Technics EAH-A1000 Review

Design

• Collapsible design
• Two finishes
• Physical controls

The EAH-A1000 are on the big side, but they’re comfortable and aren’t afraid to stand out from the crowd. You may look like one of the Cybermen from Doctor Who wearing these headphones, but you’ll look good doing so.

These are a very plush pair of headphones to wear. The earpads and headband really want you to know how soft with the point of contact. The clamping force is not too tight, and the effect the headphones have wrapping round a head is a cosy one, even as a glasses wearer.

Despite weighing over 300g, like the Sonos Ace Ultra, the headphones feel lighter. The build quality is fine, but there’s a slightly plasticky and hollow feel in places. Having dropped the headphones, they did just about survive the fall, though one of the earpads flew off. The earpads are swappable if they become degraded, but Technics hasn’t gone as far as to allow the batteries to be replaced.

They come in two colours: Black and what Technics is calling Platinum Greige. I had no idea that Greige existed but I’ve been assured that it is an actual word. The engraved Technics logo looks great on either colour, and while I do like this Greige version, the Black version also looks rather nice too.

The cans are foldable and can be packed into a carry case (comparable in size to a Sony or Sennheiser). Inside are pockets where you’ll find both 3.5mm and USB-C cables for charging/wired audio.

Technics has gone back to physical buttons after dabbling with a touch sensor for the A800, which is a good choice. There’s a button for power/Bluetooth pairing, another for swapping noise cancelling modes, and a toggle (slide control) button for playback and volume control – they’re responsive, tactile, and don’t cause a fuss, which is exactly what you want.

Features

• Three device multipoint
• Audio Connect app
• LDAC

Bluetooth multipoint pairing features on these headphones but the Technics is special in that it can connect to up to three devices simultaneously. Technics has made this possible thanks to some technical wizardry (Anker Soundcore is another). The only caveat is that LDAC has to be disabled for this to work.

The headphones stream in SBC, AAC, LC3 and LDAC, and Bluetooth Auracast is supported and works well. I had the privilege of using the headphones with Auracast at a Silent Disco event arranged by Technics at Tokyo Tower. The headphones have also been optimised for Dolby Atmos spatial audio too.

To enable Auracast, the LE Audio Connection has to be changed in the app, but that’ll mean that voice assistance is switched off, as is spatial audio, and you can’t have Bluetooth multipoint engaged either.

There’s no support for Google Fast Pair, Windows Swift Pair or Spotify Tap, so the implication is that the A1000 doesn’t support them. Otherwise the wireless performance has been fantastic. The connection hasn’t come unstuck walking through Paddington train station or Soho or anywhere else, for that matter.

Like many other headphone brands, Technics has also ditched built-in voice control but there’s access to your phone’s assistant.

The bulk of the feature set is found in the Audio Connect app. This current incarnation feels slightly more streamlined than I remember. There are shortcuts to Ambient Sound Control, Sound Enhancement, Connected devices, Spatial Audio, and if you want to change the arrangement you can do so by customising the home screen.

Ambient Sound Control is the hub for customising the noise cancelling performance. You can switch the Adaptive mode set to on or off, switch ANC off altogether and toggle into Ambient Sound, through which you have two options: Transparent or Attention mode.

There’s an array of EQ options with Direct the default followed by Bass+, Super Bass+, Vocal, Treble+, Dynamic and three custom options (8-band custom EQ). You can even scan a 2D code to apply custom settings, although I’m not how that’d work (or what I’d scan in the first place).

The EQ options do have an effect – some more than others – but they do so without tarnishing the sound. My preference is to stick with the Direct EQ.

There are more (smaller) features to customise but the above is the core. There’s plenty of room for customising the headphones’ performance but there is a balance to be struck in doing so.

These headphones can’t do everything at once, and you will find that in order to focus on one feature, something else may need to be turned off to compensate for it. Three-device multipoint is useful for the multi-taskers but you lose out on the higher quality LDAC in the process.

Noise Cancellation

• Adaptive ANC
• Beamforming mics for calls

Here’s where I have a few caveats about the EAH-A1000. The adaptive noise cancelling is impressive, up there with the best available. I’d say that it doesn’t offer better performance, but one that’s broadly on the same level.

Judged against the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones 2, they’re not quite as strong. Pitted against the likes of the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless and Sonos Arc Ultra, they’re on even footing if not a little stronger than either effort.

With real world use, they banish most noises on the London Underground, on planes and walking through London. I can’t hear much getting past the microphones.

People are shushed, cars and other traffic are minimised; and in blustery conditions the headphones handle any wind noise without making a fuss.

The transparency mode brings in detail and sounds natural, so if you need to hear what’s around you, you can with clarity. Transparency mode is for general awareness, but switch to the Attention mode, and it focuses on vocals at the slight cost of overall clarity.

