Yamaha YH-C3000 Review: New Closed-Back Competition!

Recently, Yamaha announced the release of two new high-end headphones: the YH-4000 and the YH-C3000. These two come as complements to each other and the flagship YH-5000, and audiophiles are ready to hear what they have to offer. I was lucky to get my hands on the YH-C3000, the closed-back release, and I'm excited to share all my impressions and insights. Does the Dan Clark E3 finally have some competition? Should Yamaha stick to open-backs? All these questions and more will be answered in this detailed review. 

Let's start with the physical quality of these headphones. The Yamaha YH-C3000 is immediately noticed as a lightweight headphone. The earcups are smaller than I expected from the photo, and the outer shell really shines in the right light. The cleaning cloth provided is convenient, as the sides are definitely prone to getting fingerprints on the shiny surface. 

Wearing the headphones, I once again must point out how lightweight they are. A lot of high-end headphones have a heavier weight to them, and that can sometimes be fatiguing. The YH-C3000 is just heavy enough to show quality, and the ear cups are just the right size to fit over the ear for an ideal seal. The sliding scale for headband adjustment let me get the exact level of comfort I was aiming for, so listening was comfortable for extended periods of time. 

The YH-C3000 headphone shows off excellent construction and build quality, but the cable that comes with it makes adaptability difficult. The cable is proprietary to Yamaha, and standard 3rd party cables won't work. If you want to use 4.4mm, you'll have to make sure you get a cable that is compatible with the Yamaha headphone. 

• Retail Price: $1,699.95
• Headphone Type: Over-ear
• Housing: Closed-back
• Driver: Armodynamic (Dynamic)
• Frequency Response: 5Hz - 55Hz
• Sensitivity (SPL): 94 dB/mW (at 1 kHz)
• Weight: 330 g (11.6 oz)
• Impedance: 34 Ω (at 1 kHz)

SOUNDSTAGE & IMAGING

Moving on to the listening review, we start with the soundstage and overall signature. The YH-C3000 has a fairly wide soundstage, which is impressive in a closed-back headphone. You get excellent expansion from left to right, and that sound also has decent depth for instrumental layering. The sound gets a bit of a V-shaped signature, where the midrange comes forward to highlight vocals and melodic instruments, while the other frequencies filter behind. There is decent separation between the instruments in the entire signature, and their placement in the stereo field is accurate for people who like the immersive quality. 

The overall signature of the YH-C3000 is flat. but not entirely neutral. Everything stays on the same plane but has fun coloration to be entertaining for listening as well as analytical. I could see this being doubled as a reference headphone and a casual listening headphone, though I think I would use it just for entertainment more than analyzing sound. 

BASS FREQUENCIES

The bass response on the Yamaha YH-C3000 was very entertaining to listen to. It is punchy and tight, keeping control of the track and giving it the drive it needs. The sound reproduction in this range isn't quite natural, as there is a certain "warped" tone that the bass gets, especially for driving tracks. This should not be marked as a bad thing; as a matter of fact, it was one of my favorite things about the bass coloration. You get to hear the timbres and details of the lower register instruments with stunning clarity. The YH-C3000's bass still gets body and warmth in those slower-paced tracks, so you get a rich sound that adapts to the genre it's in. 

MIDRANGE FREQUENCIES

The transparency in this range should be applauded. There is an excellent amount of clarity that comes forward in the YH-C3000, paired with a natural sound that makes the elements in a track sound very realistic. There was a lot of good separation between the instruments in the tracks, and they filtered backwards to create a nice sense of depth and space. Timbres of instruments in this range didn't get the same 'warped' quality that the bass did; instead, it took on a much more refined and natural quality that made listening to different genres very entertaining. I could see in this range that the YH-C3000 could be a reference headphone: the natural sound, the forward presentation, and the detailed precision are all qualities frequently found in reference headphones. 

TREBLE FREQUENCIES

The YH-C3000's treble response took some time to win me over. At first listen, I was taken aback by the sharp precision in this range and how everything was aligned with razor-sharp clarity. However, over time, I grew to like this range more and more. The clarity in the top end wasn't overbearing; instead, the YH-C3000 was accentuating the detail from other ranges and bringing out new timbres and textures that I hadn't heard with other headphones. There was still a lot of space left at the top for frequencies to ring out, and the roll-off at the top wasn't unnatural or too jarring to be distracting. This range certainly rounds out the entire headphone, balancing out a strong bass and forward midrange with the same punchyenergy. 

During my listening, I used a few different devices to drive the YH-C3000. While the headphone didn't need a huge amplifier to get it up and running, it certainly did benefit with a little more power than a basic amplifier. I used the following while listening to the YH-C3000:

• FiiO K13 R2R
• iFi iDSD Valkyrie
• Fosi MC331

I used a few portable amplifiers as well, such as the FiiO KA11 and the Fosi DS2. While these did drive the headphones well enough, you could tell that the YH-C3000 still had more to give. Pairing it with a heavier duty amplifier brought out a wider soundstage, increased clarity, and louder volumes that people will enjoy to listen at. My favorite pairing with the YH-C3000 was the iFi Valkyrie, as the XBass and XSpace filters complemented the V-shaped signature nicely to make the listening more entertaining. 

The Yamaha YH-C3000 presents a new competitor in the world of closed-back headphones. Between the wide, expansive soundstage and the dynamic clarity, the YH-C3000 is quickly going to become a part of many audiophile collections. The cable termination is easy to plug and play into any DAC/Amp you may have at home, and the build quality allows you to listen for hours without fatigue.

The Yamaha YH-C3000 is available today at Audio46.