Big on sound
Why don’t Yamaha’s headphones get more attention? They’ve got the cachet of an established Japanese audio brand. They have the track record – including a number of Sound+Image Awards in recent years. Yet they don’t often seem to make the recommendations lists that are stocked with the more usual candidates. Perhaps that will change with this move into the mainstream category of wireless noise-cancelling headphones, introducing this YH-E700A, launching at what can now (thanks to Apple’s eye-watering expensive AirPods Max) be called a midrange price of $499. There’s also a pair of on-ears, the YH-E500A at just $229, which we’ll be reviewing next issue.
Build & features
The YH-E700A are substantial headphones, their earcups 90mm in diameter, fully circumaural and spaciously so, with leatherette-covered foam earpads that are 25mm thick, sealing firmly yet lightly around the ears. While these earpads were very comfortable, we needed a tad more extension to the headband for our admittedly fairly large head: we had to pull the Yamahas down to get them fully centred on the ears, so that the padded headphone band pushed a little hard on the top pressure point.
The headphones both pivot and swivel, so they tuck away neatly into their hard carry-case, noting only that this case itself is substantially larger than those of competitors such as Sony and
