AIAIAI TMA-2 DJ Wireless Review

Even as wireless audio is now the default for everyday listening, DJ headphones are almost always the one place you’re guaranteed to find cables. And there’s a good reason for it – standard Bluetooth just isn’t fast enough for real-time cueing or mixing. 

If you want to move freely around the booth, or you’re handling a tight B2B handover, you’ve traditionally been tethered to the mixer by a wire. But some new technology promises to free us from the tyranny of cables with a wireless connection that’s imperceptibly short. We’ve already seen something similar with the AlphaTheta HDJ-F10 but now there’s a new contender for the best wireless DJ headphones.

The new AIAIAI TMA-2 DJ Wireless are built on the much loved TMA-2 modular design that you’ll see around the necks of loads of DJs, but they’ve now introduced a new ultra-low latency W+ link that promises super-fast connections. So do these new headphones bring wireless DJing to a more accessible and viable point, or is it still just too niche to matter? 

Design & Build

These new headphones are classic AIAIAI design and share the modular setup you’ll find on all their headphones. That means that you can swap out and replace all of the parts, including the speaker units, headband, earpads and cable. So if any one of these elements breaks, or you feel like upgrading or changing them down the line, you don’t need to buy a whole new pair of headphones. This comes down to AIAIAI’s clear commitment to environmentally conscious design. All their products are created with the planet in mind, using recycled and responsibly sourced materials wherever possible. 

In terms of build quality, these feel premium, as you’d expect from a pair of AIAIAIs. The all-matte black plastic used throughout feels good in the hands and looks pretty cool as well. Everything on these headphones is sturdy, well-built and we’d have confidence that they’d be able to survive the wear and tear of DJing – including being thrown in a bag along with other gear. 

These are also comfortable headphones, even when worn for a long time. They’re relatively light, weighing just 217g, so they sit on the head pretty nicely, and the clamping force keeps them in place without squeezing your head too hard. Provided with these headphones is a set of their on-ear memory foam earpads with vegan leather. These are just the right level of firmness to sit well on the ears while providing a decent seal to block out the outside world. If you want to swap out these pads for one of the other options, such as some over-ear ones, you can order a different set from AIAIAI, and they just pop on and off. 

Probably our only gripe when it comes to design is that they don’t fold up, and the ear cups don’t swivel flat, so when it comes to storing them, they’ll take up more room than some other DJ headphones.

Included with the headphones, you get a 1.5m straight cable, the W+ Wireless transmitter, a USB charging cable, a short audio cable for the transmitter, two 1/4 inch adaptors and a carrying case.

Sound Quality

With AIAIAI, we’ve come to expect a pretty bass-forward sound. The TMA-2 DJ headphones were especially biased towards the low-end, although the TMA-2 DJ XE offered a more neutral, balanced sound. With these new TMA-2 DJ wireless headphones, the bass is still key to the sound signature, but it avoids spilling into overpowering territory. There’s plenty of thump and punch to kicks and basses, and overall, the low end is satisfying and fun to listen to without becoming overwhelming or tiring. 

These are headphones specifically designed for DJs, so this is exactly what we’d need – lots of volume and punch so you can hear and cue in a track in a busy club setting. The isolation is also pretty good and will do a solid job of blocking out most background noise, even in a loud environment. 

That said, while there’s plenty of bass going on, it doesn’t always reveal the finer details in more complex low-end material. That’s generally true of the rest of the sound here, too. The detail and separation is fine, but nothing special, and if you’re planning on using these for something like music production, there are better options out there at this price point.

AIAIAI does also give you the power to shape the sound of these headphones with an accompanying app. This lets you adjust a 5-band EQ to tailor the sound profile to your tastes, so if you’re after a bit more or less bass, for example, you can just tweak it in there.   

Wireless Performance & Connectivity

Although these headphones are all about the fancy new wireless connection, they do, of course, work as traditional wired headphones. Included is a 1.5m straight cable with a screw-on 1/4 to 1/8 inch adaptor, which feels suitably high quality.

