IT168 Review Since AKG became a subsidiary of Harman Group in 2010, it has not only continued to make efforts in the traditional professional audio field, but also launched a series of high-end flagship models including K812 and Q701. , double sales volume. In the field of portable audio that AKG is most proud of, there are also many surprises. The colorful version of K420LE has been well received. The newly launched Y series is both stylish and good sound, with bold color matching, avant-garde design and excellent sound quality. The Y series quickly became popular, gradually replacing the K series and becoming the absolute mainstay of AKG's portable headphones.

The backbone of the Y series of portable headphones is the Y50, which is famous for printing the large AKG LOGO directly on the headphone shell. Solid and popular sound performance combined with such a bold and avant-garde design and a reliable and affordable price make Y50 a real star product of AKG. At the end of 2015, in order to allow everyone to no longer be constrained by the limitation of mobile phone sound quality by headphone cables, and to truly feel free to listen to music on the streets, AKG launched the Bluetooth version of Y50, Y50BT.

The editor has been using this product that uses APT-X Bluetooth technology, new colors and exquisite design for some time. After a period of burn-in, the sound performance has become stable. After many days of use, Daily use also allows the editor to grasp more features of Y50BT. Without further ado, let us experience the charm of this new AKG Bluetooth headset.

The black and silver color scheme makes the high-end accessories more practical and sincere.

The Y50BT packaging style this time continues the Y50’s showcase style. The large area of ??transparent plastic on the front fully reveals the full view of the Y50BT, which is simple and simple. Being generous also makes it easier for everyone to choose the color they like more intuitively. The Bluetooth logo is marked on the lower right side of the front of the package, and there is also a new functional boundary description on the side. Turning to the other side of the package, we can see that the Y50BT has been affixed with the Harman Group’s standard warranty card. Presumably it will be available in various channels in China soon.

▲Warranty card from Harman, gold medal guarantee from Bank of China

▲The small APT-X logo can be easily ignored if you don’t look carefully

The attentive editor noticed that AKG marked the APT-X logo in a very low-key manner on the lower left corner of the box above the packaging box. This technology, which should have been the biggest selling point of a Bluetooth headset, was printed in such an understatement by AKG. In an inconspicuous position, AKG is really "skilled and willful".

▲The accessories are carefully marked with the Y logo and the AKG logo

In terms of accessories, AKG comes standard with the Y50 with a black soft cloth bag and a USB charging port. cable and a 2.5mm to 3.5mm cable that is convenient for connecting headphones when there is no Bluetooth or power is out, making it convenient for everyone to use. Compared with other Bluetooth headsets, the accessories prepared by AKG for the Y50BT are very practical. In this regard, AKG, as a major international manufacturer, is indeed much ahead.

The main body of the headset adopts a black and silver color scheme, which further highlights the metallic shell and the large AKG LOGO. Compared with the colorful color scheme of the Y50, it is more classy and feels smoother.

▲The metal headband matches the silver color of the headphones very well

▲The 3D-Axis hinge is really convenient to store with the moderately sized unit

The hinge It still uses AKG's 3D-Axis patent. Both the earcups and the unit can be rotated and folded freely. Compared with other portable headphones of the same size, it has a better wearing experience, a more convenient storage method and a smaller storage volume. . The metal headband fundamentally eliminates the problem of breakage or strain. The scale hidden on the headband has precise scales that are commensurate with the adjustment, and the stretch feel is also good.

▲The dense circle of button interfaces under the right unit ensures that the Y50BT is easy to operate and has complete functions as a Bluetooth headset

As a Bluetooth headset, the AKG Y50BT is on the right The bottom of the unit is equipped with four buttons, a volume up and down button, a playback pause button, a power button, a 2.5mm audio cable interface, a hidden microphone, and an LED light to display the status. The left unit is supposed to be where the battery is placed, but AKG only provides it with a Micro-USB interface for charging.

The Bluetooth connection is stable and reliable, and the battery life is quite solid

Entering the review section, let’s first talk about some basic parameters and functions. The Y50BT headphones have an impedance of 32 ohms, a sensitivity of 113dB, a frequency response range of standard 20Hz-20KHz, and a weight of 245g. Bluetooth connection uses the Bluetooth 4.1 protocol that supports APT-X CSR technology. As long as the device also supports the corresponding standards, it can ensure high-quality audio transmission within a range of 10 meters.

▲When the connection is successful, the indicator light next to the power button will flash blue.

In actual use, the editor used the latest iPhone 6s and the iPhone 5C, which has a lot of stock. When connected to Vivo Xshot using Android 4.4 system, Y50BT can connect smoothly, and there is almost no difference in sound performance. This also reflects one of the biggest features of high-quality Bluetooth headsets. The sound performance is stable and it can produce the sound performance it deserves without being restricted by the front-end equipment.

▲There is also a red indicator light next to the charging interface on the left. It only takes about 2 hours to charge once. Combined with the wired music listening mode, you don’t have to worry about your music journey being interrupted midway. Interruption due to battery problems

The Y50BT's official Bluetooth battery life is 20 hours. Considering the average intensity of listening to music for two and a half hours a day, it is completely fine to use it continuously for a week. In the editor's actual experience, even if it is about 10 hours of listening and burning time per day, the Y50BT can guarantee two and a half days of use. The actual battery life performance should be better than the official data.

