INTRODUCTION

   Whether it’s for listening to music, watching movies or playing games (or all of the above especially at night) a good quality headset is always one of the very few investments one can make that will probably last for a long time to come. Now as some of you know it's extremely rare for me to spend time testing basically the same product twice and when i say extremely rare i really mean it since it has happened only once so far in all the years i've been testing electronics and PC hardware. Still some products do deserve the highest amount of exposure possible due to their outstanding award winning performance and so when we finished testing the quite amazing TMA-1 DJ and Studio Headphones With Mic models by AIAIAI we turned our focus on the TMA-1 DJ Headphones With Mic Fools Gold Limited Edition.

   AIAIAI is an audio design company dedicated to developing high quality audio products for everyday use. AIAIAI’s modern, minimalist headphones and earphones deliver clear, amplified sound. Headquartered in Copenhagen, AIAIAI is proud to contribute to Denmark’s worldwide reputation as leader in acoustic and electro- acoustic design and engineering. Informed by a heritage of Scandinavian design, AIAIAI strives to create high quality, accessible audio products that deliver value far beyond trend-driven aesthetics. AIAIAI boasts a world-renowned network of industrial designers, audio technicians and DJs as part of its unique and highly collaborative development process. Exploratory and experimental, the process enables AIAIAI to develop new products on the leading edge, independent of current market trends.

   Aside some aesthetic differences the closed design TMA-1 DJ Headphones With Mic Fools Gold Limited Edition are identical to the normal version and thus they both share the same professional-grade 40mm titanium drivers that feature an impendency of 32 Ohm (+-15%), frequency response from 20Hz and up to 20KHz, 103dB sensitivity (+-3dB), harmonic distortion of less than 0.3% and an in-line 3 button Omni-directional microphone (43dB sensitivity) which you can obviously use to make and answer calls when plugged into an iPhone/iPad/iPod device. Now if you have read our TMA-1 DJ Headphones With Mic review you know very well that AIAIAI is not kidding around so you are basically getting top of the line premium quality headphones that are not only the exact opposite of bulky but also offer amazing audio quality/clarity. However perhaps an all-black color may not appeal to every consumer and this is where the TMA-1 DJ Headphones with Mic Fools Gold Limited Edition come in.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Whereas the normal TMA-1 DJ Headphones with Mic arrived in a black box with a product picture in the middle the Fools Gold Limited Edition arrive inside a yellow/gold painted box.

The contents of the bundle are listed on the left side in two languages and are placed right above two drawings showcasing the two different type of cables included in the bundle.

The right side of the headphones is shown on the right side of the box.

A large product image is placed at the rear along with the main features explained in-depth right beneath it.

Once again the front of the box opens up to reveal the product behind a clear plastic window, a picture of one of the earphones dismantled used to showcase its components, the specifications list and a frequency response chart.

Included in the bundle are the TMA-1 DJ Headphones With Mic Fools Gold Limited Edition, cloth carrying pouch, 3.5mm to 6.3mm gold plated adapter, 1.5m detachable coiled cable, 1.5m detachable straight cable, extra synthetic pads and the user’s manual.

THE TMA-1 DJ FOOLS GOLD

The TMA-1 DJ Headphones with Mic come in black matte color and are amongst the lightest (190g) and most compact headphones we've ever tested (naturally the same applies to the Fools Gold Limited Edition). Also the no-joints/hinges design adds to the overall durability of the headphones.

There are three things that differentiate the plain TMA-1 DJ and the Fools Gold Limited edition. So here we have the logo on the exterior of both cups, yellow cable extending from the headband and into the earphones and the Fools Gold & LABEL/ED logo on the interior of the thin headband.

The cable port is placed at the base of the right earcup and just like the normal TMA-1 DJ you can lock it in place.

The headband is fully adjustable and so from the second hole and up to the last one down you can extend it up to 38mm on each side.

As you can see the earphones can be completely removed need be. You just have to pull the pads in order to remove them and place other ones.

By default the headphones are shipped with the semi-synthetic pads mounted on the earphones (left) but you can also use the fully synthetic ones which although smaller are slightly softer (right).

All of the connectors are gold plated however it's the 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter that steals the show.

The in-line Omni-directional microphone is nothing fancy but that means it doesn't stand out much and i think that's a good thing when talking about a professional grade headphone set.

CONCLUSION

   Testing the TMA-1 DJ Headphones a few months ago was something that took quite a bit of time but the second time over we didn't think it was really necessary since the Fools Gold Limited Edition is virtually the same. Still we did plug them with our usual audio testing devices including my Yamaha A/V amplifiers (RX-V650/RX-V463), the Logitech Squeezebox Touch, android smartphones (LG Optimus 2X/Huawei Honor), an iPhone4 and finally the Creative Labs Titanium HD audio card placed in our primary system. This time over however we did burn-in the drivers for a total of 27 hours to see if that would make any difference (we didn't do so with the original TMA-1 DJ). However no matter the different path we chose the TMA-1 DJ Headphones with Mic produced the same incredible deep and rich bass coupled with very accurate crisp/dynamic midrange response and almost flawless highs. Just like with the original TMA-1 our sole concern is the lack of noise isolation due to the rather small earcups but that shouldn't be a problem to DJs and professionals alike. As for the Omni-directional microphone once again we didn’t really put much effort into testing it since it pretty much worked as advertised with the very few calls we used it for.

   Normally most high end professional grade closed type headphones cost quite a bit (quite easily exceeding the USD300/300Euros price mark) but AIAIAI seems to have an entirely different approach since they are pricing their solutions quite aggressively (always compared to the competition). So although the TMA-1 DJ Headphones with Mic Fools Gold Limited Edition can be considered as a collector’s edition it retails for roughly USD196.95 inside the USA (Purchase Directly from Amazon.com) and at around 220Euros inside the EU (Purchase Directly from Amazon.co.uk). You can also purchase the TMA-1 DJ Headphones with Mic Fools Gold Limited Edition directly from AIAIAI but usually prices are lower in stores like Amazon. Unfortunately people who may have no need for the in-line Omni-directional microphone there's no standalone version available right now so if you don't care about having a limited yellow/black version then i suggest purchasing the normal TMA-1 DJ Headphones which should save you a few bucks. Once again AIAIAI has impressed us with their solution and although the Fools Gold Limited Edition is actually the same as the original TMA-1 DJ Headphones with Mic that doesn't change the fact that we're still talking about a premium headphone set which is small, lightweight, extremely durable, feel great thanks to the matte black paint (that feels like rubber coating), are very comfortable (although the headband could use some more padding) and produce extremely accurate and clear audio. On top of that the new yellow/black color combination is really unique and the only reason I’d choose another AIAIAI headset would be if they released a black/red version of either the DJ or Studio edition (which they should very soon). Our Platinum award has once again found a warm place right next to the TMA-1 DJ Headphones with Mic by AIAIAI.

PROS

- Build Quality (Extremely Durable)
- Size/Weight
- Crisp/Accurate Mids/Highs
- Deep/Rich Bass
- Plenty Of Volume
- Omni-Directional In-Line 3 Button Microphone
- Coiled And Straight 1.5m Cables
- 3.5mm To 6.3mm Gold Plated Adapter
- Gold Plated Plugs
- Fools Gold Limited Edition (Yellow/Black Color Combination)
- Price (Compared To The Competition) 

CONS

- Passive Noise Isolation
- Headband Padding