Osaka , Japan - based Technics is an enigma within the audio existence . On the one hand , itsturntablesenjoy legendary status , specially among the DJ , night club , and EDM crowds . So much so , that when Technics ’ parent , Panasonic , put the brand on hiatus in 2010 , the vinyl community push hardest to bring it back from the tomb ( in 2014 , they beget their compliments ) .
On the other script , Technics remains relatively unnamed to most buyers — especially those too young to remember the caller ’s flush in the late 1970s and ’ eighty , when a turntable was just one of the many Technics components a music lover would own .
I reckon , however , that might be about to change . It ’s been a 10 since Technics ’ spiritual rebirth , and it has used that time to steadily grow ( and polish ) its product batting order . turntable rightfully remain the stars of the show , but they ’re now joined by high - end trading floor - standingspeakers , CD player , amps , and a slick new solidifying of wirelessbookshelf speakers . But it ’s the company’swireless earbudsthat are potential to be the way most people have their first Technics experience . If that experience is curated by the new EAH - AZ100 , you may question why Technics is n’t on everyone ’s brusque list of top audio companies .
The EAH - AZ100 , which I ’ll simply call the AZ100 from here , are the fourth major multiplication of wireless earbuds from Technics . They follow on the heels of the excellentEAH - AZ80 , which offered better comfort , ANC , and sound timber than their predecessors .
With the AZ100 , Technics has doubled down on all of the AZ80 ’s strengths and introduced a stack of unexampled upgrade likespatial audio , LE AudiowithAuracastsupport , caller - side noise quelling , and an innovational new number one wood excogitation . Here ’s a quick look at the highlights :
Technics EAH-AZ100 specs
Design and comfort
High - end wireless earbuds that habituate a stemless design are often handsome and kind of bulky , especially when compare to their stem - sporting cousins ( like Apple ’s AirPods).Sony ’s WF-1000XM4were gigantic , and the EAH - AZ80 were n’t on the dot slender .
By eliminating the AZ80 ’s outside calling mic and dislodge one of the internal mics , Technics was able-bodied to make the AZ100 10 % small . Their reduced size also translates into a smaller and lighter charging case . Technics has keep the aluminum eyelid with its refined brushed - alloy finish , and you still get wireless / USB - vitamin C charging — but it ’s now a bit more pocket-sized and equate closely to theSony WF-1000XM5 .
Technics says the raw lowly size and shape should make them even more comfortable than the AZ80 , and I trust that their user data backs this up . Unfortunately , this was n’t the vitrine for me .
While the earbuds themselves are small overall , the circumstances that sits in your concha ( the cavity that lead to your ear canal ) is a bit bigger . To be clear , the AZ100 are very comfy — I had no problem wearing them for three hours without pause . I might not have notice a difference if I had n’t swapped back and forth between the AZ100 and AZ80 . But I did and the AZ80 are a better primed for my ear .
Unlike the AZ80 , which shipped with seven sizes of eartips , the AZ100 only has five . According to the brand , the small-scale shape of the earbud reduce the need for extra size . In hardheaded terms , I doubt this will make much of a departure for most kinsfolk , but if you ’ve had trouble with sizes in the past times , it ’s something to keep in mind , particularly if you ’re a happy AZ80 owner believe an upgrade . And since Technics has exchange the design of the eartips ( it order the new ones are better at preclude sound news leak ) , you wo n’t be able to use your old 1 on the AZ100 .
The AZ100 keep theIPX4 ratingfrom their predecessors , which should be plenty of protection from swither and rainwater as long as you clean and dry them before position them back in the case ( which does n’t have any water or dust shelter ) .
Bluetooth, codecs, and Multipoint
father the AZ100 connected is a breeze on Android devices thanks to Google Fast Pair support ( which also let you locate omit earbuds using Google ’s Find My armed service ) . Apple twist simply command the superfluous step of opening the Bluetooth machine inclination to look for the earbuds .
As with their predecessors , the AZ100 give you the option to expend Sony’sLDAC codecwith compatible Android phones , which can provide observably well wakeless quality when partner off with a lossless source of euphony . I ’m also really happy to see that Technics is offering Bluetooth LE Audio on these earbuds , along with sustenance for Auracast .
This is corking tidings for Android owners — the AZ100 will leverage Android 15 ’s built - in Auracast management — but iPhone proprietor are leave behind out . With no native funding for Auracast in Io and no support in the Technics Audio Connect app , you wo n’t be capable to listen in on Auracast broadcasts . I tried it out using a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra ( one of the first smartphones with OS - layer Auracast support ) and it worked perfectly .
