Beyerdynamic Xelento Tesla in-Ear Headset: A Complete Review

Beyerdynamic Xelento Tesla: Packaging

Beyerdynamic Xelento comes in chic packaging. This is not even packaging, but a large, beautiful, and durable box that does not need to be thrown out after removing the headphones. It will come in handy for storing interchangeable cables, a case, and a large number of ear pads.

The headphones are very impressive. After you lift the package’s lid, you see a black canvas on which two headphones are firmly held in special connectors. This presentation style reminded me of the look of jewelry in Hollywood films. This is no accident because Xelento headphones can be called a treasure for connoisseurs of high-quality sound.

Beyerdynamic Xelento Tesla: Equipments

1. Headphones;
2. 2 replaceable cables, one of which with a microphone and a control panel;
3. 7 pairs of anatomically shaped silicone ear cushions; 3 pairs of Comply foam ear cushions of different sizes;
4. Hard case for transportation;
5. Metal clip for attaching a cable to clothes;
6. One pair of replaceable protective membranes for headphones;
7. Instruction

Rich equipment in which there is everything that only you may need. It’s nice when the sound of the headphones pleases and the way they are presented to you.

Design of Beyerdynamic Xelento Tesla

The Beyerdynamic Xelento Remote headphones belong to the Tesla line. In general, in this model, the name Tesla has a marketing purpose, which tells the buyer that the headphones belong to the highest caste.

Beyerdynamic introduced the name Tesla for a special driver creation technology that it itself invented and patented.

To understand the source of this name, I suggest a little deeper into technical details.

Several driver manufacturing technologies on the market are used in headphones: dynamic, isodynamic, planar, and balanced armature. Each technology has its own advantages, disadvantages, and a certain complexity in production. Traditionally, most headphones use dynamic drivers. They have many advantages and few disadvantages. In particular, to achieve excellent sound quality, the permanent magnet inside the dynamic driver must be powerful. The more powerful it is, the stronger the membrane vibrates, the louder, deeper, and cleaner the sound it creates. It’s not difficult to integrate a powerful magnet into the driver, which will be installed in the speaker system, but it’s tough to make such a magnet for the headphones because the headphones seriously limit the flight of fantasy of engineers by their size,

Beyerdynamic found an original solution to this problem: usually, a magnet is built into the center of the driver, but in the case of Tesla technology, the magnet is located outside the driver in the form of a ring and has a magnetic field induction value of 1 Tesla. Hence the name of the technology.

This approach allowed the company to release headphones with powerful drivers, which many listeners loved for a clean, deep, and rich sound.

But back to our Xelento Remote. Of course, it is impossible to place a permanent magnet with magnetic induction of 1 Tesla in such small headphones, but, as we already know, you can significantly strengthen the magnet if you use the technology of its creation in the form of a ring, rather than a core, as in the usual case. This is how the miniature dynamic drivers for Xelento created using unique technology appeared. This driver is much more powerful than those used by many competitors in their decisions, and therefore the sound that it creates is distinguished by depth and power.

In my memory, Xelento is the only in-ear headphones that I could confuse in sound character with a full-size model – the driver works so powerfully. The point here is not the volume but the pressure that the headphones create. The sound is powerful, deep, intense, and very detailed.

Thanks to this technology, Xelento stands apart from its competitors. They have a unique sound signature, which, I am sure, will appeal to most sophisticated music lovers.

Headphone housing

The headphone housing is made of metal alloy and has the correct anatomical shape. The earphone is inserted into your ear and does not feel like a foreign body. After a few minutes, I stopped feeling it.

Unusual feeling: usually, I feel that the earphone is inserted into the ear, even if it does not cause any discomfort. In the case of Xelento, it’s easy to forget that you use them at all.

The headphones have a removable cable, so the housing has a specially designed jack with a clip that holds the cable connection. I think that this socket is designed for many, many connection procedures, but I would still not disconnect the cable once again. Headphones are expensive, and make them unusable in such a stupid way would be very annoying.

