Beyerdynamic Xelento!

[cthulhuphant]

Is there a lot of leakage with this IEM?

 

[Dobrescu George]

Does the Xelento leak any sound through the venting port? I have a pair of AKG N5005 which is partly dymanic and have a similar venting hole and it leaks sound for people around to hear. Is it the same with Xelento or is it dead quiet if you cover the muzzle?

Depends how loud you go, but I don't think it is absolutely dead silent. Only CIEM-based IEMs are, because those don't have vents, or stuff like ER4XR from Ety.

As for flagships that sound thick that would leak almost none, something like Dita Fealty would be close, but if you go very loud, most dynamic driver based IEMs will leak a bit.

 

[dcguy73]

Picked up the Xelento Remote a few nights ago, and I must say, these fit perfectly for people like me with small ears. I've had a hard time finding comfortable IEMs in the past.

 

[Chessblitzer2017]

Quite the sigh of relief breath of fresh comfort ain't it, and the cable is nearly unnoticable

 

[autosleeper]

Yep just picked up a pair of these and the comfort and discreetness is so pleasing. Having trouble getting the right tips though. I like the feel and sound of the stock silicones but isolation is pitiful with them - I have to have the volume way louder than I’d like when out and about. Spinfit CP145s are ok. New Bee is the best I’ve tried but they slip off the nozzle too easily. I’ve lost one already

 

[szore]

So after using the new Bluetooth dongle quite a bit over the past couple of days, I can confidently say... it’s fine. It does what it promises. Battery life is somewhere around the 8 hours Beyer quotes, and the multipoint connection support is pretty nice (for me, it pairs to both my iPhone and my iPad, and switching between them is as easy as pausing on one and resuming on the other). To add to what MarkF786 mentioned earlier, wireless range is so so—I heard semi-frequent dropouts when leaving my iPhone in one room and walking into another (my apartment is very small, but yeah, walls). I could even get the connection to stutter sometimes when moving my Apple Watch between the dongle and the phone. Not a dealbreaker, but notably worse than the ES100, for example.

When switching over to a cable connection, the biggest difference is the change in volume. The wireless dongle is actually quite quiet, requiring me to leave the volume around 50% most of the time. When cabled, I can’t go much over 15% before it becomes too loud. Maybe that’s where Beyer found those extra hours of battery life. The actual sound quality of the dongle is fine, but dynamic range sounds a bit improved when cabled (subbass in particular becomes more present). Since I’m still acclimating to the Xelento’s (wonderful) sound, that’s about all I can say about audio quality difference between the included Bluetooth dongle and the cable.

That said, the ergonomics of the Beyer dongle are pretty bad. The cable isn’t quite long enough, so I frequently have to choose between clipping it too high (which causes the earbud seal to loosen and pop out), or just letting it hang (which pulls on the earbuds just a little too much). I’m definitely sticking with the standard cable and my ES100, because that combination is actually more manageable than the Beyer dongle (since I can wrap the full length cord however I’d like), the ES100 sounds better, and the standard cable makes plugging into my Switch or other devices pretty easy. So yeah, if you’re looking for a wireless option for your Xelentos, I’d either consider the Shure 2nd generation cable Mark mentioned earlier, or a Radsone ES100. Both offer better ergonomics, and the Radsone for sure offers better sound quality.

You're like the Roger Ebert of audiophile

 

[ryanmatic]

Yep just picked up a pair of these and the comfort and discreetness is so pleasing. Having trouble getting the right tips though.

Agreed. I just can't get a good seal with the stock silicone tips; they're too shallow and they fall out easily. I've really been enjoying the Comply tips though. They smooth out the bass a little, they block out more noise, and they're just firm enough to be pretty stable. Did you give those a shot?

You're like the Roger Ebert of audiophile

Haha. That post was a bit long, sorry. I did end up getting the Shure BT2 cable that @MarkF786 mentioned and I totally agree with his assessment. It's great.

 

[echineko]

It's a bit sad how underappreciated these are, one of the best DD IEMs out there imo.

 

[autosleeper]

Agreed. I just can't get a good seal with the stock silicone tips; they're too shallow and they fall out easily. I've really been enjoying the Comply tips though. They smooth out the bass a little, they block out more noise, and they're just firm enough to be pretty stable. Did you give those a shot?

I've never liked Comply tips as I don't really like stuff to be smoothed out. Much like the late O.D.B., I like it raw. I think I've got some Crystal Tips foamies which are less signature-altering than the Complys though so I'll try to dig those out

 

[autosleeper]

It's a bit sad how underappreciated these are, one of the best DD IEMs out there imo.

Good post/signature combo there

 

[TooPoorForHiFi]

It's a bit sad how underappreciated these are, one of the best DD IEMs out there imo.

Good post/signature combo there

Might as well agree.

 

[szore]

It's a bit sad how underappreciated these are, one of the best DD IEMs out there imo.

That's what I said until I got the CL2's...

 

[echineko]

Hey I still think they're really good, I just happen to have better stuff now

Jokes aside, whenever I used to talk about them, so few people even knew what they were. Was legit sad

 

[329161]

That's what I said until I got the CL2's...

Cl2 is a planar, and I've heard some bad reviews on that.

 

[szore]

Cl2 is a planar, and I've heard some bad reviews on that.

I know. You need quality source for it to shine, you cant use it with a cellphone or $300 dap. It's been well discussed. On my 1000M it is no contest with Xelentos, the CL2 are magical.