These conversant in hi-fi sound know Beyerdynamic properly. The German headphone producer has practically 100 years of expertise within the audio house. With the discharge of their first-ever wi-fi earbuds, the Free Byrd, they goal to compete with the market’s greatest noise cancelling earbuds.
Beyerdynamic Free Byrd SPECS
Value: $249
Colours: Black, Gray
Battery life (rated): 8 hours (ANC on); 11 hours (ANC off); 20 hours (charging case)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2
Water resistance: Sure (IPX5)
Measurement: 1.6 x 2.6 x 1.18 inches (charging case)
Weight: 0.24 ounces (per bud); 2.1 ounces (charging case)
This mannequin options highly effective audio applied sciences reminiscent of 10mm drivers, Mimi Sound Personalization, and Qualcomm aptX Adaptive codec help, together with lively noise cancellation (ANC) and Alexa integration. Solely a handful of the rivals outperform its noise discount. The sound high quality can also be compelling. Nevertheless, the Free Byrd requires effort on the person’s finish to tweak the soundstage to satisfaction, and the cumbersome design isn’t for everybody.
Learn our full evaluate of the Beyerdynamic Free Byrd to get the complete breakdown.
Beyerdynamic Free Byrd evaluate: Availability and value
You should purchase the Beyerdynamic Free Byrd for $249 immediately from Beyerdynamic. It’s bought in two colours: Black and Gray. Bundled with the acquisition are a wi-fi charging case, USB-C charging cable, 5 pairs of various sized eartips, 3 pairs of various sized foam ear ideas, and fast begin guides in 9 languages.
These buds share the identical MSRP because the AirPods Professional and Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3. Additionally they fall in between luxurious must-haves just like the $279 Sony WF-1000XM4 and mid-range gems just like the $199 Sony LinkBuds S.
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Beyerdynamic Free Byrd evaluate: Design and luxury
Design-wise, the Free Byrd looks like a departure from the model’s previous creations. Lacking is the retro aesthetic greatest displayed on their over-ear studio headphones, a number of of which characteristic eye-catching particulars like shiny accents and open grilles. The Free Byrd is minimalist and ponderous, granted it does keep an expert look that may appease musicians and engineers.
These buds are made completely of plastic and have an IPX4 ranking for sweat and splash resistance. You gained’t have to fret about them shattering if dropped from a excessive distance as a result of the construct high quality is powerful. Beyerdynamic’s brand doubles as a contact panel and sits on a slim strip, together with an LED for pairing indication. That’s about it.
The charging case is slim, huge, and feels premium in hand. It’s constructed completely from plastic and may survive onerous spills onto the concrete. The magnets preserve the lid tightly shut as properly. I’m not bought on the airbrushed brand and textual content, however I’ve seen worse design jobs from different legacy manufacturers.
Consolation is a blended bag. The angled sound port slides into the canal and the plethora of ideas make it straightforward to personalize match, particularly the froth ideas. It’s simply that the cavity is just too massive and takes up plenty of ear actual property. To not point out it presses towards the concha, creating soreness after about two hours of wear and tear.
Beyerdynamic Free Byrd evaluate: Controls and digital assistant
Aside from quantity, the Free Byrd comes with a full suite of controls that may be activated by means of single, multi-tap, and tap-and-hold gestures. Faucet accuracy is respectable with the sensors recognizing supposed instructions greater than half the time. There have been moments when triple faucets have been mistaken for double faucets. Beyerdynamic doesn’t supply a method to customise the controls, although they may add this characteristic in a future replace.
Carrying detection is offered and suffers from latency points. Eradicating the buds didn’t at all times activate auto-pause.
Google Assistant, Siri, and built-in Alexa can be found to be used. Beyerdynamic’s four-mic array is intuitive and registers voice instructions with precision.
Beyerdynamic Free Byrd evaluate: Audio high quality
You’ll have to take just a few steps to get the very best sound high quality out of those buds. Utilizing the Mimi sound personalization characteristic is important. It adapts sound to your listening to and creates a profile that may be custom-made. Taking the check is time-consuming, however properly value it.
My profile enhanced frequency vary throughout the board, leading to punchy lows, crisp mids, and detailed highs. It’s additionally good you can tweak the profile by means of two sound settings – Softer and Richer – or use a slider to find out how intense you need modifications to sound. I like to recommend holding it at 100% and on commonplace setting (Advisable).
The detuned piano at the beginning of Run the Jewels “Ooh La La” sounded sharp. Following swimsuit have been the emphatic bass drums and snares, which created a vibrant and high-energy soundscape that might tickle any health buff’s ear. El-P’s manufacturing is thumpy and distortion-heavy, but the Free Byrd dealt with it with finesse. Switching to Softer barely decreased bass, however the drums nonetheless knocked, and Richer made the mids extra outstanding.
Elton John’s “Rocket Man” was a serenading pay attention crammed with crisp vocals and nice harmonies. Jazz performances just like the Dave Holland Quartet’s “Convention of the Birds” additionally reproduced lows and highs exceptionally properly; the double bass was eternal, and the tinging cymbals sounded pristine.
