I have recently looked at a huge number of earbuds. The mid- to high-end ones are really good. I still have a thing for a good pair of over-ear headphones though. I feel they fit better than earbuds. I know they might not be the best option for exercising. But if you are looking for something to use at home, in the office or during a trip, then it’s hard to beat over-ear headphones.
It is even harder to beat the new Technics EAH-A800 headphones. I have been using those for a few weeks now and they have amazing sound and active noise cancellation.
Let’s start with the sound. With 40mm drivers, the Technics EAH-A800 supports Hi-Res Audio, even over Bluetooth wireless, thanks to LDAC (96 kHz/24 bit) support. In addition to this higher quality codec (which must be supported by your phone) it also supports AAC and SBC.
I usually listen to music sourced from Spotify but to do it justice I decided to use a Hi-Res Audio streaming service. There are a few around but I settled on Qobuz, recently launched in New Zealand (for full disclosure I attended their local launch event a few months back and was given a three-month voucher for this test).
Music on Qobuz is available up to 192 kHz/24 bit. I installed the app on my phone and settled on the 96 Hz/24 bit supported by the Technics EAH-A800 with Bluetooth plus LDAC.
The sound is really good. Clear, powerful bass with great depth. It works with pop as well as classical or jazz.
The Technics EAH-A800 offers three different noise control types: noise cancelling, ambient sound and off. Noise cancelling is self-explanatory and will cancel external sounds, mainly white noise but is also very effective at voices. The ambient sound setting on the other hand will let capture voices and other surrounding sounds by using the built-in microphones and pass these through the drivers with the content being played. This gives you awareness of your environment.
You can also use these headphones with a 3.5mm cord (included). In this case it will work either off or on – the difference is that while on you can cycle the active noise cancellation.
Controls are very easy to use – you have the power button, volume up and down buttons and a music/call control button. With a bit of use you develop enough muscle memory to control those without a problem.
The right cup has a touch sensor, which is used to cycle through the different levels of noise cancellation or to answer/decline/end a call. This is a bit disappointing as I was expecting something like automatically pausing and enabling ambient sound when hovering your hand over the cup like some other headphones do. As it is you need to pause the music with one press on the music control button and then double-tap the right cup to cycle through noise cancellation and ambient sound.
The mobile app allows you complete control over your headphones. You can use it to set the levels of noise cancellation and ambient sound. You can also set the ambient mode to allow all external sound through or maximise voices around you.
You can also use the app to turn the fitting sensor on or off so that removing the headphones will automatically pause music playback.
Using the mobile app you can turn multi-point connections on or off (useful if you want to have the headphones available to two sources at the same time), or use the graphic equaliser to enhance the sound just the way you like it.
The multi-point connection works well. I had it connected to both my phone and my computer. It correctly switched from my computer music stream to my phone when incoming calls were received or when I initiated app calls, using Duo for example.
The Technics EAH-A800 is also an Alexa-enabled device. You can use the mobile app to link it to your Alexa account and you can interact with the assistant by using the “Alexa” trigger word – no need to push any buttons with these headphones. If you are like me and deep into the Alexa ecosystem, this is a great feature.
These headphones also work really well with mobile and app-based voice calls. With eight mics and noise reduction technology – both ways – you can hear and be heard clearly even when outdoors.
Playback time on these is amazing – somewhere between 40 hours (LDAC, noise cancellation on) to 60 hours (AAC, noise cancellation off). If you use these for an hour commute each way you can expect at least two to three weeks without recharging being required. A quick 15 minutes charge can give you an extra ten hours and you can have it fully charged again in around three hours.
The headphones are designed to fit comfortably over your ear with cushioned, super-soft earpads, with a headband that reduces pressure across your entire head. At only 298g these are very light and comfortable to wear.
In addition to the 3.5mm cord you also get a carrying case, a USB-C cable for charging and an aeroplane adapter – all standard fare really but always useful to have handy.
Technics has brought a great pair of headphones to the market, certainly worth considering when you are looking for your next set.
