New over-ear headphones with premium 3D sound capabilities surpassing Apple's AirPods Max have been announced.

In addition to active noise cancellation (ANC), the Yamaha YH-L700A's party trick is the combination of 3D sound and built-in head tracking. This is much like Apple's spatial audio feature that works in conjunction with head tracking on the AirPods Max, but the YH-L700A is available for both iOS and Android.

While spatial audio relies on mastering music and movie soundtracks for Dolby Atmos (another 360-degree sound format), Yamaha's 3D sound field technology uses the company's proprietary Cinema DSP processing. This converts stereo sound into multi-channel audio, creating a more immersive 360-degree surround sound effect.

The Yamaha YH-L700A's head tracking should allow certain sound origins, such as specific instrument tracks or single sound effects, to move around while maintaining their original position within the 3D space.

Again, this is similar to how head tracking works with AirPods Max and AirPods Pro. However, since all processing is done on the YH-L700A, head tracking will not be limited to iOS only, as is the case with spatial audio, and Android users will also be able to use head tracking. As for supported content, Yamaha states that "almost any source is sufficient" for stereo audio.

Thus, the 3D sound field could solve two current problems with spatial audio: spatial audio in Apple Music does not currently utilize head tracking, and AirPods Max can only demonstrate its capabilities with certain Atmos-enabled videos only.

Second, the mobile OS-independence of 3D Sound Field makes the YH-L700A the first mainstream headphone to offer 3D head tracking on Android. Pricing in the U.S. has yet to be confirmed, but the YH-L700A will cost £449 when it launches in the U.K. this August. This is £100 less than the launch price of the AirPods Max.

This is still an expensive pair of cans - even the best over-ear headphones rarely exceed £300/$300. But with head tracking, ANC, and even sound optimization that adjusts the output to the shape of your head, the Yamaha YH-L700A may be worth it.