Beyerdynamic Amiron Hi-Res Wireless Bluetooth Headphones with Touchpad
$749.00
What We Dig
- Beautiful Design
- Bulletproof Build Quality
- Audiophile Sound Without Wires
What To Think About
- Bass May Be Lean For Some
Wow. Just wow.
With more and more smartphone manufacturers dropping headphone jacks, headphone companies have been compelled to step their wireless game up.
Just a few years ago, the sound from Bluetooth headphones was miserable. Audiophiles like myself rejected them out of hand for critical listening sessions at home. Can the headphone I’m reviewing today change that? It has for me.
Build and Features
The Amiron Wireless Copper is listed at $749 here in the U.S., and It’s made in Germany by Beyerdynamic, a company revered by audiophiles and studio engineers alike.
The Wireless Copper is a dressed-up version of their Amiron Wireless, a Bluetooth headphone engineered to duplicate the experience of their high-end wired models like the Amiron Home sans wires. There is no Active Noise Cancelling, optimum sound quality is the priority here.
The Copper version adds solid copper accent rings to the sides of the earcups, soft luxurious Alcantara fabric to the earpads and headband, and they ditch the drab studio grey of the original for a sexy matte black. Copper-colored trim finishes the look. They are sumptuous. Dare I say Instagram worthy?
The fit is just as sublime as the aesthetics. The clamp is perfectly judged, secure enough to keep them firmly planted on your noggin, while the earpads gently surround your ears with cushioned coziness. At only 400g or about 14oz, they’re also very light. I wore them for hours without the slightest bit of discomfort. I’ve heard people say they had problems with the earcup creating a seal on their head, but I didn’t have that problem. I think if you have them adjusted properly you will be fine.
Inside the generous earcups lie a low-impedance–32 ohm–variant of Beyerdynamic’s Dynamic Tesla driver. They modify them for use in a closed-back wireless context, so they differ somewhat from the elaborate 600-ohm version used in the T1 headphone.
Bluetooth is 4.2, not the newer 5.0 version, so the range will be limited compared to a headphone using the latter spec. That said, they are rated to work about 10 meters or a little more than 30 feet from the source, and according to my quick measurement, they did just that.
A wide range of Bluetooth codecs is supported, including Qualcomm® aptX™, aptX™ LL, aptX™ HD, AAC, and the Low Complexity Subband Codec or SBC. They don’t support LDAC, which transmits the highest data rates for lossless high-resolution music, but aptX HD comes close.
BTW, the headphones will use aptX HD by default if your phone supports it. My phone, the LG V40, did, and as soon as I paired the headphones, I got a voice prompt stating aptX HD was connected. I liked this, because, with most other headphones, I had to force the connection in one way or another.
You can turn the automatic connection to aptX HD off if you want to by using a combination swipe-button press on the headphone.
They rate battery runtime at 30 hours of playback, which sounds about right, I only needed to charge them every other day after a few hours of use. They went even longer if I didn’t use them on a particular day. There’s a USB-C port on the earcup for charging when the time comes.
If the battery runs out, you can still use them with the included cable, provided your phone still has a headphone jack. The cable also has a remote/mic for controlling playback and picking up phone calls. That’s a nice touch.
Control while in wireless mode–or wired with the power turned on–is handled via a touchpad on the right earcup. There are no buttons on the Amiron Copper beside a combination Power/BT Pairing button. Quick swipes up or down control volume, swipes left and right control track skipping.
Quick taps on the cup control play/pause or let you answer phone calls. A press and hold bring up Siri or Google Assistant, depending on the phone you have.
If you’ve read my reviews in the past, you know how much I hate these touch control schemes. Manufacturers rarely get it right, and you end up always trying to figure out the correct pressure and gesture to make something happen. A button, in most cases, would be a lot more convenient.
However, In this case, I liked the touch controls. The Amiron Copper was pretty precise in picking up my gestures, and I rarely found myself frantically swiping to make something happen. Very nice. I still prefer buttons, but with this headphone, I found myself hardly missing them.
As with most wireless headphones nowadays, Bluetooth pairing was relatively painless. You hold down the pairing button on the earcup then initiate BT pairing on your device, and the connection is super quick.
An LED in the connection button lets you know what the connection status is, along with voice prompts in the headphones.
