YAMAHA TW-E7B True Wireless Earbuds Review
YAMAHA TW-E7B True Wireless Earbuds are flagship true wireless earbuds that seamlessly blend comfort and hearing protection through their various features.
The YAMAHA brand is known for its diverse range of products, from motorcycles to electronic keyboards to speakers, and they excel in each category. For HiFi enthusiasts, YAMAHA is especially recognized for its musical instruments and professional stage and monitoring equipment.
While other brands may have a broad headphone category, YAMAHA’s empire places headphones as a specialized subcategory within professional and home audio equipment.
However, YAMAHA’s commitment to expertise in every field, coupled with a century-long history in the audio industry and a comprehensive lineup covering the entire audio production and playback process, has led them to produce outstanding models quietly appreciated by professionals and HiFi enthusiasts alike.
Their unwavering True Sound philosophy, aimed at reproducing sound according to the musician’s intent and enhancing emotion, has earned YAMAHA significant recognition in the headphone industry.
In the Bluetooth era, YAMAHA has caught every beat. I previously wrote about their E700A, a comfortable Bluetooth over-ear headphone with excellent sound quality and wearability. The L700A, another Bluetooth over-ear model, boasts an unforgettable soundstage and audio performance.
In the realm of true wireless earbuds, YAMAHA, after the E3 and E5 models, has introduced the star of today’s discussion – the Bluetooth Noise-Canceling True Wireless E7B.
The TW-E7B features Bluetooth 5.2, the latest Qualcomm aptX-Adaptive Bluetooth codec, a 10mm large dynamic driver unit, and IPX5 water resistance for washable convenience. Physical buttons provide intuitive control with clear tactile feedback.
With noise-canceling activated, these earbuds offer up to 6 hours of continuous playback, and when combined with the charging case, they provide a total of 22 hours of usage time.
These headphones are equipped with YAMAHA’s high-definition active noise-canceling function, a feature exclusive to flagship true wireless earbuds. So, let’s start our detailed feature overview today with a discussion of noise cancellation.
The YAMAHA E7B’s noise-canceling design philosophy aligns with their in-house noise-canceling headphones, prioritizing preserving sound quality while reducing environmental noise.
YAMAHA’s “Yamaha-exclusive Active Noise-Cancelling technology” algorithm distinguishes low-frequency components in environmental noise from music ones, actively suppressing only the former. This approach maximizes the transmission of music in its purest form, avoiding the common issue of excessive EQ intervention seen in mainstream noise-canceling algorithms.
When you activate active noise cancellation through the YAMAHA Headphone Control APP, one immediate experience is a significantly reduced sense of ear pressure compared to similar products.
The YAMAHA TW-E7B offers one of the most natural and comfortable noise-canceling experiences among flagship TWS earbuds. There’s no sudden sense of heart palpitations when noise cancellation is turned on, and you won’t feel surrounded by pressure as you continue using it.
Even with noise cancellation, the sound remains natural and spacious, a tangible embodiment of YAMAHA’s music-centric noise-canceling philosophy.
Regarding actual noise-canceling effectiveness, the E7B excels in masking common low-frequency noises encountered in everyday life, such as engine roars during travel, continuous equipment vibrations in work environments, and background noise in office settings. Even low-frequency components from music played through speakers are effectively suppressed.
While human voices and high frequencies experience an overall volume reduction compared to other flagship noise-canceling TWS earbuds, the E7B’s ability to suppress mid-to-high frequencies may be slightly weaker. However, the difference in music playback with noise cancellations on and off is insignificant. The headphones fit snugly in the ears, and physical noise isolation is already prominent.
In essence, YAMAHA’s priority in their noise-canceling algorithm is to preserve the original musical tone, ensure comfort and naturalness when noise cancellation is active, and meet practical noise reduction standards.
YAMAHA’s consumer headphone sound profile typically leans towards a warm, full-bodied sound signature, lacking strong monitoring characteristics. The E7B follows this tuning philosophy. The 10mm dynamic driver unit in the YAMAHA TW-E7B is among the largest in its class, providing a spacious, responsive, and high-resolution audio performance.
Starting with the low frequencies, the bass is well-controlled, balancing cohesiveness and elasticity. A warm and moderately harmonic overtone in the mid-bass creates an excellent atmosphere for overall pop music.