Part of the sound guide is removable. It also has a protective net that prevents dust and debris from getting inside the earpiece. This is done to maximize the life of the headphones. If, in some way, you can damage the protective net, you can simply replace this part with another in a matter of seconds and continue to use the headphones. In contrast, many other headphones would have to be repaired if it was technically possible at all.

On the outside of the headphones is a special round die with the company name and engraved serial number of the headphones. This hints that, although the headphones are freely available on the production line, they will not be released very much, and you will become the owner of a rare model with its unique number.

Cable

Xelento comes with 2 cables: one ordinary, the second with a microphone and remote control. Both cables have the highest manufacturing quality: the cores are made of silver-plated copper, and the sheath, although transparent, is very durable and elastic.

Both cables have an L-shaped 3.5 mm plug for connecting to audio devices, the main part of which is made of metal. The cable tee is also made of metal.

The cable connects to the headphones using a special plug, a rather small size. However, the cable is held in the headphones very firmly. You are unlikely to be able to disconnect it by accidental movement.

Remote Control

The control panel is located on the wire that leads to the right earphones, it is very light, and its weight is not felt when used. The body is made of metal.

There are 3 standard buttons on the remote: two are responsible for adjusting the volume (and switching tracks in the music player), the central button acts as a Play / Pause and controls the acceptance and end of a call.

But, in my opinion, the remote control was made too small to press the buttons blindly. You will need to get used to it for a long time because it is easy to confuse adjacent buttons when pressed.

There is a microphone in the remote control. It is located quite well, very close to the mouth, so it perfectly captures your speech. The quality is excellent. However, I noticed a faint white background noise when recording.

While talking on the phone, he is invisible, but when you record to a file and then listen to it, it appears.

Earpads

PThemost interesting thing after the melento headphone ddriver’s manufacturing technologyis the amazingly complete silicone earpads. Usually, even in sets of expensive competitor models, silicone ear pads have a traditional round shape, only the depth of planting or the number of petals changes. But in this case, all 7 ear cushions are made differently. The larger the size, the more complex the shape. If the smallest size only slightly deviates from the ideal circumference, then the two largest ones are more like the ear’s inner mold than the usual ear cushion. Why was this done? To allow you to get the perfect soundproofing without having to insert deep ear cushions inside your ear. My friends and acquaintances would love to use on-ear headphones, but they are very annoyed by the need to insert headphones deep into the ear. They are very unpleasant. That is why Beyerdynamic took this expensive step – made anatomically correct ear pads,

I want to warn you: you will have to measure several sizes and wear them in different ways, first on the left, then on the right earphone. I spent about 10 minutes to find the perfect option for myself.

If you select the right size, shape, and position of the ear cushion, you will get perfect sound insulation, and you will not feel the earpiece in your ear.

An amazing feeling, it sometimes even seemed to me that the earphone was about to fall out because I did not feel it. But no, the headphones sat firmly in my ears. It is delightful when the product has high sound quality and an excellent comfort level in everyday use.

For lovers of traditional ear cushions, there are 3 sizes of foamy Comply models included.

Sound in computer games

Probably, some would consider blasphemy a description of the sound of Xelento in computer games. Still, I was curious to experience them in different conditions: not only when listening to music but also during games.

Also, Beyerdynamic claims a high power driver. This can be especially noticed in games.

I listened to Xelento in the following games:

• Battlefield 4
• Alien Isolation;
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege;
• Escape From Tarkov.

I chose these games not by chance. Of course, I like every game, and I played a dozen hours in each. But more interesting, in terms of sound, is that these games are leaders in scoring. These are not regular games where the sound is created from the sounds of standard libraries. The sound was specially recorded; for each game, unique developments in virtual surround sound were used. Moreover, each game sounds distinctive, especially after playing any of these games for at least a few hours. You will not confuse them with anything.

Battlefield 4

The game is replete with many sources of sound. During fierce shootouts, the player hears the sound literally from everywhere. Other players run around, shoot, hide from explosions, use various combat gadgets. Immediately there is heavy military equipment in the form of tanks and armored personnel carriers, and helicopters and planes fly overhead. Each element in the game has its own sound, each action has its own sound, and all this happens simultaneously.

