We got to once again sit down with a pair of Amiron headphones from beyerdynamic, which just so happens to be one of the more prestigious models in their collection, sharing the same space as models like the Aventho series and of course their flagship, the T1 headphones. Although they probably don’t come near the T1 headphones, they do seem to fit quite well next to the Aventhos, which says a lot already.
This time, they have taken their Amiron headphones wireless, adding Bluetooth to the wired-only Amiron Home model, giving you the flexibility of taking them with you when you’re mobile, while still being able to plug them into a good source with a wire when your not.
Design and Comfort
The headphones are a combination of plastic and aluminum alloy, with a gunmetal grey, silver and black color theme. Band is adjustable for height of head and the muffs swivel up and down by about 45 degrees, and there is no swivel to the sides (however the flexibility of the band takes care of this just fine). The beyerdynamic logo displays proudly on both sides of the band as well as the back of the left muff.
The right muff contains everything involving inputs or controls. There is a 3.5mm input for taking them wired with, and a USB 3.1 (Type-C) input for charging them. Between the both of these inputs is a button that just barely sticks out from the body, that powers the headphones on and off with (Bluetooth). This button is only needed of course when taking them wireless. The back of the muff contains a touchpad for touch controls (when in wireless Bluetooth mode). In this scenario, they basically took the controls and features of the wireless Aventho headphones, and stuck them into the Amiron Home.
A double-tap with your finger will play or pause the music you are listening to, or answer/end a phone call. Touching and holding your finger to the plate will trigger your voice assistant. You can increase or decrease the volume by sliding your finger up or down, and you can control the tracks you are listening to by sliding left or right. All of this is quite accurate and responsive to your touch most of the time, and as mentioned, is only available when using them wirelessly with Bluetooth.
One of the most noticeable changes however between the original Amiron Home and the Amiron Wireless, is the change from open-back to closed-back design. You don’t see a lot of open-back designs when it comes to wireless, outside of wireless systems that are meant to remain in the home (RF listening solutions for TVs and what not). The biggest reason is obvious. If you are going to take your headphones mobile, then you are going to lose a lot with an open-back design, purely due to the ambient noise around you (unlike the quiet of your home). So they seem to have changed direction for this reason (more than likely), not to mention this allows them to add in their touch controls on the right side.
If wireless isn’t your thing, you could still take them wired with the provided 3.5mm wire, which is around 4 ft in length and contains an in-line microphone and controls. The controls of course are your three typical buttons for play/pause as well as volume and track control. Everything the touchpad does, in a three-button design.
The band bends easily, allowing it to rest comfortably on your head without exhaustion during long uses. This means it will feel good while wearing them, however it also means it won’t cut out as much of the ambient noise around you as a tighter pair would.
Despite how large the headphones are (normal for this style), their weight is a fraction of what your eyes predict when you go to pick them up. This also plays a lot into the comfort during long uses. The cushions on both the band and the muffs feature a soft felt material with soft foam inside and really feels good. The cushions seem to be replaceable in case they start to break down or get damaged throughout time, but the band’s cushion is permanent.
Performance
Like the wireless Aventho headphones, the wireless Amiron supports beyerdynamic’s MIY app (available on both iOS and Android devices). This app runs through a hearing test to help personalize the headphones to your own ears. The test is around 6 minutes long, and it saves the resulting profile to the headphones directly. Use of the app is is only available when going wireless with Bluetooth (just like the touch controls).
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Sound is pretty decent in all three possible scenarios of using these headphones. By that, I mean wireless (Bluetooth), wired normal and wired using a nice DAC or tube amplifier. Moving from the least to most impressive of the options, wireless via Bluetooth is the most basic of the three. With this, they sound similar to a $200 pair of Bluetooth headphones once you have them dialed in via the app. . Since they are only a $100 increase from the wired Amiron model, this doesn’t seem like such a bad deal. Especially when I talk about battery life in a little bit.
Taking them wired in a normal scenario, such as a smartphone, tablet, laptop and so forth, they begin to shine. This is similar to what we found with the wireless Aventho headphones. This may be an issue once again with not taking advantage of the latest Bluetooth specs, forcing a ceiling on bandwidth–although we couldn’t find the exact Bluetooth specs labeled anywhere online or in the instructions to say for sure. With the wire though, your range and soundstage seem to benefit noticeably.
