Skip to main content

Hi-Fi Corner: AIAIAI’s TMA-2 modular let you customize your cans

By Ryan Waniata Apr 19, 2015 7:24 AM

Copenhagan-based AIAIAI is one of our favorite under-the-radar headphone makers here at Hi-Fi Corner. The company’s TMA-1 Studio headphones still stand as a go-to reference set in our mid-tier collection, and the company has expanded that line nicely. Now, AIAIAI has pulled the veil off of its latest innovation, a modular headphone system that aims to offer total evolution through deconstruction, dubbed the TMA-2.

The TMA-2 is less a singular headphone design, and more of an all encompassing headphone solution. The system offers a litany of adaptable and upgradable components, including 3 different headbands, 5 earpads, 6 cables, and 4 separate driver units, adding up to 360 different available combinations.

TMA-2_Modular_overview_concrete_02 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Related: RHA’s steely T10i tender big bass without sacrificing detail

Recommended Videos

The system was developed from the aforementioned TMA-1, offering customizable elements for sound, function, and design. Designs are tailored for different kinds of applications including studio use, audio editing, DJing, and basic listening. Its an interesting design tack that may take more effort than the average listener is willing to contribute. Still, for those serious about sound, the new system offers a wealth of intriguing possibilities.

“This adaptable, versatile approach to our headphones offers radical new opportunities for future product development, enabling us to expand the system to create better options for our users and the potential for further collaborations with our key artist and label partners,” said AIAIAI co-founder Frederik Jorgensen in a press release.

AIAIAI designer Lars Larsen calls the TMA-2 system a “new way of thinking about headphones,” which builds subtle changes into the original TMA-1 design, allowing for a “natural extension” of what came before, as opposed to abrupt transformation.

While constructing your cans will take a bit more effort, it also allows for users to start small and build up at their own pace, without breaking the bank. The TMA-2 system starts as low as $145, and allows users to move up from there.

By our own experience, we can attest to the fact that AIAIAI knows how to craft good sound through intuitive, minimalist components, which should give the system a solid foundation from which to build your preferred design.

If you’re interested in crafting your own sound, function, and fit you can visit the AIAIAI website and start building your own TMA-2 modular system today.

This post was originally published at our “brother site” Digital Trends

Ryan Waniata is a multi-year veteran of the digital media industry, a lover of all things tech, audio, and TV, and a… Read Full Bio

Elevate your elegance: Choosing your first cigar

Face, Head, Person

Earlier this year, I was strolling the streets of New York and ended up sitting in the Carnegie Club with an Old Fashioned in one hand and a cigar in the other while My Way by Frank Sinatra played from a speaker flanking leather-bound books behind the couch I had been using as my perch. It was my first cigar, but it led to a slight obsession that recently found me on the back deck of a lodge in Kenya, staring at Mount Kilimanjaro and smoking a stick while giraffes meandered by. Admittedly, there has been no intention in my budding hobby; I am aimlessly choosing the cigars that look good (the ones that look like those smoked by Arnold or Stallone in the movies, obviously). But I have decided to approach these in a new way, with a little help from my friends over at La Aurora, who graciously decided to navigate my ignorance with some info compiled by Brand Manager John Gaglio, with input from Master Blender Manuel Ynoa, CEO Ed McKenna, and Brand Manager Elvis Batista.

What to look for in your first cigar

FIFA’s Gianni Infantino Is Uglifying the Beautiful Game With $20 Billion Plot — But the Global Soccer Community’s Punching Back

People, Person, Crowd

For the better part of two decades, perhaps even more, corruption has allegedly run rampant within FIFA. Sepp Blatter, in particular, became the face of alleged extortion schemes, and he operated with impunity while at the helm of the organization for 17 years, from 1998 until his forced resignation in 2015 amid an FBI corruption probe. He’s banned for life from all football-related FIFA activities. If you’re new to the organization’s alleged deep connection to corruption, Netflix offers a brilliant 2022 documentary, FIFA Uncovered. In that documentary, Gianni Infantino appears in his previous capacity as Secretary General of UEFA (2009-2016) and later as the newly elected FIFA president, who vowed to root out corruption and hand the beautiful game back to the people where it belongs.

That, as it turns out, was all wishful thinking.

Escobar Cigars, Co-Owned by Nas, Drops Four-Profile Robusto House Blend Collection

Blade, Knife, Weapon

Imagine that, Nas is getting closer to ruling the cigar world. The legendary rapper’s Escobar Cigars, which he co-owns, is making waves with the launch of a new four-profile House Blend collection. The launch is in partnership with Cigar Chief, one of North America’s largest premium cigar retailers.

The Manual has not yet had the chance to do a taste review (a pack is on the way), but Escobar Cigars says the four-profile House Blend collection (Maduro, Premium Blend Connecticut, Habano, and Connecticut Robusto) “has its own distinct wrapper, filler, and strength profile,” and that “all four are rolled in 5 x 52 Robusto format using classic Cubano entubado construction.”