Review | Aria Me noise cancelling headphones give you a hearing test, then adjust the sound to fit your ears
- To personalise the user experience, the Aria Me noise cancelling headphones test your hearing on first use to create a custom sound profile
- The Bluetooth headphones, which last 24 hours on a single charge and have a charging stand, are light and comfortable. Sound is on par with much pricier rivals
I have reviewed more than a few sets of headphones over the years, and sometimes it gets hard to tell them apart. But a pitch from Avantree about its Aria Me Bluetooth Over-Ear Headphones got my attention.
Aria Me headphones use an app on your phone to create a personalised custom profile based on your hearing. Your custom profile is loaded to the headphones, so you get a better sound experience no matter the source of your music.
When you unbox the Aria Me headphones, you charge them up and pair them via Bluetooth to your phone.
You are instructed to download the Avantree Audio app to your iOS or Android phone, and to create a custom hearing profile by taking a brief hearing test.
You’ll go through a range of frequencies, one ear at a time. When you finish, the app creates a sound profile that adjusts the frequency response of the music to match the levels of your hearing.
When the custom profile for my hearing was loaded onto the Aria Me headphones, I was very pleased with the sound mix.
You can turn the custom profile on or off by holding down the play/pause button on the headphones, so it’s very simple to hear the difference the custom profile makes in your music enjoyment. This custom profile is a little like setting the frequency sliders on an equaliser.
Avantree loads your custom profile to the headphones so you get that nice sound no matter where you get your music.
The Aria Me headphones are smallish and very light, but the sound is substantial.
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Internal batteries that power the headphones are recharged by plugging in a microUSB cable to the headphones or by placing the headphones on a charging stand (included) that is very handy. The charging stand also plugs in with microUSB.
The Aria Me will play 24 hours of music on a charge, but if you run out of power, there is a cable included to let you plug into a 3.5mm headphone jack to keep listening.
The headphones have active noise cancelling that can be turned on with a flick of a switch.
The noise cancelling is good, but the music clarity suffered a bit (to my ears) when noise cancelling was turned on. If you’re in a plane or coffee shop with a constant background noise, the Aria Me’s noise cancelling is great. You can use noise cancelling even without music playing to get a little relief from your surroundings.
The headphones have a microphone built in for making and taking phone calls, as well as a detachable boom mic that plugs in on the bottom of the left ear cup to put a microphone closer to your mouth.
The headphones come with a zippered hard case that holds everything, including the boom mic, charging cable and 3.5mm headphone cable.
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The Aria Me feature Qualcomm AptX HD, which can deliver 24-bit high-definition audio over Bluetooth. They also feature Qualcomm AptX LL, which stands for low latency. This means with the right Bluetooth transmitter, you can watch video and play games, and the sound will sync up perfectly.
The headphones can connect to more than one Bluetooth device. I connected them to my iPhone and laptop. When I was playing a YouTube video on my laptop and I received a call, the video stopped, and I was able to hear the phone ring and pick up the call. When I hung up the call, I pressed play on my laptop and the YouTube video started again.
The music from every source on my phone or laptop sounded very clear, and I have to admit I heard some nuances in songs I’d not been able to hear.
These are great headphones that are made even better by the custom hearing profiles that work with any Bluetooth source.
The level of noise cancelling rivals headphones that cost twice as much, and they are very comfortable.
Aria Me headphones are available from Amazon at US$149.99, and in Hong Kong for HK$1,199.
