Review: AIAIAI TMA-2 DJ Wireless Headphones
Can this set of pro DJ headphones cut cables without cutting corners? Rob Hanlon finds out.
19 June 2025
Review: Rob Hanlon
Wireless audio has come far. Very far. Today, we are a long way from the Bluetooth of 2006. It sounds decent, different codecs are available for you non-Apple users (dagnabbit Tim, give us ALAC already) and latency has been reduced greatly. But I have never considered wireless a good long-term solution for pro audio. Of course, there is the glaring exception of wireless microphones, on their own special bandwidths, but for output stages — no thanks. Our church’s side fills are currently running wireless with some 2.4G adaptors, and they are very unreliable. I would never ‘install’ this as a long term solution. But with a dongle, proprietary frequency and bandwidth, as well as their uniquely modular approach to headphone design, AIAIAI are looking to create reliable wireless options for professional use on stage and in the studio.
AIAI CAP’N!
It won’t come as any surprise that this Scandinavian product comes in pieces and must be snapped together. Each part is weighty and solid, finished in a smooth soft-touch black. Unusually, the included headband isn’t padded, it’s instead finished with rubber on the underside. This doesn’t seem to impact on comfort at all. All functions are taken care of by a four-way joystick. This is by far the best control system I have ever used in a wireless product. Up for volume up, back for track back — each control does exactly what you expect it to do. Switching between Bluetooth and W+ Link is done by double-pressing; blue LED for Bluetooth, white for W+ Link.
Setting up the XO3 transmitter requires pairing with the S11 speaker units when first powered up, very self explanatory. (Frustratingly, the headphones don’t enter pairing mode when first switched to Bluetooth.) The transmitter can either be hooked up via mini-jack to your headphone out, or plugged straight into your computer via USB-C (with support for either 48 or 96kHz audio at up to 24bits). All interconnects are included and of exemplary quality, overall feeling more like luxury consumer goods than the sometimes ragged quality of pro-audio accessories. Unfortunately, the X03 is a clear exception, feeling light and plasticy. I wouldn’t feel confident that it still works after dropping on a hard floor… a confusing ommission in an otherwise beautifully appointed, premium package.
AI KNOW IT SOUNDS CRAZY
Once connected, the first thing I ran into was gain management. Because the S11 speaker units are LOUD. As DJ monitors, I have no doubts they’ll hold their own against the chunkiest booth fills. Even then, you still might blow your ears out if you don’t check the gain all matches up before putting these on. While in the booth, these cans will clamp down nicely on your ears, providing a great seal and quite decent isolation, especially for an on-ear design. The sound itself is low bass and focussed highs, with a throaty peak around 800Hz to my ears, making music very ‘forward’ — great for picking out the bits you’ll need to hear while beat-matching. You’ll want to be working wirelessly while locking in tempos, as the included cord, while of excellent quality, is a bit too short at only 1.5m.
And this is the almost $600 question. Do you want to be using these wirelessly? Compared to the very best Bluetooth protocol aptX Low Latency, which tops out at 40ms, AIAIAI has engineered something impressive here, beating out the cheapest name-brand wireless IEMs by a few hundred dollars and a country mile in convenience, sound quality and reliability. I (unfairly) stress-tested the latency with some vocal recording, live tracking through my DAW, and they were understandably flange-y, not reaching the <10ms I found I needed to hear myself naturally. For anything other than this, such as tracking synths, bringing in the next track or FOH monitoring, the 22ms I measured won’t be a dealbreaker for most and can easily be accounted for and gotten used to. Live engineers who are adding delay to their headphones output anyway will have no worries here.
AI, AI, GET YOUR AI HERE
Though it falls short in some areas, the TMA-2 is the complete package for those wanting to remove the cable from their setup. Buyers also gain a formidable pair of Bluetooth headphones, with the best user interface I’ve ever tried. For those wanting to produce and mix music wirelessly, there are more specialised models in the TMA-2 lineup to suit this, like the Studio Wireless+, but the DJ Wireless offers everything a professional seeking wireless on-ear phones could want or expect.
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