New AKG Hybrid N9 vs Beyerdynamic Aventho 300 headphones

[Coyley]

Intrigued to see AKG launch the Hybrid N9 (including non-bluetooth dedicated wireless connection via a dongle in addition to usual LDAC BT) at same time as the Beyedynamic Aventho 300. Both approaching a similar audience and also include earbuds too.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/hands-on-akg-n9-hybrid-wireless-headphones
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/hands-on-beyerdynamic-aventho-300

The AKGs look to be already available via AKG's site and following the links.

It will be interesting to compare. I've been a fan of both but their most recent ANC/BT headphones of a few years ago are both old now and lacking either latest connectivity or decent noise cancelling. I eventually fell out of appreciation for Sony, B&W etc (always clamp my head too much).

If the AKG sound right, have decent ANC and the dongle offers hi-fi sound on a dedicated connection, that looks very attractive.

The AKG are £300 UK and the Beyerdynamic are £400. Beyerdynamic are a great product company, but their ANC/BT range has been lacking on both fronts.

I am travelling extensively with an iBasso DX180 now with USB Audio Pro as my player and FLACs from CD quality up to 24/192 - so it will be nice to get the best out of it while travelling (though after dozens of earbuds the Technics AZ80 are truly great with it for my type of music).

I welcome thoughts.

 

[streetbeat]

I'm also very interested in these two, as well as Cambridge Audio Melomania P100. Likely gonna try them all till EOY. Meanwhile would be happy to read reviews of other headfiers

 

[Coyley]

The AKG now seem to be available via partner shown at AKG site:
https://www.eleonto.com/en-GB/audio...over-ear-noise-cancelling-headphones/p/254117

I am waiting for a few reviews before deciding.

 

[streetbeat]

The AKG now seem to be available via partner shown at AKG site:
https://www.eleonto.com/en-GB/audio...over-ear-noise-cancelling-headphones/p/254117

Yup, but I think makes sense to wait for Beyers release to compare all them side by side.

 

[Coyley]

Yes I feel the two brands compare well. I have the Beyerdynamic Lagoon headphones which were poor in ANC, poor in app and old bluetooth codecs but I got very cheap to try.

AKG were well ahead before then with the N95 with good ANC, AptX early on and a good form factor (not needing the huge cups everything has now). The N700NCMC from them were nice but not good enough ANC or codecs.

In the consumer-travel ANC space, these new models need to be their breakthrough product with such diverse competition and decent enough quality at lower prices from new entrants such as 1More.

The wireless connectivity option of AKG is intriguing but so are the sound drivers of the Beyers. We shall see. No reviews around for either yet.

 

[noplsestar]

Hier guys! I started an own thread for the AKG N9:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/akg-n9-hybrid.974456/

 

[streetbeat]

Aventho 300 released today. Ordered both

 

[streetbeat]

Alright, holding both in my hands. Here's my quick impressions.

	AKG N9	Aventho 300
Headband	Ratchet, plastic. Clamping force is relaxed, but not flimsy by any means.	Ratchet, metal, foldable. Quite clampy, but not too much, great grip on my head.
Earcups	Small footprint, not deep, but comfy.	Small footprint, comfort is very questionable (I get discomfort very quickly) due to the driver bump at the centre (see photo).
Sound	A little bright, but at moderate volume not a bother at all. A tad less subbass than Momentum 4. Overall competent and enjoyable sound for an EDM listener like me.	A little less sparkle across the board, but I think I wouldn't notice if not comparing side-by-side with N9s and M4s -- brain adaptation to their comfortable sound is very quick.
ANC/Transparency	When ANC is On there's some white noise. Transparency is overexaggerated and not natural (though level could be adjusted in the app), but should do the job.	Less white noise in ANC On, but still present. Transparency seems good to me.
Calls	Very-very good (tried via dongle only) in quiet environment - clean and natural voice. Didn't manage to check noisy environment. Note: they're Zoom certified, but MS Teams report ther's mic doesn't work via dongle though it actually works w/o any issues.	Decent in quiet environment. But I find sidetone implementation distracting, and for some reason disabling it in the app didn't have any effect on actual call.
Extras	TalkThru (same as Sony's Speak-to-Chat) implemented well and comes very handy. User can set a volume limit (to 85dB) in the app. Dongle in the cup is a great idea!	LC3 but that tech is still in its baby age. For example, my Sony Xperia 1 VI can't display remaining battery for them (I blame Sony)
Video Lip-sync	Great latency via dongle (2.4GHz) around 80ms or maybe a little less, better than aptX Adaptive LL.	Average aptX Adaptive LL latency at about 90-100ms via Creative BT-W5.

