If you stream a lot of movies, TV, or live concerts, you’ve probably wished your headphones did more than just play audio. Yamaha’s latest wireless headphones, the YH-L500A, aim to change that with spatial sound tech that tries to make everyday listening feel a bit more like sitting in the center of a surround sound system.

These are wireless “personal theater” headphones built for folks who stream a lot of content and want that immersive, big-sound experience. Whether you're watching a movie on your tablet or catching up on a series on your phone, Yamaha designed the YH-L500A to make things sound a lot more like what you'd hear in a dedicated theater space.

That’s all thanks to Yamaha’s own Sound Field Technology. This feature works behind the scenes to create a more spacious, three-dimensional sound, even if your content was just recorded in standard stereo. You get two listening modes depending on what you’re doing. Cinema Mode boosts dialogue clarity, sound effects, and background music to make everything feel more cinematic. Music Mode shifts gears, bringing more separation and texture to vocals and instruments—basically trying to simulate a live concert vibe.

“When it comes to reproducing cinema-like sound at home, Yamaha has unequaled engineering know-how from our decades of leadership in home theater AV receivers and sound bars,” said Alex Sadeghian, director of consumer audio at Yamaha. “The YH-L500A headphones deliver this experience for personal listening on mobile devices. Now users can watch a movie on their tablet or laptop and still experience sonic immersion that enhances every scene's realism, excitement, and emotion.”

If you’re someone who watches (or listens) for hours at a time, Yamaha’s focused a lot on comfort here. The headphones are lightweight—just 9.3 ounces—and come with newly designed earpads that apply gentle pressure, so they don’t squeeze your head like a vise. In short, you can wear them for a full Netflix season without needing to take a break.

The YH-L500A also comes with a handful of modern features that help it fit into everyday life. It supports Bluetooth Multipoint, which means you can stay connected to two devices at once—like your phone and laptop—and switch between them without jumping through menus. For Android users, there’s Google Fast Pair for quick setup, and for everyone else, pairing is still fairly straightforward.

There’s also support for aptX Adaptive, a Bluetooth audio codec that helps improve sound quality and responsiveness. And if you're into gaming—or just hate when sound is out of sync with your video—there’s a low-latency mode built in. Voice assistant support is included too.

One feature that might not sound flashy but is definitely helpful: Yamaha’s Listening Care. This adjusts the audio at lower volumes to keep everything balanced and full without making you turn things up louder than you should. It’s subtle, but it helps with long-term listening comfort (and probably helps your ears, too).

Battery life is solid, with up to 20 hours of use on a single charge. Charging is via USB-C, and the Yamaha app lets you fine-tune settings, switch modes, and customize EQ if that’s your thing.

If the YH-L500A sounds familiar, it’s because it borrows a few ideas from Yamaha’s higher-end YH-L700A headphones, which came with more advanced features like head tracking and active noise cancellation. This model skips those to keep the price more manageable, but it still keeps the focus on immersive sound.

In a way, the YH-L500A continues Yamaha’s old “Silent Cinema” concept—basically the idea of making surround-style sound possible in headphones, back when people used wired cans plugged into AV receivers. This new model takes that idea wireless and makes it a lot more convenient.

At $229.95, it lands in the midrange for Bluetooth headphones. It’s not trying to compete with studio gear or audiophile setups, but if you want to watch a late-night movie without waking anyone up—or just want your shows and music to sound a little more dynamic—it fits into a pretty useful spot.

The Yamaha YH-L500A is available now through Amazon and Yamaha’s website.