But those caveats. The Technics do not enjoy bumps or loud noises. Going over bumps and it causes popping sounds. At some of the loudest parts of the Northern line, cracks and popping sounds appear; and wearing them on a plane during take-off and there’s popping too. For Rice Krispies fans, all that’s missing is some snap to go with the crackle and pop.

An update before the headphones launched reduced this issue slightly (chewing could also affect the ANC), but after launch the distortion is still present. As good as the noise cancellation can be this does distract, and while the Sonos Ace Ultra and Bose headphones suffer from it too, these issues are more consistent with the Technics A1000.

For call quality, the A1000 used AI beamforming microphones and the results are excellent. The headphones picked up my voice clearly while shielding it from background noise.

The person on the other end said they couldn’t hear any background noise when I was on the DLR and walked through Canary Wharf. All that managed to evade the headphones’ mics were people’s voices (which, in hindsight, makes a degree of sense) and public announcements.

The biggest compliment is that using the headphones outside for calls made it seemed as if I was indoors.

Battery Life

• 30 hours in LDAC mode
• Fast charging

Technics states the A1000 is capable of 30 hours in its LDAC mode (comparable to the Sony WH-1000XM6), and 60 hours with noise cancelling off. It’s 45 hours streaming at AAC and 90 hours in AAC but with ANC off. Strong numbers on paper, but what about in the real world?

I put the headphones through the usual battery drain, streaming a playlist at 50% volume and the headphones went on for longer than Technics is stating. A lot longer in fact.

I had to double check they were in LDAC mode (and they were), but it took six hours for the headphones to drop down from 100%, and when they did it was down to 95%.

Another attempt at a battery drain and the headphones followed the same path, and after 10 hours they’d only fallen 16% in charge. That’s impressive stamina and more than suggests that the headphones can continue for a considerable amount of time.

If you do, somehow, run out of battery, a full charge takes 3.5 hours; while Technics only provides fast-charging details for AAC streaming, which is 15 minutes for another four hours.

Sound Quality

• Magnetic Fluid drivers
• Expansive soundstage
• Uncoloured sound

Technics has placed a lot of emphasis on the sound – they are all about rediscovering music after all – and the EAH-A1000 sound is as excellent as you’d hope.

I spent most of the time listening to the Direct EQ, and there are a range of presets to tune into that have the effect you want without spoiling the sound.

Piped through the 40mm Magnetic Fluid drivers, the A1000 present music with a clear, balanced and a sense of flair. The soundstage is huge, bigger than its rivals, and there’s an extra degree of detail the over-ears ladle on tracks that the likes of the Sony and Sennheiser can’t quite match. The best way to describe the Technics is they have a level of precision superior than their rivals.

They’re versatile across a range of music genres, and they sound understated in the sense they’re not flashy or in your face. They’re a calm, cool, composed-sounding pair of headphones with a sound I can (and have) listened to for hours.

Highs sound clear, varied and well-judged; bright but not pitching the brightness to the extent where treble can be overly sharp and grating. The highs here carry more detail than the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless.

With Andreas Ihlebæk’s Come Summer they unearth the clarity of the piano notes with an insight that stands out slightly more than on the Sony WH-1000XM6. There’s an elegance to how the headphones deal with high notes, the decay of notes comes across especially well.

The midrange is clear and perhaps the most obvious part of the frequency range where you notice the Technics’ uncoloured sound. The soundstage is fabulously large, with vocals planted in the middle and instruments farmed out to the sides – the way the Technics organises the soundstage is similar to the Sony but sounds more expansive and open, with detail again that more finely tuned in.

There’s dynamism to be found in Norah Jone’s Don’t Know Why, but with the Direct EQ is subtly calibrated rather than overt. What I hear through these headphones is a great sense of timing with rhythm and an assured sense of control. At default volume it may sound a little bloodless and lacking energy, but nudge the volume up a little and there’s more vitality and power it summons than the Sennheiser can at a similar volume.

Bass also impresses. Warren G’s Regulate offers some nice sub-bass rumble without affecting the clarity or detail of the midrange; the Technics preserves the low end with clarity, weight and balance, avoiding any uncomfortable distortion. These headphones have a very easy-going, musical tone to them.

They may not be as musical as the Sony WH-1000XM6, but it may be a case of splitting hairs given the slightly different tone of the headphones (the Sony sounds slightly warmer and richer in places). They both convince with the reproduction of vocals, but if you’re looking for precision, I feel the Technics offers more insight.

It’s a similar case against the Sennheiser. The musical tone of the Momentum 5 Wireless is excellent, but the Technics offers more power in the bass region and liveliness than the Sennheiser at the same volume.

And the best way to hear these headphones? Plug them in via a USB-C connection and feed them a high quality file. The balanced, uncoloured approach remains, but detail retrieval and clarity are increased further, the soundstage gets wider, and the level of precision and insight is terrific. They sound clearer than the Bose and less sharp than the Harman-tuned JBL Tour One M3 to produce a sound that’s high on fidelity.

Should you buy it?