Beyerdynamic AVENTHO Y Review: This is "Y" You Should Try

What are the best value over-ear Bluetooth headphones on the market today? Beyerdynamic has a new release that just might win that category. The Beyerdynamic AVENTHO Y is an over-ear Bluetooth listening experience that retails for an incredible $149.99. Can you get high-quality sound for under $200? What is the AVENTHO Y bringing to the table that makes it a great value? Today, we investigate the AVENTHO Y and see what you get for a budget price point. 

Let's start with the physical qualities of the AVENTHO Y. Beyerdynamic normally sticks to white, black, and the occasional orange when it comes to color variations. The AVENTHO Y breaks away from this pattern, offering four different color options to choose from. You have the choice between liquid black, blue fusion, soft jade, and peach blush. All these colors are soft and not too bright, so you're able to get a pop of color without drawing too much attention.

The build of the AVENTHO Y wasn't anything special; it felt very lightweight in hand and had earcups that rotated to lay flat. The earcups were large and circular, and the over-ear fit was very good for passive isolation. The soft earpads blocked any sound leakage from coming in or out, so even without the additional ANC, you are set to become fully immersed in your tracks. The AVENTHO Y's earcups are quite large, and while they aren't as deep as some other earcups, they still provide a very comfortable over-ear wear style. I found myself able to wear these for hours without fatigue, as even the clamping force against my glasses was not too obstructive to interrupt my listening. 

The AVENTHO Y doesn't come with a case, but it does come with a drawstring bag should you need to pack it up safely. Other than that, you have a USB-C cable for both wired listening and charging. It has a port for 4.5mm listening, but you will need to get a separate cable in order to use that feature. 

Connecting the AVENTHO Y to your device is simple and easy. The physical switch on the side makes pairing with your device very quick, and you navigate through a lot of controls with the few physical buttons it provides. Volume control, track playback, ANC, and play/pause are all accessible through the physical buttons on the earcups, and there are no touch sensors to accidentally set off. 

In terms of features, the AVENTHO Y provides a solid lineup of customizable options for being at the $150 price point. The AVENTHO Y comes with an impressive 60 hours of battery life with active noise cancellation, jumping up to 90 hours when you turn ANC off. The active noise cancellation is fairly strong and allows you to really lock in on your listening. In the Beyerdynamic app, you have the option to choose the level of noise cancellation in the AVENTHO Y. You can have it at the strongest level or turn it down if you find it to be too disorienting. Additionally, Beyerdynamic offers the option to customize your listening with EQ in the app. There are some preset filters based on genre and certain sonic qualities that you can easily toggle between, or you can create your own filter to save and use when you wish. This kind of customization makes the AVENTHO Y an excellent value device.

• Wearing Style: Over-ear
• Operating Principle: Closed
• Transmission Type: Wireless via Bluetooth™
• Remote: Without Remote
• Weight (without cable): 316 g
• Battery (ANC ON): 60+ hours
• Battery (ANC OFF): 90+ hours
• Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz
• Range: <20m
• Bluetooth version: 6.0
• Codecs: SBC, AAC
• Charging Port Type: USB-C

SOUNDSTAGE & IMAGING

After we look at all the features, we then turn to the sound. What does the AVENTHO Y bring to the table sonically? When I first listened to the headphones, I was struck immediately by the loud sound reproduction. The entire signature got very loud very fast, which is great for people who really love to boost the volume to drown out the outside. The soundstage on the AVENTHO Y wasn't super wide to create this vast space, but it expanded horizontally enough to make a nice frontal picture. You could place elements in the sound field very easily, and the sound grew in height more than it did in depth. You got an impressive wall of sound in front of you that wrapped over your head as well as around it. This made listening to the AVENTHO Y a very active listening experience. 

