AIAIAI TMA-2 HD Review - Built your favorite Headphones

These days, when I ask people around me what their favorite music is, the most frequent answer I get is: "Anything". Music has become so accessible to the internet generation, music now crosses cultures and borders, and as a result we are exposed to more diverse range of music than ever before.

If the taste of our music has become wider, then how can we expect to reproduce a variety of music on one single music playback set up? With the diversification of music, you'd also have a diversification of instruments, mix, vocals, even in the intonation between the languages.

Is the solution then to fork out thousands of dollars to get the best headphone for each of the different music? Not everyone has that kind of money, not to mention the clutter it would create.

This for me is where AIAIAI's modular headphone system comes in with its exchangeable components.

I first came into contact with the AIAIAI TMA-2 system at the end of October 2019, and by the end of that review I was convinced that this is a system that has longevity because you can continuously upgrade each module. You can find the best sound profile through different the speakers and ear pads, and even decide whether you want to connect through wired or wirelessly through changing the headband.

I have since come to get a hold of more modules from AIAIAI: new speakers, headband, cushions and a new cable, and have tested them for a couple of months. Here is my second take on the AIAIAI TMA-2 modular headphone system.

More pieces = More fun!

If you have read my first review on the AIAIAI headphones, you will know that I am a big fan of how it is packaged. Like LEGOs that come in smaller packages, each of the components comes in separate packages. And just like IKEA furniture, I bet the interesting packaging can even save on cost through simplifying the assembly process, as well as saving storage space which reduces both warehousing and shipping costs.

The second time around was just as exciting, like early Christmas I opened up the little packages that look like an astronaut's meal packs.

This time I got my hands on the S04 and S05 speakers - the two high end speakers in the AIAIAI catalogue; E06 cushions which is a leatherette over-the-ear ear pad; E08 ear pad which are also over-the-ear ear pads that is covered in Alcentara; and finally the H03 Headband with the C15 cables.

Together with the parts that I already have on hand, there are enough parts to build 3 full headphones with countless possible combinations, each producing a new sound characteristic.

Round peg in a round hole

After using the headphones for a few months, it's really like owning multiple cans. I find myself gravitating towards a certain speaker when listening to a certain kind of music. In my personal library of music, a track taken out at random would varies from Rage Against the Machine to Tchaikovsky, Black Pink to Les Miserables - so while it's not an exhaustive list, I believe it's a fair slice of the music spectrum.

The S05 speaker was my immediate favorite out of the two new speaker units. It had a crisp sound, great detail in the highs and a powerful bass. The frequency response that I heard accentuates the treble and the bass, like a typical 'Rock' EQ preset. This is great for - you guessed it, Rock music, and also Pop and Electronic music where you want the bass line to have strong presence and the kick drum thumping while getting crisp details in the cymbals and keeping the synth and electric guitar sweet.

Initially going to the S04 straight from the S05, I was not thrilled with the sound. The crisp highs and booming lows were not as clearly defined, while the mids seems to stand out more. So over the next few weeks I found myself reaching for the S05 much more than the S04, that is, until one day, the song 'I'll Never Love Again' came on by Lady Gaga (From the Soundtrack of 'A Star is Born'). As soon as she sang the first note, I stopped everything that I was doing: it sounded amazing.

After playing through the whole track, I had a hypothesis. I immediately pulled out all the vocal-centric tracks in my favorites list: Coldplay's 'A Rush of Blood to the Head', to Switchfoot's 'I won't let you go', to Jesse J's 'Loud' - in each case, the vocal lines are very beautifully pronounced, the nuance in the timbre of each singer came to life. I quickly got addicted to this sound after this eureka moment. Whenever I felt like listening to some vocal-centric songs, the S04 became my new go-to headphones.

During my time with the AIAIAI headphones, the experience affirmed the versatility of owning a headphone that has the ability to possess multiple sound signatures through interchangeable speaker units. Just as my music folder holds more than one genre of music (And even 5 different languages), it makes sense to have just as many choices for my headphones.

Who is the AIAIAI TMA-2 Headphone for?

For those who appreciate and enjoy a wide range of music, across genres or even cultures, I see the AIAIAI modular system as the only sensible choice in the market right now. Just Google 'modular headphone' and it'll be evident that AIAIAI has carved out their own niche in the headphone market. Instead of owning half-a-dozen of expensive headphones, you only need different pairs of speaker modules from AIAIAI to satisfy all your listening needs.

I am even more excited of future models that AIAIAI has the potential to work on. The current models demonstrate a working system, and all that is needed now is for this innovative Denmark company to continue to explore and create new extensions to the working modular system - yes, just like LEGO.

David is a tech enthusiast/writer who is often on the move and is on a mission to explore ways to make his overhaul flights more enjoyable. This is a contribution to an ongoing IBTimes review series on gadgets for Business Travellers.