INTRODUCTION

    Both due to audio performance and battery life concerns wireless headphones may not be the go to choice for most audiophiles but they've been getting closer and closer to wired models and well, for people who don't like wires such as I that's a great thing. What's even better is that right now there are quite a few manufacturers out there offering top notch wireless headphone models and so if you choose one of those chances are you'll not be disappointed. Beyerdynamic is one of those audio manufacturers that really need no introductions and with me today I have the Aventho 300 Over-Ear Wireless Headphones which they unveiled last September.

    Since 1924, beyerdynamic has stood for first-class, professional audio products that delight discerning customers around the world. The majority of the product lines are handmade at the Heilbronn site. In the product areas “Creator”, “Gamer”, “Work & Learn” and “Enjoyment - Music lovers”, beyerdynamic offers headphones, headsets, microphones, gaming, and home office products. They all have one thing in common: pristine sound. This has always carried the company across the emotional stages of the world, through the inspiring studios of the cities and into the ears and hearts of the people.

    The Aventho 300 over-ear wireless headphones follow the closed-back design, are available in 2 colors (black and white) and are based on beyerdynamic’s Stellar.45 dynamic drivers (also used with highly acclaimed models like their DT 700/900 Pro X). Frequency response sits between 5Hz and 22kHz and as for features the Aventho 300 are fully packed with quad ANC (active noise cancellation with adaptive and transparency modes) chipsets, six MEMS microphones with sidetone support, Bluetooth v5.4 with multipoint connectivity (simultaneous connection with 2 devices), spatial audio with Dolby Atmos and headtracking, support for aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless codecs, lithium-ion battery pack (up to 50 hours with ANC on), touch pad controls and foldable earcups. This is my first encounter with a wireless model by beyerdynamic, so I am also very interested to see how the Aventho 300 performs.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Aventho 300 arrived inside a black and white box that has the company logo and a product picture at the front.

At the rear we find the main product features under a product picture and next to several other pictures.

Opening the box reveals the hard storage/carrying case with the Aventho 300 inside.

Along with the Aventho 300 wireless headphones and the hard case inside the box you'll also find a soft fabric bag, 3.5mm cable, USB-C to USB-A cable, warranty information paper and the quick start guide.

THE AVENTHO 300

The Aventho 300 are made of metallic alloy, breathable fabric, plastic and faux leather.

In terms of size the 319g heavy Aventho 300 are medium ones.

The model’s name is imprinted on the exterior of the left earcup while the company name is located on the ends of the headband.

Inside each earcup beyerdynamic has placed three MEMS microphones and two ANC chipsets and well their ports are easy to spot.

The exterior of the right earcup is basically the touch pad which allows you to increase/decrease volume, play/pause and accept/reject/end calls, choose the previous or next track and launch the digital assistant.

Around the right earcup we also find the 3.5mm and USB-C ports and the active noise cancellation modes and power on/off/Bluetooth pairing buttons.

As expected, left and right markings are located on the interior just over the earcups.

Earpads are made of foam and faux leather and are medium in size.

Thanks to the joints beyerdynamic has placed the earcups can swivel and fold as seen above.

The headpad also features foam covered with faux leather (a bit more foam however would be nice).

Beyerdynamic has engraved their logo on top of the headband.

Each side of the headband extends up to 35mm via 11 increments (not visible ones).

The storage bag has enough room for the Aventho 2, fabric bag and the cables.

BEYERDYNAMIC APP

For complete control over the Aventho 300 you should use their smart app.

The app currently supports the 4 wireless models available by beyerdynamic.

You should first press the power on button for 6 seconds to initiate the Bluetooth pairing mode and then start the app.

As you can all see the app checks for new firmware updates and informs you of it (your device needs to be charged at least 50%).

Everything is included in the main tab so from here you can access the equalizer function (5 modes), ANC (2 modes, 5 levels), Dolby Atmos (spatial sound / head tracking), wearing detection, touch pad guide, auto shutdown, voice prompts (English & German), sidetone and LED brightness.

Worth pointing out is that there's a subtle playback effect at the base of the app when using the Aventho 300 as seen above.

Finally, you can do a factory reset from inside the settings tab.

CONCLUSION

    Wireless headphones/earphones have come a long way lately and the beyerdynamic Aventho 300 is a great example of that. Audio performance is great across the board from clear and detailed mids and highs to a good amount of lows/bass. Vocals are emphasized (as are highs in general which means mids do get overshadowed at times), instrument separation is very good and as for soundstage it's as wide as you'd expect from a top-end model by one of the leading manufacturers in the field (keep in mind that USB-C connectivity further improves audio performance, alas not by much). Battery life is as always dependent a lot on volume levels, audio codec used (aptX Lossless for my tests), Dolby Atmos on/off and ANC level so with volume set at around 80%, Dolby Atmos enabled, and ANC disabled I was able to squeeze just over 60 hours from the headset while with Dolby Atmos and ANC enabled (5 level) that dropped down to just under 50 hours. Keep in mind that most wireless headphones can't come anywhere near to that with ANC enabled so Beyerdynamic has done a great job here. Believe it or not however what really blew me away was the Dolby Atmos feature of the Aventho 300 and more specifically Dolby Head Tracking which works amazingly well. So basically, if you are looking straight ahead sound comes from both sides but the moment you turn your head sound only comes from the opposite side, exactly as it would if you were facing away from a real band. This may not matter to many of course (most if not all corded models don't offer this after all but those are what most audiophiles use) but it adds to realism and enriches the overall experience so kudos to beyerdynamic for this. ANC also works well and even though it's not quite as good as some top-end BOSE and SONY models I've used to date (beyerdynamic has used dual SONY chipsets in each side) it comes really close and honestly, it doesn't need to be much better than this especially since it does also allow for hear-through/transparency (do remember, ANC reduces audio clarity when used, regardless of model). What didn't work quite as advertised were the touch controls and so either they'd be too sensitive or not at all meaning I had to swipe my finger more than once for the corresponding command to get through. This isn't a game breaker since you can easily control everything from your smartphone and/or music player via the beyerdynamic app but it was an issue during testing, so I do need to point it out. The lack of support for codecs like LDAC and LHDC is of small concern since aptX Lossless is supported, still it certainly would be nice to have (it would also make the Aventho 300 Hi-Res Wireless compliant). As for the beyerdynamic app there's not much I can say about it that you haven't already seen, it's clearly among the best of its kind (easy to navigate and use, looks great too) and I never encountered a single issue while testing.

    Right now, the Aventho 300 over-ear wireless headphones by beyerdynamic retail for USD379.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 349Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) and thus land between several similarly priced models by other leading audio manufacturers. In the end it all comes down to one’s needs, yes there are others that may do better in other aspects but since the Aventho 300 is a great all-around model it comes highly recommended and also receives the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Audio Performance
- Available Features (Adaptive ANC / Dolby Atmos / Head Tracking / aptX Lossless)
- Battery Life (Up To Over 50 Hours)
- 6 MEMS Microphones
- Touch Pad Controls
- Earcups Fold & Swivel
- Comfort Levels
- beyerdynamic app

CONS

- Lack Of Hi Res Codec Support
- Touch Pad Sensitivity
- Price (For Some)