Technics stay the only company that allows up to three touch base devices at a clock time when usingBluetooth Multipoint — an telling accomplishment . For the AZ100 , it has improved the feature further , letting you control how Multipoint bear .
With most Multipoint connection , you necessitate to halt playback on twist A before you’re able to begin playback on gimmick B. With the Audio Connect app , you may keep that default behavior , or devices can break each other once you hit play on the non - playing machine . With intermission allowed , the switch of audio source is crying . you may set the same penchant for incoming call .
Controls, active noise cancellation, and transparency
The jot control are antiphonal and easy to utilize — the total outer airfoil is tappable , make it concentrated to mess up up . They ’re also fully customizable within the Audio Connect app . With four gestures ( single - rap , double - water faucet , triple - tap , plus water faucet - and - hold ) per earbud , you’re able to hold almost any circumstance — except for twist spacial sound recording on / off or switching EQ presets . you’re able to access your telephone set ’s assistant , but this time around , there ’s no optional Amazon Alexa desegregation as on the AZ80 . I necessitate why and Technics enjoin me that just 0.04 % of all AZ80 owner used it daily .
The AZ80 ’s active disturbance cancellation wow me , and the AZ100 save a minuscule , but detectable improvement , especially in the higher frequency . On a recent flight , I compared them to theAirPods Pro 2and theBose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds(QCUE ) . While both the Bose and Apple buds perform slimly good than the AZ100 , I would n’t hesitate to urge all three for flights . Perhaps more significantly for daily usage , I could n’t detect any dispute between these role model in other position like working from family , walk along meddling street , or working out at the gymnasium .
Transparency mode is excellent , rival both the AirPods Pro and QCUE in terms of let you listen the world clear . It ’s less effective at passing through your voice , but that ’s not unusual — Bose and Apple are alone at the top of that capableness .
Technics offer two versions of foil : regular and “ attention . ” tending mode behaves a little differently . When it ’s in function , your music automatically pauses , but it also sounds unlike . While regular transparency LET in the external world , aid mode tries to enhance interpreter . This might be helpful in busy / noisy environs , but at other times , it sounds like people are utter to you through a composition board thermionic vacuum tube .
I ’d prefer if the music machine - intermission were a choice on both modes since that ’s a very commodious option . Curiously , Technics said it considered add an automatic attention fashion that would trigger when it discover speech , but at long last rejected it because its inquiry establish that people do n’t like this feature , which does have a propensity to turn on when it hears some non - speech sounds .
Sound quality
Technics says that traditional dynamic drivers in wireless earbuds can suffer from distortion due to the voice whorl ’s diminished sidelong “ tumbling ” movements as it responds to electromagnetic impulses . Typically , a thickset and wider diaphragm support anatomical structure is used to avail denigrate this undesirable campaign , but this can lead to muddier bass performance , and it does n’t eliminate distortion .
For the EAH - AZ100 , Technics has accommodate its charismatic fluid driver engineering science , which surrounds the voice coil with an oil ring loaded with magnetized particles . Doing so makes any lateral movement unmanageable , if not inconceivable . With that sort of control exerted on the voice roll , the diaphragm support can be made slender and more pliable , which gives the contraceptive diaphragm greater up / down ( pistonic ) exemption — and ultimately create more exact and aberration - free phone .
That ’s the theory . What matters is the reality , and I have to say , I think the AZ100 sound astral . take heed to them side by side with my favourite model — for instance the Sony WF-1000XM5,Master & Dynamic MW09 , Bose QCUE , Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 , and the AZ80 — revealed just how much advance Technics has made .
Keep in mind that we ’re talking about refinements to what was already excellent good quality . I doubt you ’ll notice much difference if you ’re focussed on getting through reps at the gym or battle a day-after-day commute . But if you recover a quiet maculation where you may sit back and enkindle up your favorite tracks ( preferably from alosslesssource likeAmazon Music , Tidal , orQobuz ) , I think you ’ll hear a profound signature that is both capable and rude while also offering superb limpidity , preciseness , and punchy bass .
I ca n’t think of a better set of wireless earbuds for decisive listening .
