The original beyerdynamic XELENTO was touted as jewellery for the ears, marrying the company’s expertise in acoustics with craftsmanship. If anything, the new XELENTO exemplifies the jewellery concept more so than its predecessor with a 24-carat gold logo applied to the front of the housing. It’s also one of those rare specimens that’s actually manufactured at ‘home’–in this instance, it’s Heilbronn, Germany.
The 2nd Gen model is more lxurious than the ‘OG’. | Image: beyerdynamic
The second generation XELENTO continues this grand tradition of offering innovative tech in a luxury housing. The new XELENTO features the German company’s smallest Tesla driver–the TESLA.11, an eleven-millimetre, dynamic, one-way driver. In addition, a new acoustic filter enables finer detail and lightness in the high-frequency range. And because of the IPX4 rating, you can use these earbuds (even the wireless) for exercise as well.
The new XELENTO is available in both remote and wireless configurations and are both certified Hi-Res Audio (and Hi-Res Audio Wireless respectively, if you are pedantic about these things).
The wireless (L) and remote (R) models are fundamentally the same earbuds with different cables. | Image: beyerdynamic
The XELENTO remote comes packaged with a symmetric 4.4 mm balanced Pentaconn cable while the XELENTO wireless comes with a Bluetooth 5.2 neckband with battery rated for 14 hours of use. Both variants of the new XELENTO come with a 3.5 mm jack cable with remote control and a hands-free microphone. And because the XELENTO uses the MMCX plug-in system, so it’s possible to obtain the wireless neckband or the Pentaconn cable separately, though dates and prices have not been confirmed yet.
In keeping with price tag, the XELENTO features gold plated connectors and silver plated cables. | Image: beyerdynamic
The XELENTO wireless headband features a DAC and amplifier from Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM). They’re used in Enhancement mode, which beyerdynamic says will further reduce inherent noise and distortion. The Bluetooth module also supports major codecs such as AAC, LHDC, Qualcomm aptX HD and aptX Adaptive for largest possible wireless connection bandwidth, regardless of device.
The beyerdynamic XELENTO remote and wireless will be available in Asia from early November 2022 for a recommended retail price of $1,499 (USD 999) and $1,699 (USD 1,199) respectively at authorised beyerdynamic dealers and retailers.