The opposite choice for sound personalization is Beyerdynamic’s Equalizer with 8 completely different presets: Unique (the default), Bass Enhance, Brilliance, Speech, Clean Treble, V-Form, and Heat. These did little to enhance sound in commonplace mode. Nevertheless, some have been wonderful when paired with my Mimi profile. V-Form elevated bass and treble beautifully, whereas Speech elevated vocal readability on ballads and Brilliance emphasised the highs on instrumental recordings.
Beyerdynamic threw in a Low Latency mode that’s supposed to enhance audio synchronization when taking part in cell video games. Placing it to the check, I performed just a few ranges of Tremendous Mario Run and Trendy Ops and seen a minor enhance in high quality. Sound results like foot faucets, tunnel warping, and gun hearth have been delivered extra precisely.
Listening with ANC on will increase the low finish, which will be useful for some songs, however not all. The reverberation on hip-hop songs with boom-filled manufacturing got here off too aggressive. AptX Adaptive delivered low-bit charge transmission and hi-res audio, plus AAC carried out properly on iOS/macOS gadgets.
Sound insulation was fantastic. The reminiscence foam ideas created a good seal that stored sound from leaking out.
Beyerdynamic Free Byrd evaluate: Lively noise cancellation
Beyerdynamic’s hybrid noise-cancelling expertise is terrific at lowering exterior sounds throughout the frequency spectrum, particularly excessive frequencies, which just a few fashions can do. I wouldn’t place the Free Byrd above the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds or Sony WF-1000XM4, nevertheless it nonetheless ranks excessive within the true wi-fi ANC class.
Utilizing the buds indoors offered a quiet backdrop throughout workhours. Frequent distractions like deliveries, household chatter, TVs, and my toddler’s digital toys didn’t break my focus. Rumbling sounds from the laundry room have been silenced. What shocked me most was how properly the characteristic decreased my boy’s cries. He will get loud and whiny earlier than a nap, so it was blissful to barely hear him whereas my spouse was placing him down. Different strident noises like sirens and whistles have been audible, however neither have been bothersome when listening to music.
Clear mode was efficient for rising my consciousness of environment. I may hear airplanes flying over the home, vehicles coming from up the block, and pedestrians talking into their AirPods, although the latter sounded muffled. I used to be frightened that vocals wouldn’t come by means of clearly when chatting with my spouse in proximity, however the high quality was nice and allowed me to carry a full dialog with out taking off the buds.
Beyerdynamic Free Byrd evaluate: App and particular options
The MIY app has been up to date with options that enhance the person expertise, a number of of which have been mentioned. These embody ANC, EQ, Low Latency, and Mimi Sound Personalization with the Sound Profile slider. Every part else is lackluster.
Beyerdynamic thought it might be enjoyable to show every bud’s efficiency statistics, so that they added a bit on the backside of the app displaying the numbers. The beta model of MIY allow you to see extra intricate stats just like the variety of manufacturing facility resets and what number of occasions you set off the play/pause or quantity instructions. The usual model retains it primary with simply 4 fields: up time, playback time, telephone time, and begins. Nothing too thrilling.
Rounding out the app are battery stage indicators for the buds, firmware updates, and visible guides. Different fashions in the identical value vary have extra app options like a soundscape mode or Discover My Buds operate.
Beyerdynamic Free Byrd evaluate: Battery life and charging case
Beyerdynamic charges playtime at 8 hours with ANC on and 11 hours with ANC off. These are correct playtimes. Relying how you employ the buds, it is best to have sufficient juice for about 3 to 4 days of reasonable use.
The wi-fi charging case holds as much as 20 hours, which is under the trade common time set by the AirPods: 24 hours. A ten-minute fast cost equates to 70 minutes of use.
Beyerdynamic Free Byrd evaluate: Name high quality and connectivity
The Free Byrd is a notable calling headset. You’ll get crystal-clear outcomes when talking indoors. Outdoors was 50/50 because of the quantity of noise every mic let in. In mildly clear settings like my yard, small noises like fowl chirps and chatter didn’t intrude with high quality, although there was noticeable muffle. Louder environments had automobile horns, development instruments, and wind enter the dialog.
Bluetooth 5.2 operates flawlessly. Anticipate prolonged vary (as much as 60 ft) when in open areas. Pairing is prompt on all gadgets, although one-tap Google Quick Pair expedites the method for Android customers. Multipoint expertise (pair to 2 gadgets on the identical time) would have been vastly appreciated for the value.
Backside line
The Beyerdynamic Free Byrd will enchantment principally to model fanatics. It doesn’t do a lot to face out from the competitors, granted it supplies wonderful noise cancellation and hanging sound, however solely when using the Mimi audio personalization instrument. Equally priced fashions just like the Momentum True Wi-fi 3 and WF-1000XM4 can do each on the highest stage, proper out of the field.
Regardless of its imperfections and minimal distinction, the Free Byrd is a notable debut that hits its two greatest marks: ANC and sound. Whether or not that’s sufficient to justify the excessive price ticket is debatable, however the buds would draw critical curiosity from audiophiles if dropped all the way down to $200 or decrease.
