Aiaiai TMA-2 Studio XE

It’s been almost ten years since the Danish headphone company Aiaiai launched the TMA series, a modular headphone system. Modular because each pair of headphones consists of four individually available components: a pair of drivers (S & – Speaker), ear pads (E – Earpads), a headband (H – Headband) and a connection cable (C – Cable). And since not everyone has the desire, knowledge or time to put together their own desired combination from the range of now well over twenty individual components, Aiaiai offer new combinations – which they call “presets” – on a regular basis.

The core of the Studio XE Preset is the same system structure as the current Studio Preset. The only difference here is the headband and the ear pads. While the “simple” Studio Preset uses the H04 headband and E08 earpads with a slightly textured Alcantara cover, the Studio XE uses the H01 headband with a slightly thinner nylon cover and the E04 earpads with a smooth imitation polyurethane leather cover.

The modular principle

Other than this, the Studio XE also feature the new S05MKII driver, which promises a sonic upgrade to the previous headphones. In terms of electrical output, it certainly fulfils this claim, as the maximum sound pressure level has increased by four decibels to 117 dB. Also, the frequency response no longer stops at 20 kHz but goes up to a bat-ear compatible 40 kHz. Owners of the previous model can simply buy the new drivers if they feel like an upgrade and continue to use all their other existing components. I don’t know of any other headphone series that can do this. A big plus for Aiaiai.

Look and feel

In contrast to the somewhat rougher feel of the Alcantara ear pads on the Studio version, the pads of the XE variant are covered with smooth polyurethane. Personally, I prefer this because the Alcantara cover tends to attract lint, but that is not an issue here. However, the headband is not quite as well padded in this version, as it is only covered with a thin nylon cover. So it’s a good thing that the total weight of these headphones is only 200 grams and your skull doesn’t have to bear that much of a burden. Aiaiai has included the C2 ribbon cable with these headphones: A black spiral cable that has a length of about 1.5 metres when relaxed and can stretch to twice that length. This is undoubtedly a good choice for studio headphones because in typical production scenarios, you move back and forth between mixing console, sound equipment and computer quite a lot. So it’s good that you don’t have to put mechanical pressure on the corresponding jack every time you reach the limit of the cable’s length.

For fans of sophisticated bass sound

With their new S05MK2 capsule, Aiaiai continue a sonic tradition that was established with the first model in this series – the TMA-1. Above all, those Danish headphones put a clear focus on the bass and hold back a little in the treble range. And that’s exactly what the Studio XE does. The whole bass range is brought to the eardrums dryly and with a proper “punch”, so that contemporary, electronically produced music styles, in particular, are a lot of fun. From about 200 Hertz, however, the frequency response drops in a fairly linear progression, and then, at the beginning of the mid-range, at about 1 kHz, it is a full 10 dB lower than in the bass. This is quite far away from the ideal of linear reproduction and is very close to disqualifying them for use in the studio, where an honest and neutral reproduction is important. On the other hand, this characteristic is clearly intentional and part of Aiaiai’s sonic DNA. Listeners who have tuned their ears to one of the previous models would be disappointed if Aiaiai suddenly changed this characteristic. In short, the sound is not neutral, but quite entertaining. So if a powerful treble presentation is something you find rather stressful, you will love the sound of the Studio XE.