Helmet EAH-A800 from Technics is now available. Presented at the Las Vegas CES 2022 electronics show, it plays in the big leagues. Through him, Panasonic’s high-end audio brand wishes to highlight its know-how in hi-fi, to which we owe the legendary SL-1200 vinyl turntables.
Noise reduction and Ambient sound
Supplied in its rigid storage case, the A800 is a foldable circum-aural headphone. Its shape-memory ear cups surround the ears, immediately creating good passive insulation. Weighing 298 grams, the helmet is a little heavier than its competitors, but its wearing is not unpleasant, the headband covered with imitation leather not enclosing the user’s skull too much.
Its operation could not be simpler, Technics having opted for essentially physical controls: an ON / OFF button, Volume buttons and a control key to summon your personal assistant. A simple touch surface on the right atrium allows you to start noise reduction or listening in “Ambient” mode, i.e. while remaining aware of outside noise.
Farewell, the clicking of the keyboard
It must be admitted that these two functions work particularly well. Tested in the street, the A800 managed to drown out most surrounding sounds. An ambulance with a screaming siren, however, thwarted its few 8 microphones (two per headset) and other algorithms. At work, the A800 literally immersed us in our bubble. To date, it is also the only noise reduction headset that we have tested that completely eradicates the clicking noise of typing on the keyboard of our computer. Even Sony’s noise reduction champion WH-1000XM4 doesn’t do as well and has more difficulty reducing high-pitched sounds.
In addition, the Technics Audio Connect application makes it possible to quantify fairly finely the noise reduction and the Ambient mode on a scale of 0 to 100%. It took us several tries to find the right dosage.
Subwoofers in the ears
For its part, listening with the Technics EAH-A800 offers a rather unique sound signature. Compatible with the uncompressed LDAC and multi-point codec (it can be connected to two different sources without having to re-pair it), the headphones offer a warm, punchy and extremely strong reproduction in bass, but especially in sub-bass. The beats of Makeba of Jain, which we use regularly as a test, have been served!
Undoubtedly calibrated to meet the demand of the youngest, eager for its bassy sound, the A800 however lacks a bit of brilliance. Of cold heart by Elton John & Dua Lipa, at Your sailor from Hoshi, via Basic from Orelsan, we listened to many hits of the moment and made the same observation: listening is excellent, but somewhat muffled, with mids set back.
This is a phenomenon that increases when you activate the noise reduction. The equalizer present in the application just makes it possible to soften this feeling of veil, either by customizing its listening by playing on the frequency curves, or by opting for one of the presets offered, such as “Dynamic” or “Acute +”. . The sound of the WH-1000XM4 headphones that we brought out for the occasion seems more faithful.
Record autonomy
But if there is one area in which the Technics EAH-A800 surpasses all its competitors, it is in autonomy. Its promise of 50 hours of listening on a charge is indeed kept, the headphones even managing to go beyond with the noise reduction deactivated. That’s almost twice as much as the best helmets on the market!
At 349 euros, it is sold at the same price as the Fidelio L3 from Philips and the QuietComfort 45 from Bose, which remains a reference. For its part, the price of Sony’s WH-1000XM4 has dropped its price from 379 euros when it was launched to 329 euros. Between these four models, all excellent, the choice promises to be difficult! Unless you swear by biting bass, in which case the A800 is a must.