You can also use these with a normal Bluetooth connection, as you would for a more standard everyday pair of headphones. That’s great if you want to use these as everyday headphones for casual use or travelling, although there’s no active noise cancellation or in-built mic – two features we’d expect from a day-to-day set of headphones.

The W+ wireless connection is what makes these headphones really stand out from the rest. AIAIAI promise ultra-low latency of under 10ms – that means there’s an imperceptibly short delay from you touching something on the decks and hearing it coming out of the headphones. The audio is also uncompressed over this wireless connection, unlike with most Bluetooth connections, so the sound quality remains pristine. 

The W+ works with a separate unit that comes provided. This little box connects pretty simply to the headphones – just hold down the button on each of them, and you’re good to go. This box then connects with a cable to whatever you’re playing from. Like the headphones themselves, the unit charges via a provided USB C cable. According to AIAIAI, you get over 20 hours of battery life on the W+ connection, which should be more than enough for any DJ set.

The little transmitter box plugs into the headphone output of your DJ gear.

This lightning-fast connection may sound a bit too good to be true to all of us used to the noticeable lag you get from Bluetooth. But the truth is that, after testing it out, you really can’t notice any difference in terms of feel and response to using a traditional wired connection. In a blind test, absolutely nobody would be able to tell. 

The only slight issue we found was that when you’ve got the W+ unit connected up, there’s a bit of background noise, even when nothing’s playing. It’s pretty quiet and certainly won’t be something you’ll notice when music’s playing or you’re in a loud club, but it’s worth noting – although you’ll probably use one of the other connection types for casual use where this noise may be a problem. 

Verdict & Value

The AIAIAI TMA-2 DJ Wireless retails for £250/$299 – putting them towards the higher-end price bracket for DJ headphones. 

Whether or not to go for these headphones really just comes down to whether or not you’re convinced by the need for wireless technology in the booth. It’s an undeniably impressive bit of kit but it’s serving what is probably a pretty niche market at the moment. We can see it being pretty handy for cramped B2B sets and those moments where your dancing in the booth gets a little wild, but not everyone will feel the need for it. 

If you’ve already got a pair of TMA-2 DJ headphones, you don’t need to buy a whole new set. AIAIAI offer just the wireless receiver and speaker units, allowing you to upgrade to wireless for £125. 

However, if you’re just looking for a new set of DJ headphones, you’ll have to be sold on the idea as otherwise, you could just get a pair of AIAIAI’s fantastic TMA-2 DJ headphones for between £99 and £159 and save the rest of the money for a pair of noise-cancelling everyday wireless headphones. Or if you’re just looking at a pair of traditional DJ headphones at this price, there’s stiff competition from the likes of the V-Moda M-100. 

AIAIAI TMA-2 DJ Wireless vs AlphaTheta HDJ-F10

This market for wireless DJ headphones is still very niche, and even with this new model entering the competition, there are still only two models to choose from – the only other option is the recently released Alphatheta HDJ-F10.

The HDJ-F10 offer a sound that’s much more bass-forward. Some may love this, and it can certainly be handy when it comes to cueing tracks while mixing, but for everyday use, this can quickly get tiring. In terms of detail and general sound quality across the frequency spectrum, the HDJ-F10s probably just take the edge as there’s a better sense of instrument separation and resolution. 

The wireless tech on both is very similar in how it works, as both come with a separate unit that connects with a wire to your DJ gear, and both offer an imperceptible delay and around 20 hours of battery life. 

In terms of design and build, this will largely come down to personal preference, as both are clearly well-built. The HDJ-F10 are much larger over-ear models and, as such, give better isolation, while the AIAIAIs are a smaller, lighter on-ear design but do have the benefit of being modular, so you can replace parts.

By far the biggest difference when comparing the two is the price. The AIAIAIs come in at £250/$299, while the AlphaThetas will set you back £469/$499. Considering how close these are in performance, that’s a pretty steep jump in price that many DJs will find hard to justify.