Now why both will be send back. But first, I need to tell you that my primary goal was maximum comfort for long sessions and better than average in all other aspects and optionally any tech extras coming with fresh devices. Just in case, my daily drivers currently are Dali iO-12 and Sennheiser Momentum 4 (over-ears).

N9s big selling point was dongle. And it's great, but there's a 'but' I test latency using some metronome style video. Dongle gives an artefact sound after every metronome hit. Native BT doesn't have that issue. While I don't hear anything like that with music or videos, there's a chance these things could appear on some other specific audio content. As for comfort, it' seemingly good but a couple of hours isn't enough to fully judge, I need a full day to be sure, but with dongle issue I don't bother further. Asked their support if makes sense to re-order after refund... Because overall N9s are really great jack-of-all-trades option.

Aventho 300 comfort goal isn't reached straight out of the box due to the driver bump. I can find a position on the head (maximum forward), when the impact is minimal, but still I can feel my ears touching it. Must be a painful experience by end of day.

 

[oneway23]

Hello...Thank you for the comparison and information....Seeing as I did not see a separate thread for the Beyerdynamic, I will ask here.

I'm wondering if Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio with Apple Music works correctly? Thanks!

 

[streetbeat]

Hello...Thank you for the comparison and information....Seeing as I did not see a separate thread for the Beyerdynamic, I will ask here.

I'm wondering if Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio with Apple Music works correctly? Thanks!

Hey, sorry cannot help with that specific question: an Android user here who never been interested in Spatial Audio so I have no baseline to begin with

 

[oneway23]

Hey, sorry cannot help with that specific question: an Android user here who never been interested in Spatial Audio so I have no baseline to begin with

No worries...I appreciate your prompt response. Thanks.

 

[bronco1015]

Alright, holding both in my hands. Here's my quick impressions.

	AKG N9	Aventho 300
Headband	Ratchet, plastic. Clamping force is relaxed, but not flimsy by any means.	Ratchet, metal, foldable. Quite clampy, but not too much, great grip on my head.
Earcups	Small footprint, not deep, but comfy.	Small footprint, comfort is very questionable (I get discomfort very quickly) due to the driver bump at the centre (see photo).
Sound	A little bright, but at moderate volume not a bother at all. A tad less subbass than Momentum 4. Overall competent and enjoyable sound for an EDM listener like me.	A little less sparkle across the board, but I think I wouldn't notice if not comparing side-by-side with N9s and M4s -- brain adaptation to their comfortable sound is very quick.
ANC/Transparency	When ANC is On there's some white noise. Transparency is overexaggerated and not natural (though level could be adjusted in the app), but should do the job.	Less white noise in ANC On, but still present. Transparency seems good to me.
Calls	Very-very good (tried via dongle only) in quiet environment - clean and natural voice. Didn't manage to check noisy environment. Note: they're Zoom certified, but MS Teams report ther's mic doesn't work via dongle though it actually works w/o any issues.	Decent in quiet environment. But I find sidetone implementation distracting, and for some reason disabling it in the app didn't have any effect on actual call.
Extras	TalkThru (same as Sony's Speak-to-Chat) implemented well and comes very handy. User can set a volume limit (to 85dB) in the app. Dongle in the cup is a great idea!	LC3 but that tech is still in its baby age. For example, my Sony Xperia 1 VI can't display remaining battery for them (I blame Sony)
Video Lip-sync	Great latency via dongle (2.4GHz) around 80ms or maybe a little less, better than aptX Adaptive LL.	Average aptX Adaptive LL latency at about 90-100ms via Creative BT-W5.

Now why both will be send back. But first, I need to tell you that my primary goal was maximum comfort for long sessions and better than average in all other aspects and optionally any tech extras coming with fresh devices. Just in case, my daily drivers currently are Dali iO-12 and Sennheiser Momentum 4 (over-ears).

