Okay Geek Farm
AIAIAI TMA-1 headphones review
Jason Tsay
Never seen a pair of more minimalistic headphones? Neither have we. The AIAIAI TMA-1 headphones are designed for DJ’s and feature a completely stipped down look. What the Danish company did not strip down however, is the wonderful audio performance. How are these cans?
Features
- Designed with DJ’s in mind
- Simplistic and minimalistic design
- Constructed out of durable materials
Our Impressions
First off, let’s get one thing out of the way - what does TMA-1 stand for? “Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1” is actually the black monolith from the sci-fi novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, which would explain the design of the headphones.
The TMA-1 comes in an exquisitely designed black box with a play/pause pattern printed all over. Removing the lid reveals the headphones resting on a piece of foam in a diamond pattern. Underneath are packets with the coiled cable, extra earpads, a manual, and carrying pouch.
The headphones themselves are very impressive looking in an understated way. They are beyond simple and feature a monolithic appearance, just as the name suggests. It’s just as if AIAIAI took a pair of basic headphones and stripped them down even more. An awesome matte black finish covers the entire surface of the headphones (this is the finish I want on all my gadgets). It looks great and will not attract many fingerprints. Overall build quality is very impressive and the cans are actually quite durable. A belt style band on each side allows for size adjustment. A coil goes from each earcup to the headband, creating a crazy robotic look when worn on the head. Each cup is given some room to rotate and fit the head at multiple angles. In this way, a DJ would be able to push one earcup back while monitoring. There isn’t much branding at all aside from the AIAIAI logo embossed on the underside of the headband. Plugging into the left earcup, the lengthy coiled cable is substantially durable and comes with a screw on 1/4” jack adapter.
Sound quality is, simply put, amazing. Everything sounds clear as can be and bass is crisp. Audio reproduction is rich and vocals are accurately outputted. The headphones are meant to be worn on the ears, rather than over them. The earpads are fairly cushy but the headphones can become a tad uncomfortable to wear after a while, possibly due to the lack of padding on the headband. Noise cancellation is not as good as we’d like but a fair amount of noise is passively blocked out. We feel that the headphones could have been slightly more comfortable and more noise isolating but that the minimaistic design might have interfered with these aspects. All in all, the listening experience is quite good for short periods of time.
Overall
As far as I know, AIAIAI is not a very well known company here in the States. However, after testing the TMA-1 headphones, it is definitely a brand I would recommend to friends. The minimalistic design is a plus at first sight and sonic performance is there to match.
Pro’s
- minimalistic design
- well built
- punchy sound
Con’s
- slightly uncomfortable
Where to buy
AIAIAI / Amazon — MSRP: Dkk 1400/ $199
///5///
This review was done by Jason Tsay, who was provided the TMA-1 by AIAIAI.