The sound engine of the game skillfully constructs a three-dimensional scene, correctly distributing the sound around you and applying its own effect to each sound, depending on the conditions under which it is played. For example, the sound of a shot on the street and in the room is completely different. The same applies to steps, explosions, and all other special effects. The sound engine skillfully emulates the stunning effect that occurs if something explodes near your character, the sound is muffled for a while, and you hear only deafening sounds that were heard near you. If the shots stop, the rumor gradually returns.

In the game, the sound itself is essential, and understanding where and under what circumstances the sound was heard, i.e., it is positioning. The Xelento headphones do great in surround sound. Sometimes I heard some sounds as if they were not heard from the headphones, but somewhere in my room around me – Xelento reproduced them so well. This effect occurs extremely rarely and only in exceptional cases. And this case is Xelento.

Powerful drivers allowed the headphones to voice the war no worse than full-size headphones: powerful, dynamic, and deep. At the same time, do not forget that the headphones are practically not felt in the ear so that you can play them at least all day without the slightest head fatigue.

Alien isolation

In this game, sound is an important part of an accompaniment and a navigation element. The gameplay is designed so that you do not see the enemy (Alien) but hear it. It is essential to understand how far the sound source is. If you hear steps, then you need to understand whether the enemy is coming to you or from you. Thanks to the magnificent surrounding scene that Beyerdynamic headphones draw, the game’s sound is of utmost importance. These headphones make it much easier for you to play because sound for you becomes a guiding thread that helps you survive.

Game Alien Isolation is one of the few where the sound design is created with the minimum possible sound compression. From the menu, you can select a sound mode called Full Dynamic Range. Even with ordinary headphones, the sound in the game is significantly different from the host of other projects, but in Xelento, it literally comes to life.

It is difficult to convey in words how much the headphones transform the sound, but once you hear it, and there will be no turning back.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

In this game, it is important, rather, not the sound itself, but the audio algorithms that process the sound real-time.

If you are not familiar with the game, its essence lies in the fact that one team is a terrorist, and the other is a detachment of special forces. Usually, the game begins with the fact that terrorists take hostages or mine the premises, and special forces try to prevent an explosion or save the hostage. In theory, the game is similar to the famous Counter-Strike. However, the gameplay itself is much more complicated and deeper.

The player is killed, if not from the first hit, then from the third for sure. There is only one life, there are no revivals, and if one team is killed, the other inevitably wins.

For this reason, it is essential to survive, and not just survive, but at the same time, complete the necessary mission.

The main action in the game takes place indoors. Therefore, it is essential to understand the sound source’s direction and its nature: how muffled it is, whether there is an echo or extraneous sounds.

The sound engine calculates the sound propagation path taking into account obstacles. For example, the same sound from a closed and open room differs significantly not only in volume level: from a closed room, the sound is heard dull, dull, dry, and from the open it is clear and clear, but you hear the sound not from the room, but an exit from the room, as in real life.

I describe the technical nuances in games in detail so that you understand how important good headphones can transmit such a complex sound without distortion and in the right way.
Of course, Xelento copes with this excellently because they build a compelling surround sound scene and the high power of the drivers. They can play both tranquil sound (random rustling or steps of the enemy behind the wall) and deafening sound (grenade explosions indoors). Headphones do just fine.

During the shooting, I felt with the skin of my ears the vibration of the headphones that the driver creates. What is more proof needed that the highest driver power in the class?

Escape From Tarkov

This is a tactical shooter with elements of survival. What does it mean? This means that the player has no right to make mistakes, a few hits, and the game’s end. I missed the rustling boots of the enemy behind the fence – the end of the game. I didn’t understand where the shot came from – the end of the game.

The Escape From Tarkov project is in beta testing. This means that the game is not yet fully completed. In the future, it will have to go through many additional settings and bug fixes, including those related to sound and audio engine.

But even in its current state, the game shows an excellent level of audio realism. Every rustle, every step, every movement of your character’s hands is voiced. Moreover, each sound was recorded specifically for the game and processed accordingly.

