Review: Yamaha HPH MT5 and MT8 Headphones
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31.08.2017

Review: Yamaha HPH MT5 and MT8 Headphones

Yamaha Music Australia | au.yamaha.com | Expect To Pay: MT5: $199.99 – MT8: $299.99

Headphones have come a long way. The quality, detail, clarity, weight, comfort factor and portability make them usable and appropriate for a range of functions and work as anything from serious studio reference tools to portable music player add-ons and even fashion items.

Catch up on all the latest music gear reviews here.

Whilst small bud sized in ear headphones are great for some applications, the over ear enclosed designs have continued to be a mainstay in the professional music arena and had a huge resurgence with the general music playing public. Yamaha are seemingly always at the forefront of music gear design and research, and they’ve released some new models under the HPH range to suit a range of budgets.

Starting out the HPH range, the MT5 are a closed back, over ear design that are lightweight (250g) and feature a folding arm design that allows you to tuck the headphones into a smaller footprint for portability and storage. A frequency response of 20Hz – 20kHz provides quite a detailed range whilst offering good isolation for focused listening.

Jumping to the top of the range in this series, the MT8 includes custom 45mm drivers and an increased frequency response from 15Hz to 28kHz. Both models come in classic black with silver coloured highlights and are aimed at a range of purposes from personal listening to media and studio work.

Out of the box, both pairs looked clean and sleek with classic stylings and some modern understated flair. The synthetic leather ear pads feel soft and Yamaha are quick to point out they are comfortable and designed to alleviate fatigue as much as possible. They definitely feel lightweight as a starting point, and both models offer a fair amount of adjustment.

In terms of sound, these Yamaha’s seemed clear and detailed with the MT8s offering some added frequency range and fidelity. I could see either of these models being great for personal music listening and multimedia work, but also good studio headphones for tracking, playback and reference. The ease and prevalence of home recording these days also warrants good headphones (and these wont drain your bank account).

It makes sense that these are high quality thanks to the huge amount of experience and know-how Yamaha have in the tech and music industries. At their respective price points, both the MT5 and MT8 are seriously good value with many other brands charging more but offering less in terms of quality and sound. I’d be interested to see how they fare long term from a comfort perspective, but knowing Yamaha, I bet they’re great.