Beyerdynamic Xelento Wireless inear headphone: Audiophile-worthy sound, luxury-goods price tag

In addition to superb sound, this in-ear monitor offers exceptional build quality and an app that tailors the EQ to your specific hearing profile. But you’ll have to pay to play.

- SCOTT WILKINSON

In the rush toward ever-lower prices for wireless in-ear headphones—and the sometimes lower quality those prices lead to—Beyerdynamic took a different approach with its Xelento Wireless. This high-end, audiophile-oriented in-ear monitor offers top-quality design and construction as well as a few intriguing features that make it stand out. The sound quality is second to none, but I wish it didn’t have any wires at all.

FEATURES

Beyerdynamic calls the Xelento “audible jewelry,” and the name fits. Handmade in Germany, the materials and workmanship are top-notch, from the high-purity silverplated connectors to the aluminum battery casing to the transparent cable sleeves that reduce handling noise. They are even engraved with a unique serial number.

The Xelento boasts a specified frequency response from 8Hz to 48kHz— talk about high-resolution audio! Its dynamic drivers are miniaturized versions of Beyerdynamic’s Tesla design used in the company’s larger on-ear and over-ear headphones. Named after the pioneering electrical genius Nikola Tesla, these drivers combine a simple transducer design, multilayer diaphragm with high rigidity and low weight, and a super-strong magnetic field in the air gap, which greatly increases the efficiency of the driver.