The game has a very realistic sound. In some games, the sound is juicy, bright, spectacular, but in this case, it is as close to reality as possible. There are very few low frequencies and many medium and high-frequency sources of sound: creaking doors, rustling grass, the wind singing in the branches of trees, and the cocking of the automatic shutter.

Xelento headphones, as you probably already guessed, give this game an absolutely realistic sound. Sometimes I had the feeling that I could describe what kind of sound to the touch, what is its texture. Not all headphones can cause such an immersion and give such a highly detailed sound, but Beyerdynamic’s headphones could.

Shots, explosions, screams of people – everything sounds very convincing, and during a shootout, even on this side of the monitor, you can feel, understand and feel the weapon, as if you were holding it in your own hands.

And to a greater extent, this is due to the sound.

Sound quality when playing music

Before talking about sound quality, I want to note the passive sound insulation of the headphones – it is at an excellent level. I compared it with several other models that I had in my hands. Xelento constantly drowned out external noise more efficiently, so the headphones are well suited for listening to music, even in relatively noisy rooms.

Now let’s talk about the sound quality itself.

The first thing you notice when you just start listening to headphones is a vast sound stage. Thanks to this, the sound literally comes to life. The familiar recordings sound differently: more vividly and in detail. I listened to several of my favorite albums again, getting new emotions from what I heard. But I listened to this music many times using a variety of headphones, and now I notice new details and accents. Amazing

Xelento sounds even. I did not notice any noticeable emphasis on any frequencies. The sound is obvious and dynamic. Wind instruments sound bright, strong, and dashing. From the drum kit’s work, you begin to feel the vibration of the headphones in your ear, and the female and male vocals sound as if a person was singing life, especially for you.

I think it will be superfluous to continue to write further that the sound is excellent. This is obvious if you look at the name of the company and the price of the headphones. Otherwise, it would be difficult to expect.

I note only those features that really impressed me:

• Very high detail sound. Every accent, every nuance is audible, and in some recordings, you can even hear rustling notes of performers, which I had not noticed before.
• The driver’s high power made it possible to raise the overall sound level to a new level. Now the sound of in-ear headphones can, although with some caveats, be compared with the sound of full-size headphones in terms of sound pressure and intensity. Please do not listen to this model at a very high volume; it can really be harmful to your hearing due to very high sound pressure.
• The anatomical shape of the headphones themselves and the complete ear pads gives you amazing comfort and ease of listening. Thanks to this, you get the sound level of full-size headphones without the slightest discomfort.

Low frequencies

Headphones cope with them without difficulty. Any level of bass will be voiced as it should. At the same time, low frequencies are reproduced very cleanly, quickly, and in detail. There is no hint of an echo or background buzz, which is found in many headphones. The bass is elegant, accurate, and delicate, but it sounds deep and dynamic, as it should.

Mid frequencies

Listening to instrumental music is a special pleasure. One can hear how each instrument sounds individually. Every string is heard. The sound is very detailed and assertive. Many headphones can not cope with high-density sound reproduction. In the case of Xelento, you can not worry about it. The sound of a saxophone or guitar will be very dense. Density can be compared with the phone screen with a resolution of 4k. The pixels are so small that they simply can not be seen with the naked eye. Xelento sound also plays. You don’t hear the discretization of sound. It becomes as dense and smooth as possible.

High frequencies

Headphones can cope with high frequencies without difficulty, and not surprisingly, because the upper limit of the driver’s ability extends far beyond the audible range of 48 kHz. Treble is crystal clear and airy.

One of the criteria for how well the headphones play is how quickly your hearing gets tired. Some, even expensive, headphones I can’t listen to for several hours in a row. My ears get tired, and my head is behind it. Perhaps the point is distortion, perhaps something else. But in the case of Xelento, this is not the case. I listened to these headphones for several hours in a row for 10 days and did not even notice a hint of fatigue. On the contrary, I wanted to listen to them again and again. Their sound is so great.

