AIAIAI TMA-1 Closed Headphone

[dfkt]

http://www.aiaiai.dk/catalog/categor...s/tma-1/id/75/
http://www.tma-1.com/ (Beware, crappy Flash site.)

It looks just amazing, perfect Danish minimalism. And they sure chose the right marketing shtick for me (none of that painful Dr. Gaga/Lady Dre garbage):

The name TMA-1 (Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1) is taken from Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction novel "2001: A Space Odyssey" and refers to a black Monolith, which is extremely long-lived and reliable – just as the TMA-1.

[CrowdAds]

[WalkGood]

Certainly a nice interesting look, here’s to hoping they sound as high quality as they’re priced

[The Larch]

Any one going to get these for a review.

[dfkt]

I dropped them a mail. Let's wait and see...

[The DarkSide]

I saw these (by accident, while browsing) yesterday. When you do get a pair I really hope they are great performers, since I'm eying these as my next acquisition. Here's to hoping they send you a review pair dfkt!!!

[Jack4L]

Hmm that headband looks like it might be more painful then the HD25-1. Still would like to hear some sound impressions on em.

[Chef]

I can't say these look promising, but I envy your ability to be a connoisseur of so many headphones. Sometimes I feel very deprived in my one headphone, one earphone world.

[Satellite_6]

"The name TMA-1 (Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1) is taken from Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction novel "2001: A Space Odyssey" and refers to a black Monolith, which is extremely long-lived and reliable – just as the TMA-1."

lol, awesome.

[dfkt]

The Tycho Magentic Anomaly 1 is here.

[Spk282]

Any initial impressions you would be willing to give us? Laid back sound signature? They do look quite nice and minimalistic

[dfkt]

All I can say: very impressive so far, after a few hours - certainly not "DJ sound", but nicely balanced. Can't say more yet, need more brain burn-in.

They're actually two different phones, depending on using the included pleather or foam pads - there's a huge difference between the ear pads. To exaggerate a bit, it's something like HD650 vs. K701.

[Spk282]

Hopefully both pads are comfortable to the ears, that is my first concern when looking at the headphones. Does the plastic seem like you could scratch it easily and ruin the matte finish?

Love the picture of the TMA-1's with the homage to 2001 A Space Odyssey

Personally would prefer a straight cord.

[DragonBottles]

One of my favorite songs is called TMA-1 - oh god I need these.

Help me out here dfkt, I need to know if these are worth it or if there's better in the price range. What's the isolation like?

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by Spk282

Hopefully both pads are comfortable to the ears, that is my first concern when looking at the headphones. Does the plastic seem like you could scratch it easily and ruin the matte finish?

Both pads are comfy, the TMA-1 don't have overly much clamping force. Way less than the HD25, for example.

The outside is rubbery, not hard, so it should be basically scratch-resistant. They were made for drunk and/or stoned DJs, after all. Lenovo/IBM notebooks have a similar finish.

Originally Posted by Spk282

Personally would prefer a straight cord.

Me too. Luckily the cable is replaceable, and the connector at the ear cup is a standard 3.5mm plug. So either AIAIAI might release a straight cord, or one could very easily whip one up themselves (which is what I'm going to do today or tomorrow).

I think other brands use that standard approach as well, so there might actually be some fitting cables already available.

Originally Posted by DragonBottles

Help me out here dfkt, I need to know if these are worth it or if there's better in the price range. What's the isolation like?

I can't say more about their sound quality, need to spend a few weeks before I can give a real verdict. But for the looks alone they're more than worth it, IMO - they are definitely my favorite looking cans so far. In reality they're just as awesome to look at (and touch) as on the photos.

Isolation with the pleather pads is decent enough, already used them on the crowded street today. The foam pads isolate way less.

Originally Posted by DragonBottles

One of my favorite songs is called TMA-1 - oh god I need these.

I assume you mean the Rosetta song? That's a good one, indeed.

From Last.fm: Music you have in common includes Darkspace, Electric Wizard, Blut aus Nord, Alcest and God Is an Astronaut. - nice improvement since I looked last.

[lestatar]

I am a moron so I would buy these just cause they look like something from a Nolan Batman film.

Very much looking forward to the review dfkt - they seem reasonably priced as well. I guess the omission of Ethiopian Ostrich Leather accounts for that.

[dfkt]

Yeah, only some Danish LEGO bricks had to die for those, no cute Ethiopian pets.

[DragonBottles]

Originally Posted by dfkt

I assume you mean the Rosetta song? That's a good one, indeed.

From Last.fm: Music you have in common includes Darkspace, Electric Wizard, Blut aus Nord, Alcest and God Is an Astronaut. - nice improvement since I looked last.

I do mean that one indeed.

And, fantastic! I'm considering these. I ask again, anyone know what the isolation is like on these beautys?

[dfkt]

I answered the isolation part above.

[DragonBottles]

Oh, missed that. Sounds perfect for me! Let me know when you've come to a definitive
verdict.

[JxK]

They look interesting. I was initially planning on selling my VB and sr60s to help finance the hfi-780. I wanted to get a closed headphone that would work as both a portable while still being good enough for home use. But perhaps I'll hold out on buying anything until your review comes out. If nothing else, it's cheaper than the t50p.

Edit: I suppose I'll have to throw the sennheiser hd25ii into contention as well. Though the sound signature isn't exactly my preference, build quality cannot be denied.