The signature of the AVENTHO Y leans towards the bass. The midrange and treble are still very present and bring out lots of detail in the signature. The bass is punchy and forward, giving the AVENTHO Y a lot of energy. Even in some mellower tracks, the punchy bass and sharp attention to detail give the headphones a burst of life. This makes pop, rock, and other fast-paced tracks very fun to listen to. For the listener who wants something that will be engaging and fun for their everyday listening, the AVENTHO Y has a great signature to accompany them. I was a fan of how colorful and fun this headphone was, and while I may not use it for analytical listening, I would certainly grab it 

BASS FREQUENCIES

The bass in the AVENTHO Y is the star of the show. If you're a fan of thick, punchy bass responses, this headphone will definitely be right up your alley. The bass came to the front of every track it was featured in, and while it was the majority of the signature, it didn't make the AVENTHO Y's profile feel too heavy. The treble response cut through the bass to brighten the lows, enriching the detail and making timbres more easily heard. The bass was thick and full-bodied, but it still maintained detail to make percussion and lower strings easy to recognize. The sub-bass extension was effective in making the bass feel more natural and less synthetic, as well as opening up the depth in the soundstage. I found that drums were especially impactful given their fast response and heavier tones, and the AVENTHO Y was especially good at making sure the bass response was not too heavy to feel like the profile was dragging along.  

MIDRANGE FREQUENCIES

The midrange is where a lot of main melodies are held, and the AVENTHO Y makes sure they don't get lost in the mix. The midrange sonic reproduction is loud and powerful, bursting with color and texture to make tracks engaging and inviting. If you were looking for a mellow headphone, the AVENTHO Y isn't it; this headphone is powerful and loud and demands your attention. The AVENTHO Y reproduces sound in the midrange naturally, but gives each element an extra punch of color to make everything stand out a little more. You can hear the height in the soundstage and the attention to detail most in this range, and despite the separation not being as stark, you still can appreciate all the individual elements of this sound signature. 

TREBLE FREQUENCIES

At the very top of the signature, the AVENTHO Y has a treble response that is bright and airy. It cuts through the thicker bass response to balance everything out quite well. There are times when it can sound a bit sharp, especially in genres that have high-end as a prominent feature. The top end does sit behind the bass, but since it sits more evenly with the midrange, it helps in lightening up the signature as a whole. The treble in the AVENTHO Y is very bright and bursting with color, making the top-end instruments very lively in every genre. It complements the energy in the low end, keeping the energy high and moving in even the slower genres. I was a fan of how the treble's detail carried from the top end to the low end, and it made space in the very ultra-high frequency range to make the AVENTHO Y less compressed. 

Beyerdynamic already has a Bluetooth over-ear headphone with a similar name. The AVENTHO 300 is a nicer Bluetooth headphone that retails for 2.5x the cost of the AVENTHO Y. Does this make the AVENTHO Y a better deal for over-ear, wireless convenience? Or does the AVENTHO 300 still stand as a sonic upgrade? 

Between the two headphones, you can see right off the bat that the build quality gets upgraded from one headphone to the next. The AVENTHO Y is great for its simplicity and minimal design, focusing on a comfortable over-ear fit and easy access to buttons. The AVENTHO 300 has touch sensors on the side to control volume and track playback, as well as a few buttons for Bluetooth pairing and ANC control. The earcup is slightly smaller on the AVENTHO 300, instead sporting a teardrop shape that fits over your ear more naturally. The AVENTHO 300 also has the added feature of a collapsible design to make it easy for travel.

Sonically, you'll find the AVENTHO Y to be very bassy in comparison to the AVENTHO 300. The AVENTHO 300 has a very forward midrange that makes the vocals and other melodic elements stand out the most. Clarity and detail are a highlight in the AVENTHO 300, whereas the AVENTHO Y focuses on drive and punch to keep tracks energized and entertaining. If you like more detail and spatialization when you listen, the AVENTHO 300 would be a worthy upgrade from the AVENTHO Y. That being said, the AVENTHO Y offers immersive listening for a reasonable cost, making it a worthy contender. 

The Beyerdynamic AVENTHO Y is a brilliant headphone for its price. At $150, you get a very comfortable over-ear headphone that delivers strong noise cancellation and loud sound reproduction. While the separation isn't quite on par with some high-end Bluetooth headphones, it does have good detail to make everyday listening enjoyable and fun. For people looking for a budget option that still punches above its weight, the AVENTHO Y is a great option to consider. 

You can get the AVENTHO Y at Audio46.