I recently did a post on my blog (which then turned into two posts) about the aiaiai TMA-1 headphones. aiaiai are the brand that brought us the swirl earphones, which I also posted about on this blog a while back.

What I liked about the swirl earphones was the combination of simplicity and subtle details, and that’s a theme that’s followed through with these headphones. Designed by Danish group Kibisi, these headphones initially look exactly how you’d picture some headphones, from the most simplistic point of view. That is to say, they way a graphic designer would draw them for a sign or something. A simple headband, with simple earcups and a cable coming out of them.

No logos to be seen, no crazy colours, and no pointless over-designed bits. The designers explain:

It is stripped down to nothing more than the essentials. No ornaments, colors or other distractions. Only a very discrete and hidden logo indicates that these headphones come from an established brand.

This marks a new route in a terrain, that for the last couple of years have seen an endless array of products branded with extensive logos, and marketed by celebrities. The TMA-1 travels on a different road, and with it’s simple and iconic look, it is essentially nothing more, than the idea of the headphone.

These headphones were designed for professionals, by professionals (which probably explains their relatively high price point of between £150 and £200). Almost 30 DJ’s in total were consulted through the development and testing process, including Erol Alkan, Flying Lotus, Matthew Dear and Seth Troxler. Key to their thinking was that a DJ has a job to do, and the headphones are a tool to help them do it.

The entire [design] process has given a valuable insight into the needs among touring musicians, whose headphones are to endure 4-5 gigs a week, and a load of travelling on top of that.

Apparently the name is taken from the Kubrick movie ‘2001: a space odyssey’, where it describes a machine that was long lasting and reliable, a fact which may interest some of our movie loving readers out there.

I found a video (below) featuring Kibisi designers Jens Jartin Skibsted and Lars Holme Larson and aiaiai co-founder Frederik Jørgensen, talking about the design process, which is definitely worth a watch. I really like the bit where he says that the adjustment holes on these ‘no bullshit’ headphones are inspired by crutches. Brilliant!