Personalize your listening experience with comfortable, premium quality headphones.
I like headphones. That might sound incredibly strange, but I actually like testing out many different types of headphones and evaluating how well they work with different types of music and sounds. Over the years, I’ve had a lot of success with over-ear headphones and I really like Bluetooth capable listening options because I can connect them with my laptop or my phone without needing a cable. The only thing I don’t like about most wireless headphones is the cable that inevitably gets strung about when it’s time to charge them. I was recently introduced to the Aria Me Bluetooth Over-Ear Headphones from Avantree. They combine the over-ear headphones I like with a wireless charging stand to make the ideal wireless headphone experience for me.
DETAILS
The Aria Me Bluetooth Over-Ear Headphones provide users with personalized audio through the Avantree Audio companion app. With it, you can tailor-fit audio to match your own hearing profile. The headphones feature 24-bit HD sound and active noise-cancelling. There is a detachable boom mic included as well as the aforementioned charging stand. The goal behind the Aria Me headphones was for users to be able to adjust what they hear based on their individualized hearing profile. The hope is that the self-administered hearing test within the Avantree Audio app will help users return their audio to its original sound. The app uses a proprietary audio compensation algorithm to match your hearing and it is designed to take less than 5 minutes. Once an audio profile is activated and stored on your headphones all other audio received through the headphones — regardless of the connected device — will be processed using that profile.
The Aria Me come with a charging stand as well as a travel case. The ear cups are designed to be spacious so they can accommodate any shape of ear — large or small and they are covered with high-grade protein leather ear pads. The headband is fully adjustable with six points of articulation. The sound quality of the headphones is enhanced thanks to aptX-HD audio codec.
| Bluetooth Version – V4.2 |
| Audio codec support – aptX-LL, aptX, SBC, aptX-HD |
| Bluetooth Profiles – A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP |
| Play Time – ≤ 24hrs |
| Driver Unit – 40mm |
| Speaker Impedance – 32ohms ±15% |
| Product Weight – 0.23 kgs |
| Product Size – 19.5 cm X 13.5 cm X 3.8 cm |
USER EXPERIENCE
When I review headphones I like to look at two major factors — comfort and sound quality. Are there other factors that make up good headphones? Sure, but the two that are the most important to me are comfort and sound quality. With the Aria Me headphones, I was pleasantly surprised at their comfort level. The ear cups are soft and plush and they don’t fit over the ears too tightly. The headband is very flexible and sits nicely on the head without pinching or causing latent headaches due to improper fit. The on-ear controls are easy to use and are comfortable in placement as well. I didn’t find myself getting uncomfortable when trying to reach them on the ear cups. The headphone’s lightweight nature helps with the comfort level, too. I wore them for several hours at one point and didn’t find them to be intrusive at all. I never experienced any headaches or discomfort of any kind while using the headphones.
As far as sound quality goes, I was very impressed — even before doing my hearing analysis. The ear cups provide a decent amount of ambient noise isolation without the ANC turned on and when ANC is turned on, you are completely blocked from outside noises. If I had to rate the quality of the sound without the connected app, I would rate it at 8/10. The sound analysis tool you get with the app kicks the sound quality up a couple of notches to give you the perfect sound quality for your ears. While the idea of a sound profile that is designed based on a person’s specific hearing needs seems like the ideal way to cater a single set of headphones to many different people, I’ve never seen it before now.
The set-up for the personalized profile is pretty easy. After you download the app, you are asked to register and accept Bluetooth permissions. Next, you have to connect your headphones to the app. This is a little convoluted as you have to connect the headphones through your Bluetooth settings first and then connect the app. Once you have connected the headphones to the app, you walk through the steps of the app’s hearing test. This is just a series of tones that you indicate whether or not you can hear it. After that process is complete, you are shown your hearing profile. I did notice a difference in the sound quality after completing the profile. It was as if it went from good to great.
CONCLUSION
The Aria Me Bluetooth Over-Ear Headphones are certainly worth the investment. Not only was I impressed with the sound quality, but I also thought the build design was awesome for comfort and the headphones come with a charging base which eliminates the need for cable clutter. The only ‘complaint’ I have is that the system uses Micro USB instead of USB-C as it’s main connection method. I find this to be ‘old’ technology and think that charging methods on new products should be shifting over to USB-C rather than continuing to use Micro USB. Aside from that these headphones are a really great way to be able to enhance listening capabilities for people with hearing loss. With the customized hearing profile, people can hear more of what they want and not miss things from their favorite forms of entertainment. They aren’t a substitute for hearing aids, but they definitely elevate the listening experience.
For a limited time, readers can get a discount on the Avantree Aria Me Auto-Optimized Audio Bluetooth Headphones on Amazon. Just use code J3BEE75R at checkout and receive the headphones for $134.99 instead of $149.99. This offer is good until 12/30/2020.
For more details, visit avantree.com, Facebook, and Twitter.
