(Review) Technics EAH-A800 - Not what I expected!
The Technics A800 is very competitive in terms of specs. It is Hi-Res certified, having double the frequency response of your typical headphones, and it supports LDAC which is a high bandwidth codec. It’s also got up to 50 hours of battery with ANC turned on, which is beyond what most competitors are offering. (Of course, if you were to stream over the more power-intensive codec, LDAC, that is going to have an impact on its battery life.)
Build Quality and Comfort
The first thing that strikes me about its build quality is that it’s… okay. But it does feel a little cheap. The plastic does feel a bit more brittle, but the headband is still pretty stretchable so overall, I’m not too worried. I do like the cushions, though. It’s wrapped in synthetic leather skin but it feels thicker and more durable than most headphones, even from the more popular brands like Sennheiser and Sony. However, since the cushions have a thicker skin, though the headband doesn’t clamp too tightly you do feel the clamp a bit more. So that is something that is going to impact its comfort.
Multipoint Pairing
It’s got multipoint pairing so that you can stay connected to up to two devices at the same time. Maybe you have two phones, or maybe you just want to connect your headphones to your PC while taking calls from your phone. You can do that with Multipoint. And just toggling between the devices, it seems that the A800’s multipoint is pretty smooth and reliable.
Sound Quality
Like I said, the A800 is Hi-Res wireless certified, so it’s able to stream over LDAC and its 40mm drivers can reproduce up to double the frequency range of more ‘regular’ headphones. But what is its sound quality really like? I was listening to music on them streaming over LDAC, and the first thing I noticed is that they do sound brighter than the kind of sound I’m used to, but it’s not to the point of sounding too harsh or sibilant. And they also sound very revealing in the high frequencies. Background details do show up more obviously than usual. In terms of bass response, you’ll notice a bit more extension from them.
This frequency sweep comparing them to other popular headphones do show something like a spike in the lower bass, and a big difference in gain in the treble, which could explain that brightness. But there are some things I don’t really like about its sound. When listening to vocals music with heavier track density the timing of the vocals seem more sluggish. I thought it could have been a tuning issue so I tried the different EQ presets, and yes, putting it into Dynamic, which is a more V-shaped preset, seems to fix the pacing issue and it also seems to improve its soundstaging. Because on its default tuning, the A800s sound very closed-in. Some people do like that more intimate soundstaging, but I personally prefer my soundstage to be more airy and spacious, something more akin to the sound of Sony, Sennheiser or Apple headphones. You can hear their sound quality differences here.
There is one more thing that deserves mentioning. These headphones are very loud. At 50% volume, they sound like what other headphones would have been like at 60%. So for me, I’m usually listening to these headphones at 50% volume. Anything beyond that is simply too loud.
Controls / Technics Connect App
In terms of controls, all the buttons are on the right earcup, along with a touch panel that only does active noise cancelling toggles. It’s intuitive, but not really customizable.
No worries, these cans can be finetuned in many other ways. It is one of the most customizable headphones I have encountered. Using the Technics Audio Connect app. You can finetune both the depth and degree of noise cancelling, the transparency, there are also sound quality presets to choose from, and a graphic EQ covering bands of up to 10 khz.
Call Quality
There are even phone call adjustments. Say you’re making calls in a noisy place, and the other party can’t hear you that well. What you can do is to set the noise-gate higher using what Technics calls “Strong Mode”. And it cuts out more of the background noise.
I have tested its microphone pickup in both quiet and noise conditions using some really loud cafe style background noise, and I’ve got to say that its call quality in both quiet and noisy conditions is pretty good. So you’re not going to have much of a problem with call quality to begin with. But on Strong mode, ambient noise is reduced even further. But it also made my voice sound a bit more robotic.
Overall its call quality is fantastic. And it’s good that Technics gives people a choice between less or more noise-gating. You can listen to the call quality samples here.
Its call quality is also, in some ways, better than the XM5. Its background noise cancelling was cleaner and my voice sounded a bit more natural. And if you compare it to the AirPods Max, in quiet conditions, the AirPods Max sounds more natural. But in noisy conditions, the Technics did perform better than the AirPods Max. It cancelled more background noise and it amplified my voice better. So in terms of call quality, the Technics A800 is one of the best right now.
Active Noise Cancelling
Testing its active noise cancelling using the same cafe background noise, and benchmarked against the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Sennheiser Momentum 4, it seems like its noise cancelling is pretty good. It cuts a bit more noise than the Sennheisers and just a little less noise than the Sonys. I have to say, it is pretty impressive given that it costs less than the Sony XM5. Listen to the comparison here.
Transparency Mode
In terms of transparency, it’s not bad, It’s quite clean, not much of a hint of white noise. But it’s still not as transparent as something like the WH-1000XM5 or the AirPods Max.
Conclusion
So what do I like about the Technics A800? Definitely the fact that it’s specced so well. I like that it’s got multipoint, a big battery, an app that’s zippy and full-featured, making this one of the most customizable headphones around. Another reason to get the A800 is its call quality, it simply is one of the best at this moment. I think it sounds pretty good. Not exactly to my sound preferences but I could tweak it to sound more the way I want. I do wish that they were more comfortable to wear. I could wear this for a few hours but it does get hot fast due to the cushions. Aside from that, there’s nothing that I really hate about it. For stuff that I want in a pair of headphones, the A800 do check most boxes. But I would have liked it even more if its sound is more to my tastes.
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