Yamaha YH-L700A: noise reduction, head tracking and 3D sound emulation

Many manufacturers have been trying to add three-dimensionality to two-channel headphones for a long time — and Yamaha did not stand aside: the full-size Yamaha YH-L700A wireless headphones were promised an immersive 360° sound when playing music from any source.

The 3D Sound Field virtualization technology is responsible for this. Technology has several settings: and preset modes for different music and different genres of cinema, and custom adjustments. This is all configurable in the Yamaha Headphones Controller App for mobile devices.

Virtualization is also helped by a system that tracks the position of the listener’s head in space relative to the source. This will be especially useful when watching movies.

In addition to these functions, there is also the Listening Optimizer, which adjusts the sound of the headphones to the ears of a particular listener, and the Listening Care, which corrects the frequency response so that everything is heard well at low volume.

There is also adaptive noise reduction with adaptive noise transmission. Yamaha YH-L700A sources are connected via Bluetooth 5.0, from the codecs they support aptX Adaptive plus SBC and AAC, and they can even play music in Hi-Res format via cable – the declared frequency range was 8 Hz – 40 kHz.

The headphone battery will last for 34 hours of operation with the noise reduction on, but the 3D sound emulator is much more voracious: with this function, plus the noise reduction, the headphones will work for only 11 hours. And we cannot say that the model turned out to be heavy – visually massive headphones with rounded cups weigh 330 grams.

The kit includes a charging cable, audio cable and hard case. The start of sales is scheduled for August – in the UK Yamaha YH-L700A will cost £450.