Earbuds with ‘personal listening’ tech to enhance sound quality
> £299 > FROM denon.com > FEATURES 10mm drivers, supports AAC, aptX Lossless; 8-hour battery, wireless charging case
Denon mostly tends to operate in the higher regions of the hi-fi market, but it recently released two sets of relatively affordable earbuds as part of its new ‘PerL’ range – which stands for ‘Personalised Listening’. The standard PerL earbuds cost £189, which pits them right against Apple’s AirPods, while the high-end PerL Pro that we review here cost £299. The two models look very similar, with large, circular earpieces that look – and feel – rather chunky compared to the more streamlined AirPods.
The main difference between the two models is that the PerL supports Apple’s AAC and aptX for Android, while the PerL Pro also adds support for aptX Lossless, and has longer battery life, lasting for around eight hours on a single charge.
The chunky design may not suit everyone. Denon includes four sets of rubber eartips in different sizes, as well as one set of memory foam eartips. There are also two sets of rubber ‘wings’ that fit into the outer ear to help hold the earpieces in place, but people with smaller ears might prefer a more compact design.
Clarity and cancellation
Both sets of earbuds use AAT – ‘Adaptive Acoustic Technology’ – that enables the Denon app to scan the inside of your ears and create a personal sound profile that provides the best sound quality for your individual ears. The app includes a number of other useful features too, including a five-band equaliser that lets you further fine-tune the sound, although it does feel a bit clumsy and confusing at times. We had to download a PDF manual from Denon’s website to discover that the ‘Immersion’ feature in the app is actually the bass control, and we found ours