Sound stage volume

I have already mentioned several times that the headphones create an amazing sound stage. I think that only expensive full-size open-type headphones can compete with them. None of the closed headphones can give the same volume or a sense of space.

Listening to music

I used two demo discs recorded specifically for testing acoustics and headphones. One of the main features is that the music was not subjected to excessive compression and retained a full dynamic range. This is a critical parameter, which is far from always observed when mixing modern popular music. The full dynamic range allows you to fully reveal the headphones’ capabilities and get incomparable listening pleasure.

I will give the disks’ names, but I will not give links to them for obvious reasons. You can easily find them on the Internet.

Disk 1: Dr. Chesky – The Ultimate Headphone Demonstration Disc
Recording format: FLAC 24bit / 192Khz

1. When the Saints Go Marching In: the live orchestra sounds just great, every instrument feels, you can easily localize the musicians’ location on the stage. The trumpet sounds bright, detailed, but not piercing, but delicate. And even at high volume, the trumpet sound, which usually annoys me, I liked. I think thanks should be given to the great detail and sound density that the headphones provide.
2. Don’t you: female vocals sound very natural. When listening, I noticed shades in my voice that had slipped away from me earlier. Every trembling of the vocal cords is felt on me. Awesome sound detail. Each instrument is perceived, heard, and sounds very detailed. The stringed instruments are very expressive; the headphones do an excellent job creating the right mood and atmosphere.
3. Las Perlas de tu Boca: In this composition, bass frequencies from double bass sound great. Penetrates to the bones, a delightful feeling. Female vocals are clean and lively. All shades of voice and its accents are easily guessed. Several points in the composition play a large percussion instrument, which gives a shallow and mighty sound. At the time of impact, the headphones create powerful sound pressure that even a slight sensation of stuffiness in the ear occurs. It’s not about volume, but pressure. Listening is a pleasure.

Disc 2: Focal Tools CD
Recording format: CD 16Bit / 44.1 KHz

1. Pierre Delorme – Reves: male vocals sound convincing, clear, and detailed. The feeling you are in a recording studio and behind the glass is sung by a real person you hear through studio monitors: very great detail and sound density. With music, too, everything is fine. Double bass plays deeply and expressively. Vibrations from the instrument are transmitted to the headphones and felt by the ear, amazing driver power.
2. Blues d’automne – Gilles Pauget: this track I used to evaluate children’s vocals and the overall picture of the sound. Headphones did a great job with vocals and music. The wind solo instrument sounds bright and dynamic, but not sharply, but softly.
3. Donne – 109: This track can be used to make a final assessment of headphone capabilities. It is quite complex, while there is a lot of musical material here: drums, bass, male vocals, and guitar riffs. Headphones also coped with it, instruments, even in the most difficult moments of the composition, sound in detail and clearly distinguishable, no porridge or sand in the sound.

Conclusion: Should you buy Beyerdynamic Xelento Tesla?

The Beyerdynamic Xelento Remote in-ear headphones made a lasting impression on me both in appearance and sound.

Headphones are very comfortable. With correctly selected ear pads, they are almost not felt in the ear. At the same time, they hold tight and will not accidentally fall out. Ideal for long sessions of listening to music, for example, during a long flight, or for spending evenings with your favorite music.

A very high level of passive noise isolation, which is why I mentioned air travel. Of course, they will not completely drown out the engines’ noise, but they will make it quite quiet so that they will not interfere with your listening to music.

The sound quality deserves the highest rating; they are subject to any genre and style of music. But you need to remember that the headphones try to give you the most honest sound. Thanks to the greatest detail, you will hear every nuance and shade of the recording. It’s unnecessary to write in a review about such headphones that are listening to compressed music will be very difficult because will all the flaws and compression artifacts be clearly audible and ruin your listening pleasure?

For the first time in my life, I will say more that I was able to hear the difference between Hi-Res recording and CD using Xelento Remote. I think that says a lot.

If you are looking for in-ear headphones with uncompromising sound quality, the highest ergonomics, and reliability, I highly recommend that you pay attention to the Beyerdynamic Xelento Remote.