here.
To make sure the Tesla speakers can live up to their true potential, Beyerdynamic included the new Qualcomm aptX HD Bluetooth connectivity. This new Bluetooth technology is a system that transmits higher quality bitrate through Bluetooth and guarantees that the audio being transmitted from the host device makes a strong connection to the receiving device.
Since these are aptX HD enabled, I connected the Aventhos to my Samsung Galaxy S8+ which is also aptX enabled. When you start up the Aventhos, a British woman speaks and says “Power On”. When the headphones are connected to an aptX audio source, she will say “aptX” to reinforce that you are listening to the highest bitrate of audio possible.
I loaded my tunes on Pandora Plus and began my listening experience.
This time around I opted to listen to a little bit of everything, including rock and roll, top 20, hip-hop, rap, and instrumental. Everything I threw at the Aventhos sounded wonderful, and it didn’t hiccup one bit.
The lows were spot on, mids were just right, and the highs felt like they didn’t have a limit. Furthermore, these smaller speakers even pumped out serious and powerful bass.
I wish I could record the sound for each and every one of you to listen to, but you will have to take my word for it that these couldn’t possibly sound any clearer or truer to life. It’s as if the sounds were inside my head, not channeling through my ears.
Another mentionable comment about the music is that these headphones can get impressively loud with little to no distortion. When I cranked the Aventhos to eleven, a lot of sound pumps into your ears, but people who are standing right next to you can barely hear anything. Only when the headphones are taken off can they hear what you hear.
The noise cancellation for both directions is noteworthy and feels as if it is an active noise cancellation. Since the expectation is that you will be travelling with the Aventhos, it’s great to hear that they take other people’s comfort into consideration. That way, the person sitting next to you on the plane doesn’t complain.
Powering the headphones for about 30 hours of runtime is a 1050 mAh battery that only takes two hours to recharge when using a 2.1A charger. Throughout my testing, the battery lasted an entire week, and I never felt like I constantly needed to recharge them.
When the battery does start to get low, the British woman will inform you of the battery percentage in 20 percent increments.
As much as I didn’t feel tethered to the charging cable, I never felt tethered to my phone either. Beyerdynamic claims a range of 30 feet, but in direct line of sight, I walked about 100 feet away before the headphones began to drop the music.
I would like to reinforce what was said in the design section. The comfort of these headphones is superb as I wore them for hours without discomfort or a headache. I could easily see people travelling around and having a relaxing time while wearing these headphones.
One hit-or-miss annoyance I did have about usability was the touchpad on the right earcup. Adjusting volume is easy by swiping your finger across the pad, but pausing and playing is a little tough to do. Double tapping the touchpad should play or pause the song, yet it was hit-or-miss if it would actually do so and I eventually gave up and began using my smartphone for that function.
Volume control was fine, but it took a while to remember that there is a volume setting control on my phone and one on the headphones. If you are finding the headphones are quiet while your phone volume is turned all the way up, it may just be that the headphones’ volume control needs adjusting.
Lastly, Beyerdynamic created a custom iOS and Android application for the Aventhos. It’s called the MIY app, and it is designed to help customize the Aventhos to your liking.
With the app installed, you can adjust settings like the touchpad’s sensitivity and customize the sound signature to your liking. In fact, the MIY app tracks your listening habits and then begins to personalize the headphones to your liking automatically.
I wouldn’t say the application is necessary for a complete listening experience as I went this entire review and only used it once or twice. It’s certainly a neat tool with good functionality, but not required to be used. It would be nice if the application could perform firmware upgrades rather than using the Beyerdynamic PC tool.
My Final Thoughts
Beyerdynamic’s Aventho headphones are perfect in every which way. Their sound signature is through the roof, every type of music genera sounds as it should, and the music gets as loud as a full stereo system.
Their premium look and feel is superb, and that goes hand-and-hand with the extreme comfortability. Let’s also not forget about their long-lasting battery life and clear Bluetooth reception through aptX.
Priced at $449.99, these are not headphones for everyone. Instead, they are for the elite listeners who want true audio on the go. In my opinion, they are worth every dollar, and you won’t be disappointed with them. In fact, I can’t recommend them enough.
With the Aventhos you become the Rockstar in the room and get to wear handmade German equipment in style.
Buy it now:
© 2018 Justin Vendette