N9s big selling point was dongle. And it's great, but there's a 'but' I test latency using some metronome style video. Dongle gives an artefact sound after every metronome hit. Native BT doesn't have that issue. While I don't hear anything like that with music or videos, there's a chance these things could appear on some other specific audio content. As for comfort, it' seemingly good but a couple of hours isn't enough to fully judge, I need a full day to be sure, but with dongle issue I don't bother further. Asked their support if makes sense to re-order after refund... Because overall N9s are really great jack-of-all-trades option.

Aventho 300 comfort goal isn't reached straight out of the box due to the driver bump. I can find a position on the head (maximum forward), when the impact is minimal, but still I can feel my ears touching it. Must be a painful experience by end of day.

Thank you for the run down, that was a good high level description of each pair. Definitely a bummer neither worked out for you, but awesome you had the chance to try both of them and compare. I may try them both out at some point, but I think I have an idea of where they would stand for me against the other stuff I own, my signature is not up to date, but the newest Headphones i own are the MW75, a great listen when using the preset M&D calls "Audiophile." Then the H95, Stax Spirit S5, dyson Zone, very surprised by them in a good way, the QC Ultra which are sneaky good especially if you eq, and soon the Dali IO12.
at this point I am more likely to pick up the p100. It doesn't seem like the N9 or AVentho300 are going to move the needle much for me.

 

[streetbeat]

Definitely a bummer neither worked out for you

Actually, I find AKG N9s a very-very good all-rounder. High hopes that dongle issue isn't common, so I'll probably re-order them soon (maybe wait a bit for Black Friday days ).
Literally, they cover all common scenarios:

• Music from any source
• Lip-sync video content
• Wireless gaming
• Work calls

The only downside for somebody could be not top of the line ANC/Transparency, if these are used A LOT daily, otherwise they are good enough, at least for me
I would prefer my Momentum 4s for music, when N9s take a win in work calls category. But to be on par for the rest, one should buy a dongle like BTD 600 for Sennies, while AKGs is a complete solution out of the box. So, say, if my relatives come to me for an advice what headphones to buy for a daily driver (esp. if that's gonna be one and only pair they have), I wouldn't think long

at this point I am more likely to pick up the p100. It doesn't seem like the N9 or AVentho300 are going to move the needle much for me.

Oh, yes, P100s are on my list as well. Sound signature seems pretty much aligned to Momentum 4s (love it!), so I don't expect big surprises but even longer battery and probably a little better ANC.

 

[oneway23]

I feel like there are so few headphones outside of Beats and Apple models which Apple fully certifies for use with Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio with head tracking.
It's for this reason that I'm so curious to make sure everything works as advertised.

Really hoping anyone who picks these up can elaborate. Thanks!

 

[bronco1015]

Actually, I find AKG N9s a very-very good all-rounder. High hopes that dongle issue isn't common, so I'll probably re-order them soon (maybe wait a bit for Black Friday days ).
Literally, they cover all common scenarios:

• Music from any source
• Lip-sync video content
• Wireless gaming
• Work calls

The only downside for somebody could be not top of the line ANC/Transparency, if these are used A LOT daily, otherwise they are good enough, at least for me
I would prefer my Momentum 4s for music, when N9s take a win in work calls category. But to be on par for the rest, one should buy a dongle like BTD 600 for Sennies, while AKGs is a complete solution out of the box. So, say, if my relatives come to me for an advice what headphones to buy for a daily driver (esp. if that's gonna be one and only pair they have), I wouldn't think long

Oh, yes, P100s are on my list as well. Sound signature seems pretty much aligned to Momentum 4s (love it!), so I don't expect big surprises but even longer battery and probably a little better ANC.

That's good to know about the N9 having good all arounder potential, I've gone back and forth on selling my XM5 but it's biggest selling points are ANC then call quality. I enjoy using the QC Ultra a lot more, but they don't seem to be quite as good for calls. I like the ANC better on those so I guess it's really just the call quality on XM5 that make it a decent all arounder.
I'm guessing from your descriptions and knowing my preferences that I would probably like the N9 and possibly the Aventho, the Lagoon was so disapointing for me though, except when connected to my desktop which is not a scenario I was going to use them in.
I go back and forth. I'm just rambling at this point. Maybe I'll just buy them all lol.
In the mean time, the IO 12 arrive tomorrow, looking forward to trying them after work.