In unmediated mode ( no EQ apply ) , I could n’t notice much in the way of boost . All five EQ presets ( dynamic , treble+ , vocal , bass+ , and super bass+ ) provide noticeable frequency squawk , without move overboard . Super bass+ will satisfy even the bounteous of sea bass heads , while dynamical does a good problem of boosting overall energy — in this mode , the AZ100 part to go a mickle like the WF-1000XM5 .
I ’m not wild about the outspoken preset ’s midrange balance ( it does n’t fathom natural to me ) , but even if none of these presets do it for you , you could save up to three of your own versions using the 8 - band equalizer .
I finish up spending most of my clock time in Direct mood , and could n’t have been happier with the results .
Spatial audio
All stereo headphones and earbuds let you get wind spatial audiowhen it ’s processed by a stream app , for example Dolby Atmos Musictracks from Apple Music , Tidal , or Amazon Music . But when spatial audio processing is added to your earphone / earbuds , they can do two more things : make regular stereo racetrack fathom more immersive , and ( if they have onboard sensors ) enable head tracking , which control whether the sound prompt with you or girdle desexualise in distance as you grow your head .
There ’s often an audible cost to be paid for artificially expanding the soundstage : vocal become thin and distant , and there ’s an overall loss of faithfulness . I often breathe a sigh of relief when turning spatial audio off , and never turn it back on again .
And yet , Technics has created a spacial audio effect that I do n’t hate . Using it on two-channel tracks does n’t sound as good as mind to nativeDolby Atmosor Sony 360 Reality Audio versions , but it perfectly delivers an appreciable increase in breadth and profoundness . This effect is more pronounced when stereophonic tracks already have strong left / right placement of phone . On Michael Jackson’sBillie Jean , the rhythmic shh - shh feels like it ’s coming from just behind your shoulders , and his echoed reaction , “ Do n’t cogitate twice , ” drifts in from several feet away .
Technics say its spatial audio is optimize for Dolby Atmos — meaning , it ’s theorise to make Atmos sources sound even more immersive . Jabra made the same claim for its spatial audio implementation on its now - discontinuedElite 10 earbuds . The problem with this claim is that Dolby Atmos is motley in the studio to fathom best when yield into two channels by streaming apps ( or when played on discrete 7.1.4 household house system ) . Any additional processing alters that mix . You may like what that extra processing does ( I ’m not a big fan ) , but it ’s not what the creators hear when they created these track .
I will say this : The head word tracking is seamless . No matter how tight I moved my head from side to side , the illusion of having a sound author at once in front of me was dead conserve .
Call quality and battery life
Manufacturers are increasingly looking to AI to facilitate them better stochasticity suppression , especially on earphone song . Normally , this is sharpen on the wireless earbuds ’ side of the call , but with its Voice Focus AI feature , Technics has give the technology to the other closing too . Inside the app , you enable / disable disturbance suppression on each side independently .
On the aerofoil , this is really nerveless . alternate it on while I was in a noisy environment instantly switch off all audio but my voice , and much more effectively than on the AZ80 . It was less obtrusive on my phoner ’s side , but that could simply be because their earbuds / earphone combo was already doing a good caper at stochasticity suppression .
The trouble , if you may call it that , is the balancing human action . Without noise suppression , my voice sound very clear , but so did all of the background knowledge noise . With dissonance suppression , my phonation became muffled . The louder the background noise , the more muffled it would get .
A truly intelligent AI system would know when to engage and when to switch itself off .
Not that I ’m dissing the result — the AZ100 are swell for calls — I just like I did n’t have to think about noise inhibition preferences at all .
Battery life is another highlighting . The AZ80 were already very capable , with a claimed 4.5 to 7 hours of playday depend on which features you turn on , with a utmost of 24 minute when you include the fount ’s capacity . The AZ100 find this up a lot , with a stove of 7 to 12 hours on the earbuds and up to 29 hours with the eccentric .
These bit well trump the AirPods Pro 2 ( 5.5/24 hours ) and put the AZ100 almost on par with Sony ’s excellent WF-1000XM5 ( 12/36 time of day ) .
With top - notch strait , brilliant noise cancellation , a very comfortable fit , and a wealth of other meaningful melioration , the Technics EAH - AZ100 are a satisfying climb over the AZ80 . If you ’re an audiophile hunt for your next wireless earbuds ( and you have room in your budget for their $ 300 price ) , they should be on your short lean .
Not that I require to make that decision firmly , but there ’s something else you should know : With the introduction of the EAH - AZ100 , Technics has decide to keep the AZ80 in the lineup with a new price : $ 200 . Whichever way you go , you really ca n’t lose .
