The Beyerdynamic brand is known for its natural, transparent and often neutral profile. It has long been respected by audio engineers for having an honest and reliable balance and sound signature. The Xelento Wireless 2nd Generation holds all of these qualities while also making the sound exceptionally pleasing to the ears. Let’s take a look at what you can expect from these high-end wireless earphones.

In the Box

• Silicone ear tips in 7 sizes (XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL)
• Foam ear tips S,M,L (type ComplyTM Tx-500)
• Spare cerumen protective grids
• Bluetooth® receiver with remote control and USB cable
• Connecting cable with remote control, 4-pole mini jack (3.5 mm)
• Cable clips (2 pcs.)
• Microfibre cleaning cloth
• Hard Case (70 x 134 x 24 mm)
• Quick start guide and compliance booklet

Look and Feel

Out of the box, you’ll find two detached IEMs with MMCX connectors. They’re quite small, fitting snugly and comfortably into the ear. The wireless attachment has a neckband and remote. Although a neckband may not be the sexiest look, it’s so light that it’s hard to notice once around the neck. And, of course, it serves the purpose of minimizing weight and keeping the earbuds hanging neatly when not in use. The controls are very easy to use and are intuitively placed on the neckband and wire. The caveat lies in the over-ear wire design. Although the wires sit over the ear, they don’t feel like a traditional IEM (no memory wire) and, especially if you wear glasses, they may become uncomfortable after about an hour of use. But since the earbuds themselves fit so snugly, a quick fix would be to wear them without looping the wire over the ear.

Design and Functionality

The Xelento Wireless 2nd Generation uses the same 11mm Tesla transducer as the remote Xelento. Beyerdynamic has added a touch of frivolous but classy luxury to the earphones, employing a 24 ct real gold logo, gold-plated connectors and silver-plated cables. They’ve also added an AKM DAC (digital to analogue converter) to the design, contributing to the high fidelity sound.

The Xelento Wireless 2nd Generation comes with an accompanying app, which has an interesting and potentially invaluable function for people with minor hearing loss. The app will guide you through a hearing test and customize the sound profile to compensate for any deficiencies in your hearing. 

The Xelento Wireless 2nd Generation shares all the standard functions of the remote Xelento, including, track skipping and call navigation. Call clarity is good, though receivers noted that ambient noise was audible, including the chatter of colleagues from about 10 feet away.

Bluetooth

The Xelento 2nd Generation uses the latest Bluetooth technology (5.2). It pairs quickly and gives you a relatively long range. It supports almost all CODECS, including, LHDC, Qualcomm® aptX™ HD, aptX™ Adaptive, aptX™, AAC, and SBC.

Battery

You can expect about 14 hours of playtime from the 2nd Generation, which is less than mind blowing, but understandable given the DAC.

Soundstage

Right off the bat, I was very impressed with the staging on these earphones. It’s unusual to find wireless headphones with such spacious imaging. And you’ll not only hear roomy left to right placement, but plenty of height and depth as well. I played “Shallow” by Lady Gaga, which is not a significantly multidimensional recording. But the placement of the strings felt very nuanced as they came in from behind. And gradations of instrument placement across the board were precise. My guess is that even the most uncompromising audiophiles will be delighted by what these wireless buds can pull off with respect to soundstage.

Low End

As in the wired version, Beyerdynamic has taken a somewhat conservative approach to the low end. It presents a natural bass response, that is neither overdone or lacking. As someone who likes an unadulterated sound but appreciates a fairly represented bass response, I was more than satisfied. Listening to The Beatles’ “Come Together” for example, you’ll hear that the Xelento does complete justice to the intro of the song. The bass feels prominent with notes well separated. All the subtleties of the vocals are revealed, and the drums in this range have ample punch and energy. It’s fast, tight and highly detailed.

Mids

Here too, The Xelento Wireless 2nd Generation offers an even keeled sound. The lower and upper mids are shown equal attention, giving big rock and pop-rock songs ample body. At the same time, acoustic instruments are delicately handled with great separation and detail. Purist audiophiles who appreciate a neutral sounding headphone will gravitate to this sound. While those who prefer more color and pizzaz to their mixes might find the Xelento less interesting. But certainly if you listen to a lot of folk, classical and jazz music, these buds are hard to beat.

Highs

Again, fans of classical music will be drawn to the sound in this range. Strings are exceedingly  transparent yet pleasingly musical and smooth in the highs. It’s difficult to find an earphone that can achieve this balance, and the Xelento does it flawlessly. This quality applies to all instruments and even vocals, which reveal ample breath and a silky smooth quality.

Summary

It’s hard not to fall in love with the Xelento sound. Nothing is overcooked or too colored, and the level of detail is impeccable for a wireless earphone. At the same time, the Xelento Wireless 2nd Generation takes extra care to ensure that the sound profile is pleasurable, especially in the high frequencies. For true audiophiles who want to dip their toes into the Bluetooth world, the Xelento Wireless 2nd Generation is a more than worthy choice.

You can find the Xelento Wireless 2nd Generation at Audio 46