Now take it wired with a nice DAC or tube amplifier, and that benefit becomes quite noticeable. This is where they truly shine. So you have a really good pair of wired headphones (especially when using the right amp), with the ability to take them wireless with you with some sacrifice when doing so.
The range (sound-wise) feels like it can be fed with a balanced menu of source media. Everything from a broad range of music genres, to watching a fun movie on Netflix. Although they are clearly targeted for audiophiles, we didn’t quite think they fared the best with listening as some other models can. For example, the Aventho headphones, taken wired, still wins in our opinion (between the two). These headphones have a larger soundstage to them, but the Aventho headphones seemed to have a better range. When comparing the two prices to each other, we definitely recommend the Aventho headphones if you aren’t absolutely set on an over-ear design (since they are on-ear). In which case, we would recommend these as they do still sound great.
Using them for phone conversations seems to be quite fine both wired and wireless. Both parties could understand each other just fine. Nothing too extraordinary to point out here, but usually there never is unless a product is touting excellent voice isolation in the noisiest of environments.
Distance is also pretty decent, but not comparable to headphones that can travel around an entire house without the connected device never needing to travel with it. We were able to get around 20-30 ft through basic wood/drywall walls, and around 40-50 ft with a direct line of sight (no walls in between). So you can get decently far, but you may still find yourself having to bring the phone (or whatever the device may be) with you at times.
Lastly, battery life is one of the top bragging rights of the wireless Amiron headphones. You can achieve up to 30 or more hours of use with these, making them useful when you plan on taking them mobile. Chances are, you can make an entire vacation trip without even charging them once while away (assuming you are listening at an average amount of hours per day). In our testing of them, we have yet to recharge them once outside of the initial charge before first using them. This was a big winner when it came to their score. To make things even better, charging them only takes up to two hours thanks to the USB 3.1 input.
What’s in the Box?
The accessories are quite simple, including the USB 3.1 (Type-C) cable for charging them and the 3.5mm aux cable (for wired devices). You get some warranty information, a user manual, and there is also a nice (large) case to store them in. The case is a semi-hardshell solution with a zipper that wraps around. The inside has a pouch to store your cables with that can be adjusted in location however you like.
Our Conclusion
The wireless Amiron make for a fun pair of headphones to listen to if you know how to get the most out of them. It would be nice to see better performance when it comes to using them wireless (Bluetooth), however you are getting the quality of a $200 pair of wireless headphones with only a $99 price hike. However, with a price tag of $699, you might not be as interested if all you are looking to use them for is wireless. On a positive note, the battery life is absolutely outstanding, with 30 or more hours of use time between charges (and USB 3.1 charging). When going wired with a DAC/tube amplifier, you get the most out of these, including a decent sound stage. That being said, we found that we liked the wireless Aventho headphones a little better when it came to both performance, features and price. Still, if you feed these properly (lossless or better music source and an amp), they can really shine when you want them too. At this point, it is going to come down to personal preference.
| Buy from Amazon | Buy from beyerdynamic | |
Our Rating | Average Price* $699 |
*Average price is based on the time this article was published
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Specifications:
Transducer type: dynamic
Operating prinicple: closed
Frequency response: 5 – 40,000 Hz (wired operation)
Nominal impedance: 32 ?
Nominal SPL with jack plug cable: 100 dB SPL (1 mW / 500 Hz)
Nominal power handling capacity: 200 mW
THD: < 0.05% @ 500 Hz
Sound coupling to the ear: circumaural
Cable length and connector: 1.2 m, 4-pole mini stereo jack (3.5 mm)
Bluetooth version: 4.2
Frequency range 2.4000 – 2.4835 GHz
Power class: 2.0
Supported profiles: HSP, HFP, A2DP, AVRCP, GAVDP
Supported codecs: aptX™, aptX™ LL, aptX™ HD, AAC, SBC
Operating range: up to 10 m
Battery runtime: > 30 hrs.
Charging time: 2 hrs.
Battery capacity: 1050 mAh
Charging port: USB-C
Operating temperature: 0 – 40 °C
Weight without cable: 380 g
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