AIAIAI TMA-2 Studio Wireless+ Headphones Review - Digital DJ Tips

First Impressions / Setting up

All AIAIAI headphones are fun to receive and set up, coming as they do in multiple (recycled) plastic bags, each containing a component or two – you assemble them yourself, which is easy. That allows the company to mix and match components so you can “build” the headphones that suit you on the website, so model numbers are really just a pre-chosen set of components.

In this case, as well as the usual drivers, over-ear “alcantara” pads (soft fabric) and cable, you get a special headband that contains the battery, Bluetooth and all important new W+ wireless receiver. AIAIAI’s aesthetic is black, simple, rubberised and minimalistic, with just one discrete piece of AIAIAI branding on the top of the headband.

You also get a wireless transmitter, which is about the size of a small phone battery pack, and is also largely rubberised. It has a short, coiled, detachable flourescent TRS lead for plugging into your headphones output. I found myself wishing the wired full-length lead was also supplied in this colour.

They come partly charged, as does the wireless transmitter unit, so you can get going right away – but charging is quick (a couple of hours) via the supplied USB-C lead.

Obviously to use them wired you don’t need to turn them on at all, you just plug them in – but for everything else, you press the middle of three discrete little buttons on the right-hand outside of the headband, and they spring into life.

To select Bluetooth, you slide a little switch on the right-hand end of the headband to the blue position, then press the outer two of the little buttons on the headband to put the headphones into pairing mode. The little “on” LED by the buttons on the headband glows blue to show you’re in Bluetooth mode, flashes slowly to show they’re not paired, flashes fast to show they’re in pairing mode, and is steady once pairing is complete.

It took me a couple of goes to get the pairing to work, but once it did, all was good.

Setting up low-latency W+ wireless is a little different. To get this to work, you slide the selector switch from its blue setting to its white setting. The LED slow flashes white, to tell you they’re not yet paired. Again, you press the top and bottom buttons on the headphones to enter pairing mode (you get tonal audio cues for all this stuff in the phones), but this time, you first turn on the transmitter (long hold on its only button), then quickly double press the button to put it into pairing mode. Pairing is near instant, and you’re good to go – just plug the transmitter into your usual headphones output to connect the audio.

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