The sound performance is truly pop-style, with low-frequency and solid atmosphere.

As a portable headphone positioned for street use, it plays back fashion-forward pop and electronic music at a high level. Naturally, this is the main focus of Y50BT. Thanks to the strong unit quality of AKG and the efforts of tuners, the sound performance of Y50BT is more unrestrained compared to the wired version of Y50. If Y50 is also made because it wants to take into account the performance of some traditional classical music and instrumental music. In terms of compromise and restraint, Y50BT is using its powerful low-frequency atmosphere and freely retractable rhythm to declare its lineage for contemporary electronic pop.

▲This powerful sense of atmosphere and rhythm is actually very similar to AKG’s popular DJ monitor Kx67 series

Specifically, AKG Y50BT is based on a certain unit quality (also It just doesn’t sound muddy at all) and very positive timbre restoration (this ensures that the Y50BT will not have a strange listening feeling or is difficult to listen to when listening to most music). By controlling the size of the sound field and low-frequency quality, creating a sound performance with a very nightclub-pub atmosphere.

▲The performance of pop music is very good. Generally, people who are willing to take such fashionable headphones out will listen to music very happily.

This does not mean that Y50BT is only suitable for When listening to electronic dance music, thanks to the smooth rhythm and accurate and contagious timbre, Y50BT also has excellent performance in general vocal pop music, which can be said to be suitable for both dynamic and silent music. Male voices perform better than female voices, and thick voices (such as Eason Chan, Priscilla Chan) perform better than ethereal voices with thin and skillful voices (such as Faye Wong, Lin Zhixuan).

▲There are specialties in the art industry, and if you insist on forcing Xiaobawang to study, it will naturally not work

As for instrumental music and classical music - the editor understands that the brand AKG was born in Austria is the capital of music. However, the Y50BT, which is mainly used for portable travel, is really not suitable for the playback of classical music other than strings. The tight sound field and the low-frequency overtones that are too rich for classical music will disturb the orchestra. Details and positioning. For classical music fans, perhaps a K612Pro is a more suitable choice.

▲The curved plug design, the cable length is 1.2m, absolutely convenient to use

For Bluetooth headsets that always provide their own audio amplification circuit, whether it is easy to drive is a relatively stupid question. , but when the editor uses the audio cable to make a wired connection with the mobile phone and uses it as an ordinary headset, it is easy to drive and is similar to the Y50. It is also a headset that does not have high front-end requirements. The iPhone volume is turned on When it reaches less than two-thirds, it can already satisfy the editor who has relatively high sound pressure requirements for headphones.

Summary of subjective usage experience: a good choice for pop dance music on the street

As headphones, some subjective feelings such as wearing comfort are naturally also very important. Next, the editor will talk about some of his feelings about Y50BT during use.

▲Good wearing comfort is the first selling point of portable headphones

Because the Y50 leather earpads are too thick, coupled with the relatively wide earmuffs (which can already make a few ears People with smaller profiles wear them as over-ears), but they have always had a small problem of overheating when worn for a long time. The Y50BT has improved this by appropriately reducing the size of the ear cups and improving the sewing process. The editor only felt obvious discomfort after wearing Y50BT for two hours continuously. Two hours is enough time for the editor to get from Zhongguancun to Tianjin. The soft protein leather ear pads are also very comfortable, and the Y50BT is better to wear than the predecessors K450 Y50.

▲The noise isolation is very good, and only Bose’s OE series of that year can compare with it in passive noise reduction

As a portable headset positioned for street use , due to the double blessing of closed design and in-ear earmuffs, although the Y50BT is a passive noise reduction mode, its sound isolation is not as good as those series that use active noise reduction, but its sound isolation is better than that of in-ear headphones. Also very good. Generally on buses and subways, wearing it without playing songs can already isolate the engine sound of most vehicles and some noisy human voices. After playing songs, you only need to use a volume one level higher than in a quiet environment. It is enough to basically isolate the hustle and bustle of the city. While enjoying the music happily, it is also better for the ears.

▲The equipped microphone is no problem at all for making calls, but if you want to sing karaoke, let a professional do it

The microphone is more like a bonus little surprise on the Y50BT, and it is the same as the one on the right The integrated unit microphone can be placed close to the cheekbones to collect sound. Combined with AKG's more than 70 years of audio manufacturing experience, it has excellent performance in call clarity. However, there is always a slight delay in the Bluetooth connection, and the sound collection method close to the cheekbones will be slightly different from the sound heard by others. It is not very easy to use Y50BT to sing a song in an app such as Sing Bar. Good idea. If you want to use it in an emergency, it is okay. If you want to show high-quality songs, it may be better to choose the Y50 with in-line control and microphone or a better-quality independent microphone for recording.

▲Finally, let’s take a family photo. Targeting pop music lovers and fashionable young people, the Y50BT is quite strong overall and will definitely attract good feedback from the market

Summary

In today’s Bluetooth headset market, there are very few high-quality models like the AKG Y50BT that are clearly tailored for popular electronic music lovers. As AKG’s newly launched Bluetooth portable headset Mainly recommended model, I believe AKG will put a lot of publicity and marketing efforts into this good headset that is easy to use, well-designed and has excellent sound quality.

The editor here thinks that such a headphone that is not bound by wires and has a refreshing sound has appeared. As pop music lovers, why don’t we put it on the street and dance to the rhythm?