Vocal density and thickness are impressive, particularly in female vocals, with a hint of sweetness and clear articulation. The imaging and clarity of vocal articulation are also commendable. In terms of high frequencies, they complement the overall pop-oriented sound signature. The treble is moderately bright, avoiding excessive brightness or harshness, and extends upward gracefully.
Overall, the E7B’s tuning presents a warm, enjoyable, high-resolution sound profile suitable for various music genres. It accurately reproduces the timbre of vocals and instruments and provides a spacious and layered soundstage, demonstrating high musical refinement.
The YAMAHA E7B offers several unique audio customization features that can be controlled through the YAMAHA Headphone Control APP. Let’s explore these features:
Equalizer (EQ): YAMAHA provides a five-band EQ adjustment in the APP, allowing you to fine-tune the sound in different frequency ranges, including low, mid-low, mid, mid-high, and high frequencies.
This is a relatively detailed adjustment feature compared to other true wireless earbuds. The EQ adjustments are nuanced and moderate, avoiding extreme changes. For example, raising the high, mid-high, and low frequencies by one notch can enhance clarity, making female vocals brighter and the low-frequency response more prominent.
Advanced Listening Care: This feature is a signature YAMAHA function in their Bluetooth headphone lineup, available in earbuds and over-ear headphones. It works by making real-time, subtle adjustments to the equalizer based on the current playback volume of the headphones, with a focus on compensating for the perceived lack of low-frequency response at lower volumes.
YAMAHA research found that at lower volumes, the human ear perceives lower frequencies less, leading users to increase the volume to compensate for the lack of bass. Prolonged listening at higher volumes can be detrimental to hearing. Therefore, YAMAHA’s feature actively compensates for the low-frequency response at lower volumes to address this issue and promote safe listening at lower volumes.
With Advanced Listening Care activated in testing, the E7B compensates for low-frequency response at different volume levels, ensuring a consistent perception of bass. Especially at lower listening volumes, this feature enables the E7B to deliver full and elastic low frequencies, meeting user demands. However, the compensated low-frequency response may overpower the E7B’s inherent outstanding low-frequency elasticity at normal listening volumes.
Therefore, it is recommended to consider reducing this compensation feature when listening at regular volume levels. That allows the earbuds to showcase their extended low-frequency depth and improve overall elasticity and texture.
Listening Optimizer: Recognizing that everyone’s ears are unique, this feature is designed to compensate for differences in ear canal structures and actual usage patterns, which can result in variations in audio perception. It uses a high-performance in-ear microphone for dynamic correction to achieve the ideal frequency response.
For users with some listening experience, you can adjust the equalizer settings to your preferences. This is a convenient and hassle-free feature for most ordinary users that provides an optimal listening experience without requiring manual adjustments.
These audio customization features allow users to tailor the sound of the YAMAHA E7B to their preferences and listening conditions, enhancing the overall listening experience and ensuring comfort and safety during extended use at lower volumes.
The YAMAHA TW-E7B also boasts two highly practical features worth highlighting.
The first one is the Game Mode. Activating Game Mode significantly reduces headphone latency, especially noticeable during gaming, and greatly improves audio and video synchronization when watching videos. What’s commendable about E7B’s Game Mode is its minimal impact on sound quality, particularly in video applications, where enabling Game Mode doesn’t result in a noticeable decrease in audio quality.
The second useful feature is Auto Shutdown. In the APP settings menu, you can adjust the automatic shutdown time for the earbuds, ranging from five minutes to 3 hours. This feature is highly recommended for users who use true wireless earbuds before bedtime.
Whether you have a habit of listening to music, audiobooks, or calming content before sleep or tend to watch live streams or shopping shows until you fall asleep, prolonged playback without timely shutdown can harm your ears. Setting a timer for auto shutdown is crucial for users in these scenarios, emphasizing YAMAHA’s commitment to protecting users’ hearing.
Conclusion
The introduction of the YAMAHA TW-E7B True Wireless Earbuds is now complete. These are flagship-level active noise-canceling TWS earbuds that offer comfort, convenience, excellent sound quality, and a range of practical features. They excel in noise cancellation and other aspects, making them an excellent choice, especially for users who prioritize hearing protection.
- Yamaha True Sound: Stunning realism, detail and clarity makes you feel closer to the artist
- Advanced ANC: Yamaha-exclusive Active Noise-Cancelling technology that leaves your music pure and untouched
- Crystal-clear calls with advanced mic design and Qualcomm cVc (Clear Voice Capture)
