AIAIAI TMA-2 Update

Trying new earpads

I’ve written about these modular headphones before, which I’ve now had for three years. They are not my most commonly-used headphones, but I do enjoy using them on occasion. The battery life remains impressive even if they go a couple months without being used, they’ll still have a charge.

I wrote about the newer firmware in 2022 and as far as I can tell there has been no firmware updates since then. The S10 driver firmware page lists 1.1.2 as the latest version and that is the version I applied in 2022. I guess they’ve decided that is good enough. They also apparently have decided not to do any sort of app, as I couldn’t find anything in the App Store.

The thing that has prevented me from listening to them more is that I just find the bass to be too intense for me most of the time. I have the E04 · Over ear - PU leather earpads, which according to their “build your own” page have this sound signature:

Notice how high that bass line is!

But a few weeks ago, AIAIAI started their Black Friday sale and I decided to pick up the E10 · On ear - REPREVE earpads, which were marked down to $20. These pads show a different sound profile to go along with their smaller size:

That more balance sound profile seemed appealing to me.

The ear pads are easily swapped, just by pulling the old ones off and popping the new ones on — they are just held in place by some plastic posts.

As you can see above, the REPREVE pads are much smaller.

The REPREVE pads are nice and soft, but they are on-ear. Considering that the TMA-2 has moderate clamping force, that means there is more pressure put on my ears and am more impacted because I wear glasses. Although I liked the fit, I felt they got uncomfortable after just a short while.

The sound signature is modified by the REPREVE pads with noticeable increase in highs and mids, but the bass still feels too strong for me. The pads also make the headphones seem louder, since your ears are now closer to the drivers.

So I switched back to the PU leather earpads, which are much more comfortable, and decided to play around with the rather simple iPhone EQ. I’ve never really used it before because it really is just a bunch of presets, with no way to see what is actually being changed.

But after trying all the ones in the Music settings, I found the “Reduced Bass” preset is the one I prefer, which probably should not have been a surprise.

With that setting and the PU pads, I find the TMA-2 to fit my needs better and have become much more enjoyable for me to listen to. They now have strong bass, but it is not overpowering. Sadly, I doubt I’ll be going back to the REPREVE pads much. I couldn’t get a better sound out of them and the comfort was not good enough, even if the smaller size was nice.