So that's what music sounds like

AUDIO-TECHNICA takes Bluetooth-enabled on-ear headphones into bold new territory with the ATH-SR5BT, which can also function as a High-Resolution Audio headset when the provided cable is put to proper use.

Compact, lightweight and ready to carry your tunes anywhere, the ATH-SR5BT has Bluetooth aptX technology for streaming music from a smartphone. 

The pair weighs just 185 grams without the cable and the soft ear-pads ensure lasting comfort for many hours.

The built-in 3.7V lithium-polymer battery is good for about 38 hours of continuous use. Recharging takes around four hours from empty to full.

The headphones are easily paired to your phone or portable digital-music player using NFC (near-field communication). I just tapped the NFC mark on the headset on the one on my Sony NW-A25 Walkman player and Bluetooth made them best friends forever.

AptX technology doesn’t support Hi-Res Audio streaming, so you get a normal audio signal transmitted from the player to the headphones.

Listening to music from a smartphone, the ATH-SR5BT becomes your remote for answering and ending a phone call (you use a button on the left ear cup). It packs a condenser microphone with -40dB sensitivity. The same button is your volume control for the headphones and even a track selector if your smartphone supports that action. I hooked up to an iPad Pro 9.7-inch and had no problem skipping back and forth between tracks, toggling the button up or down and holding it briefly.

Another switch on the right ear cup turns on the wireless connection when you don’t use the ATH-SR5BT as Bluetooth headphones.

The large 45mm drivers are capable of frequency responses from five to 40,000Hz. Sensitivity is a high 100dB and impedance is 35 ohms.

To get the best of the Hi-Res Audio sound quality – which is five times higher than a regular Audio CD – you really need to use the provided audio cable.

Hearing Bluetooth music streamed from the NW-A25 and iPad Pro, the sound quality was already good, but once the audio cable was connecting the headphones and Hi-Res Audio NW-A25 audio player with the 3.5mm jacks, the improvement was astonishing.

The bass level was great, but what was really outstanding was the fine detail in the instrumentation. I fed the headphones FLAC 24bit/192kHz files from the NW-A25. “Take Five” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet never sounded better, with the saxophonist, drummer, cellist and pianist each coming through loud and clear.

RTB Technology distributes the ATH-SR5BT headphones for Bt7,400. Buy a pair at iStudio, Jaymart, Loft Siam Discovery, Hear by Munkong, ProPlugIn and at http://AudioTechnica.bentoweb.com/th.

 

Key Specs

- Type: Closed-back Dynamic

- Driver diameter: 45mm

- Frequency response: 5 to 40,000Hz

- Maximum input power: 1,500mW (for wired connections)

- Sensitivity: 100dB/mW

- Impedance: 35 ohms

- Battery: DC 3.7V lithium-polymer

- Battery life: 38 hours |continuous use (1,000 hours standby) 

- Charging time: Four hours |full charge

- Weight: 185 grams without cable

- Cable: Detachable 1.2-metre with in-line control/microphone

- Connector: 3.5mm stereo mini-plug, L-shaped

- Accessories: 1.0m USB |charging cable, pouch

- Microphone type: Condenser

- Microphone sensitivity: -44dB (1V/Pa at 1kHz)

- Microphone frequency response): 50 to 4,000Hz

- Microphone polar pattern: Omnidirectional

- Compatible Bluetooth profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP 

- Supported codecs: SBC, aptX, AAC