The Yamaha YH-L700A is a flagship over-ear headphone priced at Rs.34,990. Advanced Bluetooth codec support has been provided in these. There’s also a 3D sound field mode, which also has head tracking and active noise cancellation for directional sound. Are these the best premium wireless headphones you can buy? Find out in this review.
Yamaha YH-L700A headphones look great, but are heavy
The Yamaha YH-L700A sports a bold, out-of-the-box design. The phone isn’t sleek and fancy like Sony and JBL, but it looks big and premium like Apple AirPods Max. Although it is slightly smaller in size than the AirPods Max, its ear cups and padding are quite thick.
The styling is also unique, with a generous use of fabric on the headband and ear cups. The ear cups are padded with thick foam to ensure an over-ear fit, completely covered my ears and provided complete isolation from outside noise. The headband features a metal frame with comfortable padding that is also adjustable for a snug fit. The ear cups can be rotated and tilted for a better fit. The Yamaha logo is found on the outer parts of both earcups.
The padding certainly felt comfortable, but the headset is still quite big and heavy at 330 grams. If you listen to music for a long time, it will feel quite heavy. The pressure force of both earmuffs was also felt more with glasses at times. Later I got used to it, but even then I had to take a break every 45 minutes or so.
Other similar products offer physical and tactile control options, but the Yamaha YH-L700A gives you physical buttons to control everything. Its right side has a power button, 3D sound button, USB Type C port for charging and playback, and volume controls. The left side has a button to switch between active noise cancellation and ambient sound modes, and a 3.5mm jack for wired connectivity.
The playback and volume control buttons are located on the side of the right ear cup. It looks good, but the buttons don’t feel very tactile. Feeling them is not even the way I would prefer. Even after a few days of use, I used to press the wrong button many times. In general, she would say that its control buttons don’t seem very user friendly.
Here you will find the Yamaha Headphones Controller app, which is available on both Android and iOS platforms. With its help, in addition to controlling the basic functions of the headphones, they can be customized. The app finds them after pairing with Bluetooth.
In the app, you also get settings for 3D sound field mode, Listening Care and Listening Optimizer, active noise cancellation and ambient mode activation, and sleep timer. You can also check the battery level of the headphones, but you don’t have the option to change the equalizer settings. Overall, the app controls its features, but it’s pretty basic for a high-end headset.
Yamaha YH-L700A has 40mm dynamic drivers. Its frequency response range is 8-40,000Hz. Bluetooth 5, SBC, AAC and Qualcomm aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec are supported for connectivity. Voice assistant has also been supported for this. The charging cable, stereo cable, flight adapter and hard case are also included in the package.
Battery life depends on how you use them. Heavy use of ANC and 3D drains the battery quickly. They’re rated to last 34 hours with ANC on and 11 hours for 3D sound with ANC on.
I occasionally used 3D sound with ANC on and it lasted 23 hours on a single charge. This means you can listen to them for a whole day without having to reload them.
Sound is good on Yamaha YH-L700A, but 3D sound is not for everyone
Many people turn to high-end headphones from Sony, Bose, and Apple. However, the Yamaha YH-L700A also offers a great listening experience. They are amazing when it comes to sound quality. ANC and 3D Sound worked fine, but you don’t want to use a lot of 3D Sound.
Features like Listening Care and Listening Optimizer work in the background and provide a better experience. Listening Care maintains the volume level and the Listening Optimizer feature customizes the sound based on the level of sound entering the headphones. I didn’t feel any significant difference in music with them on or off.
Audio quality is further enhanced with the help of Qualcomm aptX Adaptive support. With the OnePlus 9 (Review), I got a better sound experience than the iPhone 13 (Review). Starting with The Avalanches’ Frankie Sinatra, I learned how the company has worked over the years to provide the best audio experience.
The soundstage felt very spacious and luxurious. You could feel slow sample elements, medium tempo rhythms and instruments, etc., and that too without the 3D sound mode activated. Enhance even a simple stereo signal thanks to its large drivers and super-tuning. With full-size speakers, it was able to produce good detail. Its sonic signature is balanced and refined, giving all frequencies a chance to come out right.
David Guetta’s Dirty Sexy Money had a tight bass but didn’t feel aggressive. Listening to Onur Ozman’s Only Human was also a very pleasant experience. I have a similar experience with my Sony WH-1000XM4, which is currently my top choice for high-end headphones.
One of the outstanding features of the Yamaha YH-L700A headphones is its 3D sound. This is similar to Apple’s Spatial Audio technology used in AirPods headphones and earphones. Interestingly, when it’s on, it works for almost any audio content, regardless of application or operating system, and it’s not limited to certain applications, as in the case of Spatial Audio.
It gave different listening effects but the audio quality dropped. Audio Room mode was the only one that maintained decent sound quality. Head tracking worked well too. He was changing channels precisely with the movement of his head. Overall, though, I found the mode a bit tricky and it’s only worth using when watching TV shows or movies.
Active noise cancellation on the Yamaha YH-L700A is pretty good. But it’s not like the Sony WH-1000XM4 and Apple AirPods Max. Its silence effect was quite good and it was better detected indoors. He didn’t do much abroad. It is based on a noise blocking seal and my glasses were causing a gap that didn’t work as well.
Ambient sound mode works fine, but sounds like piped sound. The natural effect like AirPods Max was not available on it. The headphones are good enough to call and the connection remains stable. Nor were they lacking in quality. It was able to work well even at a distance of 4 meters from the source device.
Verdict
The premium headset segment is dominated by a few well-known brands. Among them, Yamaha YH-L700A is like a breath of fresh air. This is a good pair of over-ear headphones. It has good sound quality and some interesting features. The company’s years of experience in audio products make this product an interesting option at this price.
Its average active noise cancellation performance lets the experience down a bit. These Yamaha headphones offer detailed and fun sound just like the Sony WH-1000XM4. At the Rs 35,000 price range, they are slightly more expensive than the Sony WH-1000XM4 and JBL Tour One. However, if you are looking for a product with top-notch sound quality, then this is the device for you.