Many brands sell wireless active noise canceling over-ear headphones at different prices, but until now it was noticeable because one brand did not exist. Technics has had a lot of success with wireless in-ear headphones these days, and now its headphone range is enhanced by these EAH-A800s.
The EAH-A800 certainly looks part of it. At a glance at the spec sheet, you can see that there is something you need to compete. They have one of the most exciting brand logos on all of Electronics Land. But given the fierceness of the opposition they face, these technics not only look good, they also need to do a lot more …
price
The Technics EAH-A800 is priced at £ 299 / $ 349/549 AUD. This puts them in the thickness of a) “Premium Wireless Over-Ear Noise Canceller” action, and b) Easily undercuts the current dominant champion £ 379 / $ 399 / AU $ 549 Sony WH-1000XM5. Price (unless you are)’in Australia).
However, Sony isn’t the only brand Technics needs to be aware of. Apple’s giant AirPods Max isn’t that expensive anymore (£ 429 / $ 549 / AU $ 709), Sennheiser’s Momentum 3 Wireless is almost one-third cheaper than Technics, and the not-so-long Bowers & Wilkins PX7 is yours too. It will be a thing. And that’s just to mention three very reliable options …
design
Manufacturing a pair of over-ear headphones that share the same wide range of designs as all other pairs is not “adventurous” or “missed” -it’s perfectly wise. And Technics, a totally wise brand, offered a luxurious, tactile and good-looking product with the EAH-A800. This is a pair of over-ear headphones to be recognizable.
Both the silver and black finishes look great (in this case, “black” means “dark gray”), and the headphones are built with a sort of thoroughness associated with the brand’s turntable. The 298g EAH-A800 is a bit heavier than the Sony XM5, but that doesn’t mean they’re heavy or any kind of burden to wear. And when you’re not wearing them, the frame has enough joints to fold them into a fairly small, oval semi-hard carry case.
The contacts (inside the earpads and headband) are made of synthetic leather filled with memory foam. The material does not absorb the heat of the body for a while. The clamping force of the headband is so well determined that the A800 can be comfortable for years at a time. However, because the earpads are relatively soft, they tend to move a little above your ears than most alternative designs.
Inside each earcup is a 40mm free edge dynamic driver, reinforced by an “acoustic control chamber” intended to control the air flow and allow the driver to move freely. Technics claims a frequency response from 4Hz to 40kHz. This is suitable when the EAH-A800 can actually approach such low and high frequency extensions.
feature
“Dual hybrid noise canceling technology” is a system in which Technics is in charge of noise canceling of EAH-A800. The drive uses an analog filter with a feedback mic and a digital filter with a feedforward mic to minimize noise ingress from both inside and outside the earcups. The strength of the noise cancellation and the amount of ambient sound that the headphones allow when requested can be specified in the Audio Connect control app. It can be adjusted in 100 steps. Most users. Technics suggests that this arrangement provides noise cancellation comparable to the best of its rivals. This basically means Bose, and more recently Sony.
However, in reality, system effectiveness belongs to the “excellent” category rather than the “excellent” category. Technics works well in terms of maintaining the timbral posture when the system is powered on. Also, even if the noise canceling circuit is set to “100”, there is no opposite sensation or auditory aftertaste while the noise canceling circuit is working. However, while the EAH-A800 works (to some extent) with external sounds, it cannot completely eliminate external sounds like the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700. “Reduction” occurs here, not “Delete”.
Technics EAH-A800 Technical Specifications
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Battery life 60 hours (maximum)
Dimensions (hwd) 19.6 x 17 x 8.5cm
weight 298g
bluetooth 5.2.
Voice control Alexa; Siri
Technics uses Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless connectivity compatible with SBC, AAC and LDAC codecs. This means that (in most cases) Sony smartphone owners can enjoy truly high resolution streaming. aptX compatibility.
Of course, Bluetooth 5.2 is about as energy efficient and serves to provide truly impressive battery life numbers. With LDAC dialed to the end of noise canceling, you can expect the charging interval to be 30 hours. You can definitely double that number by turning off ANC and using AAC. There are not many rivals who can live on these numbers at any price. If there is enough negligence to cause the worst, a 15 minute pit stop will hold for another 10 hours.
