Blasting music through your headphones may be enjoyable, but it can be detrimental to your hearing health, particularly if you favor in-ear headphones that sit at the opening of your ear canal, like the AirPods Pro.
However, Yamaha's latest range of wireless headphones could go some way in protecting your precious hearing, thanks to a new technology called Listening Care.
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All the models in the new range – which includes two pairs of true wireless earbuds and a pair of over-ear headphones – allow listeners to hear "full-range sound from high to low frequencies" at low volumes.
According to Yamaha, this "overcomes a challenge faced by typical headphones, where low volume listening goes hand-in-hand with a pronounced reduction to certain frequency ranges, resulting in listeners cranking up the volume to levels that may affect hearing health".
By "encouraging lower volume listening by intelligently adjusting sound frequencies", Yamaha's latest headphones could be well worth a look if you're concerned about preserving your hearing.
Advanced ANC
The flagship over-ear headphones in the new line – the YH-E700A – come with Advanced ANC (active noise cancellation), which Yamaha says won't "color or degrade sound", rather removing background noise "while keeping the music signal pure and untouched".
The YH-E700A also come with an Ambient Sound mode, which allows environmental noise to pass through the earcups – a handy feature for times when you need to quickly tune into your surroundings.
Connectivity comes courtesy of Bluetooth 5 with aptX Adaptive audio, while battery life comes in at 35 hours – this is likely with ANC turned off, however.
Coming in black and white with swivelling earcups, the new headphones will be available to buy in December for $349.95 / £349 / AU$499, which is the same price as the Sony WH-1000XM4 (though Australian readers will notice that the E700As are considerably cheaper than Sony's cans in their region).
While Yamaha hasn't offered any information on the kind of drivers used within the YH-E700A, though it has confirmed that the new headphones come with its Listening Optimizer technology.
This allows the headphones to calculate the way sound reaches your ears every 20 seconds, and applies a "correcting algorithm" to ensure "the best sound".
Yamaha has also announced two pairs of true wireless earbuds to rival the AirPods Pro and the regular AirPods.
The flagship pair – the YH-E7A – come with noise cancellation, Ambient Sound, and support wireless charging via a compatible charging mat (though USB charging is available if you prefer).
Like the over-ear headphones, the YH-E7A come with Bluetooth 5 with Qualcomm aptX, and a decent battery life – you get five hours from the buds themselves, and a further 15 from the wireless charging case.
Available in black and white, the wireless earbuds come with an IPX5 water resistance rating, making them suitable for use while working out, as well as a number of silicone sleeves and eartips, so you should be able to find a secure fit.
Meanwhile, the YH-E5A come with an even longer battery life, with 6.5 hours from the buds and a further three charges contained in the case.
With no active noise cancellation onboard, the E5A are the cheaper of the two wireless earbud models.
Both will be available to buy from October, with the YH-E7A costing $229.95 / £229 / AU$329 and the YH-E5A coming in at $159.95 / £179 / AU$229.
