Denon AH-C830NCW True Wireless In-Ear Headphones with Active Noise Cancelling, Water Resistant Earbuds with Crystal Clear Call Quality

Product Information

You don’t need to be a keen observer of the electronics industry to realise you can spend this sort of money on a pair of true wireless in-ears from any number of brands. Apple, Beats, Cambridge Audio, Sennheiser, Sony… I could go on, but what would be the point? Basically, you’re spoiled for choice and Denon is just another name on the list. Design

The mic sounds average. We understood every word from a recording in the Voice Memos app on an iPhone, but as is typical, some Bluetooth audio artifacts detract from the quality. Nonetheless, the signal is strong enough and you shouldn't have any issues being heard clearly calls. An Average Entrant With Accurate Audio

My final test comes in the form of Mac Miller’s “2009.” This is a sonically diverse composition that relies on tiny details and deep, sharp bass. Many earbuds struggle with these. Denon’s tuning has absolutely nailed it — highlighting tiny details like the reverb on Mac’s voice while keeping potential composition-spoiling sections like the 808 bass from distorting the entire thing. There’s a very pleasant effortlessness, a sort of inherent correctness, to the way these earbuds present music of all kinds. From Animal Collective’s My Girls to Warren Zevon’s Piano Fighter via The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky/New York Philharmonic/Zubin Mehta, the Denon earbuds are never less than believable and properly listenable.

You’ll be able to discern instruments on orchestral masterpieces like Quincy Jones’“Soul Bossa Nova,” where brass arrangements and percussive elements like the striking congas are reproduced perfectly. My greatest joy came from indulging in jazz records. The melodic touch on Ahmad Jamal Trio’s “Dolphin Dance” was certainly felt, delivering double bass with such delicacy and steady hi-hats that tap gently on the eardrum. Here’s the problem, and it’s a weird one. Normally, I will be spending some time telling you about the additional features and customization potential granted by a companion app. But Denon does not have a companion app for its AH-C830NCWs. Rhythms are expressed organically – even rhythms as gimpy as those on display during this recording. The dynamics of the tune – the broad pile-ons and the finer harmonic variations – are given proper articulation, too. The Denon manage to create a wide, deep soundstage and position individual instruments on it with absolute certainty, and do so without making any element of the recording sound remote or estranged. There’s convincing unity to the way the Denon present the song, a harmoniousness that’s by no means a given in wireless earbuds at any price. As far as the business of serving up music goes, the Denon AH-C830NCW use Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless connectivity. They’re compatible with SBC and AAC codecs – and that’s your lot. At this sort of money, any number of rival designs can accommodate aptX as a minimum, and it’s a pity to see Denon ignoring the opportunity. Once it’s on board, audio information is served up by a couple of 11 x 10mm full-range dynamic drivers. Once it’s piped aboard, sound is delivered by a couple of biggish (11mm x 10mm) oval full-range drivers. Interface

They’re equally skillfully balanced elsewhere, too. The midrange fidelity during serpentwithfeet’s Wrong Tree is outstanding – poised, brimming with detail and utterly believable. The top of the frequency range, too, is nicely judged, with enough substance to offset the bit and shine these Denon earbuds can generate. Rhythmic expression is equally good, and the earbuds build a big, focussed soundstage that’s explicitly laid out and simple to understand. There are also the Sony LinkBuds S that we’ve looked at, although the Denons are much better. They sound better, the noise canceling is much better, and I think they look better too. Considering they’re both pretty much the same price, just go for these. Denon AH-C830NCW: Should you buy them? There’s no voice control. There’s no control app. Which means there’s no facility to adjust EQ levels or anything like that. In fact, you can’t even adjust volume levels without using your music player to do so. As Points of Difference go, this isn’t one with which Denon should be especially pleased. Sound Quality Just as you’d expect from a company with 110 years’ audio experience, the Denon AH-C830NCW (also known as True 830) earphones sound superb. Perfectly balanced, they strike the ideal mixture of a bright, detailed top-end matched to a deep, well-controlled bass. If you like to hear your music as it was meant to sound, rather than boosted at its extremes, these are the earphones for you.