The Audeara A-01 headphones aren’t the first pair of headphones we’ve used with ear tuning technology. The headphone market is being flooded with similar headphones that will help hone in on your specific ear signature. They do this through a series of tones played through each ear cup. By tuning the frequencies to your ears, the Audeara A-01 headphones hope to deliver sound that’s specifically designed for you. Read on for our full review of the Audeara A-01 headphones.
Specifications
The Audeara A-01 headphones have the following features and specifications:
- Bluetooth 4.2
- Active Noise Cancelling
- 40mm Mylar Drivers
- Frequency Response: 20Hz – 22kHz
- Impedance: 32 Ohm
- Battery: 1,000 mAh
- Flight mode operation time: 65 hours with active noise canceling + Line in
- Regular mode operation time: 35 hours with active noise canceling + Audeara effect
- Eco mode operation mode: Bluetooth + Audeara effect
What’s In The Box
- Audeara A-01 headphones
- Carrying case
- 3.5mm headphone cable
- 1/4″ adapter
- Airplane adapter
- Carabiner
- Soft pouch for accessories
- Manual and documentation
Design
The aesthetic look of the Audeara A-01 headphones isn’t much to write home about. As a matter of fact, they are pretty bland and unassuming. They’re much smaller than I expected as well with very little in the way of girth. For as comparatively small as they are. The A-01’s are fairly weighty but not super heavy. They feel solid when you hold them but they look flimsy at first glance.
The headband is narrow with minimal padding and the Audeara branding across the top. The materials are mostly metal, plastics, foam, and rubber. While they feel good. they’re not not exactly as premium as some other headphone brands I’ve used. They are resilient though, standing up to bending and twisting while maintaining their shape. They don’t creak or crack under pressure or while manipulating them.
The earcups do fold flat which makes them fit nicely into the included carrying case. They do not fold up into each other, so the carrying case is slightly larger than some others although it is slim. The carrying case itself is rather nice and very protective. The Audeara A-01 headphones adjust out barely enough to fit my head. I wish they had one or two more notches of adjustment for those of us with bigger melons. The earcups are comfortable enough but not the most comfortable I’ve used also not the worst.
On the right earcup is the Micro USB port for charging as well as the active noise canceling switch with LED indicator. On the left earcup are the volume up/down buttons, multifunction button, AUX in, power/Bluetooth button, and LED indicator.
Ease of Use
The Audeara A-01 headphones aren’t any harder to use than any other headphones. As a matter of fact, if you want, you could just use the headphones without ever setting up the companion app and hearing test. If you go that route then all you’ll need to do is connect your headphones to Bluetooth. It really is as simple as that.
If you’re planning on using the A-01’s for what they’re intended, improving your listening experience through the software then you’ll need to go through a bit more setup. Obviously, this will take you a bit longer than normal setups. It’s not awful but it is longer than some of the other headphones that use this type of technology. We’ll be covering the software and features later in this review.
Overall, these aren’t hard to use at all. The software does take a bit of time to set up but it’s not hard. Just be sure you set aside a block of time you can be in a quiet room and not disturbed.
Sound
So where do I start with these headphones? Well, let me just say that the Audeara A-01 headphones sound really good right out of the box without ever using the included software and app features. They’re fairly balanced with the low-end coming through slightly more than the other frequencies. I was actually enjoying them right out of the box for the first few hours.
After using them for a bit I decided to set the app up and go through the process of testing my ears and tuning the headphones to my hearing. I’ll be honest, I’ve used this type of technology before and I’ve never really been impressed by it. So I was hoping Audeara would have something the others didn’t.
After going through the process you’ll be told that it’s best to start using the new tuning in increments. The app has you start at 25% of the effect, then 50%, then 75%, and so on. I initially started at 25% and there was an improvement in sound for me. I could hear things more clearly than before and everything just sounded elevated. I decided to jump straight to 100% and that’s when the sound fell apart.
Either I performed the calibration incorrectly, or the software is simply like the others I’ve tried, not very reliable. At 100% everything sounded horribly tinny and hollow with a very little bottom end. It was unbearable. Thankfully, not all was lost. Tuning the effect back down to 25% drastically improved the sound quality. I enjoyed the sound on these headphones without any tuning at all or with it set at 25% only.
Overall, I don’t think the app and software are for everyone. Ears and hearing are so different I just think your results will vary. These headphones sound good, the noise canceling is decent, and I think if you purchase these you’ll have to experiment through the sound signatures.
Software/Features
As we mentioned several times already, the Audeara A-01 headphones come with an app/software feature that is supposed to tune the drivers to your ears. This is accomplished through the app in which you listen to a series of tones and let the app know if you heard the tone or not. The company suggests you use the more detailed setting which can take ten minutes or more to go through setup. It’s also important that the room you’re in is as quiet as you can make it.
The procedure is very simple. The app plays a series of tones through your left ear cup and when you can’t hear the tone any longer you push the button. The same is repeated for your left ear. The tones are a wide range of frequencies in the highs, mids, and lows which are trying to hone in on your hearing levels. The app basically takes the data from your answers and tunes the headphones so your ears hear the frequencies that are best for them.
I’ve said it several times already, these aren’t the first headphones with this feature. I’ve used other headphones with this app feature and it’s always been a mixed bag for me. Most of the time the software just doesn’t seem to enhance anything for me. The headphones sound great without using the app and when using the app I found the best setting was 25%. Anything higher and the sound was just not good at all.
Overall, I think the software and app are really geared toward those with significant hearing loss, or even those who have trouble with certain frequencies and ranges. You may have to perform the test a few times to get everything dialed in the way you like.
Reception/Call Quality
Bluetooth reception on the A-01’s is excellent and I had no issues whatsoever maintaining a connection to my devices. Of course, there are the normal Bluetooth issues if you roam too far or there are walls between you while wearing the headphones and the device you’re streaming from. That’s all standard and to be expected, so nothing major there. Call quality was excellent and callers could hear me clearly. I could hear them clearly as well with no echo box effect. Overall, good reception and call quality.
Battery Life
The Audeara A-01 headphones claim to have a 35-hour battery life with active noise canceling active. That’s pretty spot on as I was able to get about 34 and a half hours average. Battery life will vary with volume and distance from your device or source. Overall, one of the better pairs of wireless headphones for battery.
Price/Value
The Audeara A-01 headphones are priced at $399USD. That’s a bit of a steep price for many and I think slightly too much for what you get here. But there is one saving grace for the price and that’s Amazon. Currently, these are priced at $299USD on Amazon. That being said, it’s really the software and ear tuning you’ll be paying for. If that works for you I can see these holding a good amount of value for you. So you may be comfortable dropping the $399 on these. At the $299 price, it’s a much better deal and value.
Wrap Up
These headphones sound great without the software/app and with the software/app, they sound slightly better when setting the experience to 25%. When I set the experience to 100% I felt the sound was really not impressive at all. The design is not all that spectacular but fairly bland. They’re decent in the comfort department and monsters on battery life.
hese were really a tough pair of headphones to review. There’s things I like and things I don’t. I really believe that it will eventually come down to the ear tuning experience for many. You have decided if the ear tuning really makes a huge impact on your listening experience or not.
*We received a sample of the Audeara A-01 headphones for the purposes of this review.
Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