As far as control is concerned, there are several (properly implemented) options. The right earcup has a capacitive touch surface with very limited functionality and a classic 3-button strip of physical control. They handle Play / Pause, Skip Forward / Back, Answer / End / Reject Call, and Volume Up / Down. There’s also a USB-C socket for charging, a 3.5mm analog input for wired use, and a “power on / off / Bluetooth pairing” button. However, the software does not seem to be fully implemented. The response to the control can be described as “relaxing” and the A800 may not turn off at all when the power is pressed “off”. Smoother control software is available elsewhere on a daily basis.
Amazon Alexa is built-in and useful for us already in that ecosystem. Interactions have proven to be reliable and responsive. Siri is also available – you can choose between two in the Audio Connect app. In this regard, the operation is very stable and can be clean, minimalist or fairly rigorous, depending on your taste. There are several EQ presets (and an option to create your own equalizer using a 5-band equalizer) that allows you to specify touch surface functionality (singular). Here you can select “Transparent Mode” (which aims to deliver the entire ambient sound) or “Attention Mode” (which focuses on the midrange and makes announcements etc. easier to hear).
The EAH-A800 is compatible with multipoint pairing (for example, it’s okay to connect to your smartphone and laptop at the same time), pause your music if you remove your headphones, and revert to them within a minute. I’ll put it back.
In other words, it is basically a “premium wireless active noise canceling over-ear headphones” business.
sound
It’s not uncommon for headphones with EQ adjustments to sound the best if you leave the EQ in place. The Technics EAH-A800 is another pair that cannot be acoustically improved beyond the voice given by the engineer.Oh, you can make the sound of A800 Wrong – But is it better? There is no chance.
Therefore, the EQ settings remain the same, and the TidalMasters file is Daily holidays, nightly parties According to Saints Streaming, the A800 is an easy and generally fun listening. Indeed, they have some areas of performance that rival the best of their rivals.
Tone, they are persuasive and naturalistic. The lower limit of the frequency range is well controlled, properly deep and neatly shaped. The bass is pretty good, but not exaggerated. Thanks to the quick attack and decay, the momentum of the song is well expressed. The other side of the frequency range is achieved as well. The treble is crisp but heavy, and the sound of the headphones is careful and informative. If the music or source player isn’t sympathetic in high frequency terms, the top end can be a bit dazzling, but it’s never completely rough-it’s just a threat.
In the midrange, there are enough details to give a valuable expression to the singer’s character and attitude. However, although the midrange communicates well, it is quite crowded compared to above and below the frequency range. Despite the impressive level of detail, there isn’t much room in the soundstage for the midrange to work. And this lack of breathing space can make the A800’s sound slightly smaller and more crowded, making it a vast and clear place for its best rivals.
Technics can handle large dynamic shifts without any problems. Four knights Aphrodite’s Child (featuring slow and sad Vangelis) – Some options can put an even bigger distance between “almost quiet” and “great big finish”, but the EAH-A800 is in this regard. I haven’t succumbed. And if there are also more minor but less important harmonic variations of the same song involved, they are equally good.
However, this all assumes that you are sitting or standing still to enjoy listening. It feels like a perfectly robust build quality, but the structure of the EAH-A800 isn’t quiet. It conveys movement noise, especially footsteps, a little easier. In relation to the degree of movement allowed by the slightly soft earpads, it truly reduces the pleasure of mobile listening here than it would otherwise.
verdict
Good looking, striking specs, and obediently spectacular battery life all carry the Technics EAH-A800 to a considerable distance. And I’m also impressed with those sounds. However, the fairly rounded shoulder reproduction of the midrange, along with some very unwelcome inputs from the structure of the headphones themselves, means they aren’t the most compelling suggestions around.
Score
more:
Read reviews WH-1000XM5
again, Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless
Best Over-Ear Headphones 2022: Wired and Wireless Over-Ear for All Budgets