Since I’m talking about the power/connection button, I have to mention it a real pain to use. It’s semi-recessed into the earcup and hard to get at. After a while, I got used to pressing it in with the tip of my finger, but it really shouldn’t be that hard. Not the end of the world, just a bug a boo of mine.
In the box, you get the headphones, the previously mentioned 1.2m connection cable for wired listening, a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging, and a big Hard Case for storage.
Listening to the Amiron Wireless Copper
When it comes to playing music, the Amiron Copper has a trick up its sleeve. By using it in conjunction with Beyerdynamic’s MIY app, you can personalize the sound of your headphones. I always looked at things like this as a gimmick, but I tried it in the name of being thorough.
The personalization scheme is an EQ set based on a hearing test administered in the MIY app. You connect the headphones via Bluetooth, pull up the app, and then start a hearing test.
The test plays tones at different frequencies, and you register when you begin hearing the tone by pressing a button on the screen. When you no longer hear the tone, you let the button go.
When you’re done with the test, the MIY app sets an EQ based on the results, which adjusts the frequencies of any music played via Bluetooth. The EQ can be disabled at any time via the app.
To compare the sound with and without personalization, I first listened to the Wireless Copper with it disabled.
I found the sound to be pretty flat, meaning it was balanced across the board. There was no emphasis on any part of the audio spectrum. The music was open and spacious, treble was rolled off, but sweet, midrange was slightly recessed but natural and liquid.
Bass was a tad bit thin but articulate, and I liked the sound overall. I like a balanced sound with maybe a little accentuation of the mids, massive bass is not necessary to me. If you want a lot of bass rumble, these headphones may not be for you, because they place accuracy, layering, and space over dynamics.
The only thing I found lacking was the soundstage. While imaging and depth were excellent, the sound didn’t seem to expand outside of the earcups that much.
After activating the personalized EQ, I was surprised to hear the difference. The overall sound signature didn’t change; it just seemed enhanced. There was more of everything. In my case, highs were boosted, almost to excess, but not quite, the midrange was smoother, and the Bass was deeper and fuller.
It was still very a balanced presentation, but it sounded livelier and more open. There was more depth. I liked the difference. You can also select the level of adjustment on a slider inside the app, making the effect of the EQ more or less pronounced. I liked it with the slider about halfway across.
I also listened to them with the headphones turned off and connected to the LG V40 with the connection cable. With the wired connection, they sounded even better than the EQ’d sound. It wasn’t a huge difference, but everything was just a little more focused, and the soundstage was wider.
In all modes, the Amiron Wireless Copper produced sound worthy of a headphone in its price range. I didn’t have another $750 Bluetooth headphone to compare it to, so I put it up against a wired dynamic headphone in its price range, the Focal Elear (on sale for $520 right now BTW #ad).
Compared to the Focal, which is an open-backed headphone, it didn’t have the same soundstage or imaging, especially in the wireless mode, but it wasn’t that far off. When connected with the wire, it was almost neck and neck. The Focal resolved a little bit better and is more dynamic, but it can also be bright or fatiguing with the wrong source.
The Amiron Wireless Copper has no such issue. It’s resolving but laid back enough to allow you to be drawn into the music. I like the sound. They are best with atmospheric electronic music like Bon Iver or Tokimonsta, and they also sound great with Jazz Vocals and Acoustic Music.
I loved them when I was listening to the new Jazzmeia Horn album “Love and Liberation,” it sounded like I had a seat at an intimate Jazz club. Again the only caveat I have is if you are looking for booming bass, these may not have enough for you. It was perfect for me.
Conclusion
I was awestruck by the build quality, comfort, and sound coming from the Amiron Wireless Copper. I will hate to see them go. At first, I was wondering if there was any Bluetooth headphone worth $750, but these sold me. If you want a wireless headphone that can hold its own soundwise with any headphone under $1000 wired or wireless, then I would check these out.
I think these may be the best Bluetooth headphone on the market, especially if you are into a balanced sound signature. The only other one I can see competing is the ANANDA-BT from Hifiman, but they are $250 more than the Beyerdynamic cans. I highly recommend the Amiron Copper Wireless if you have the scratch.
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I’m an audio writer who started as a young audio salesman/consumer electronics professional back in the late 90s. That’s where I discovered the magic of 2-Channel sound. My thirst for great sound has led me on a delightful music quest that continues today.
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