Technics EAH-AZ60M2, today's high fidelity

Pay close attention, young people, you're going to go crazy with what I'm going to tell you about this little marvel of sound and affordable price considering its features. Now you know for sure because you've seen the picture, although that's not always the case.

I was on the phone to a contributor to the magazine, with whom we were discussing the latest products to appear, Manel Segarra , and at a certain point, he didn't attach much importance to what I was telling him about the headphones he was trying on until I told him that they were in-ear headphones, not closed circumaural headphones. He was very surprised and I only gave him a few details about them.

One of my characteristics when it comes to trying out any device that requires a certain degree of adjustment and configuration is that I never read the instructions for use. By simple intuition, I make anything that falls into my hands work and see what happens. I do it on purpose because I know that many of you act like this and I want to know what I get and what I miss by not reading the instructions. After a while, I always read the manual and do everything it says to get the most out of it.

I open the box and straight away, without doing anything at all (I always have Bluetooth activated on my cell phone), the cell phone shows me the image of the headphones and asks for authorization to link them to my OPPO. I accept and it works with the system's default settings. That's it, I can now listen to my favorite music. I've never linked wireless headphones so outrageously easy.

The default active cancellation has me confused at first. Honestly, I don't like it and I think if I had tried these headphones in a shop for a few minutes I would have discarded them because of it. The auditory sensation is strange, you hear a silence that has suddenly come about. It has nothing to do with the isolation produced by good circumaural headphones, which is like a vacuum. In this case, you notice the presence of sound, but at the same time, you hear nothing. The brain feels stunned and protests. When someone talks to you, the sensation is even more ridiculous, as you hear their voice muffled, like that of the famous cartoon characters, the Smurfs.

With so much distraction, you can imagine that my attention to the sound was not at all precise. Although there were musical moments that connected me with my main function, evaluating the product. And flashes of quality constantly appeared as the initial surprise was overcome and I paid more attention to what was really important, the sound.

Although for many hours a day, and over many days, I listened to low-quality, low-bitrate online radio, there comes a point where we have to get serious and start "really" testing. At this point, Qobuz Sublime is the best option I can think of at the moment. Its sound quality seems difficult to beat at the moment, perhaps comparable, but to be surpassed? No.

All my all-time classics went through these headphones and in the most diverse possible environmental circumstances. I wore them everywhere and at all times of the day and night. A full-blown intensive course, so I think I can give some opinions that are very much based on a short experience in time, although extremely long if we take into account the number of hours dedicated to them.

Technics EAH-AZ60M2 reproduces the music of Rosalía or Luis Fonsi better than a €25,000 system that I have installed in my private room. I was a radio DJ in my teenage years, a professional DJ in several clubs in my coastal area when I was young. I know what I'm talking about. I know what the sound you're looking for is and I recognize it when it's achieved.

And now a big shout-out to the people in charge of mastering these records. Making a well-recorded piece of music sound good on a good system is easy. Making it sound excellent on headphones, even if it means ignoring other formats, is complicated. Their audience doesn't have music systems, they know this and they work to make it sound fabulous on young people's music system, headphones. My greatest respect goes to the professionals who have made this possible.

If we read the instructions and install the control application for the headphones, we will see that we can adjust a whole series of parameters of the Technics EAH-AZ60M2, including the cancellation of background or ambient noise. If we make them work at 100%, we find ourselves with the most spectacular effects and at the same time the worst performance. I will break it down in brief examples for optimal understanding:

Scenario 1: Room with moderate background noise from the street, road, etc. At 50% cancellation we could talk about white silence. That which is produced by cancellation and not by the absence of noise. Perfect.

Scenario 2: Room with high background noise from the street, road, etc. At 60% cancellation, we hear the outside noises, although they are neither annoying nor distracting our attention in any way.

Scenario 3: Walking down the street. At 50% cancellation, we hear all the noises and sound alerts or people's voices, although softly. The voice is understandable and quite natural. I would dare to speak of a decrease in the total sound by approximately 15 dB.

Scenario 4: Walking down the street. At 100% cancellation. I do not recommend this at all. Electric or motorless vehicles (i.e. bicycles or similar) do not emit any warning noise. People's voices are distorted to such an extent that only the most familiar voices can be recognized as such. The decibels are canceled to such an extent (perhaps around 25 dB) that it is dangerous for the person or for others to use this type of exaggerated cancellation.

Scenario 5: Highly noisy environment. 86 dB on average. I have been able to test them in this acoustic hell at 100% cancellation and two clear and concise assessments. First, if the frequencies are above 45 Hz they are wonderful. The auditory pacification you receive is appreciated. With one warning. If the frequencies in the environment are variable, it can try to cancel the sound that was produced just half a second before, which means there is no cancellation, but rather addition, and the result is bad. And if the frequency is almost subwoofer, 27 Hz or less, it is better to take the headphones out of your ears, as this produces an absolutely unbearable beeping effect.

I have focused mainly on the sound of the headphones; however, they have other very important and noteworthy features that I will mention briefly. The sound cancellation is based on 8 microphones distributed over the two earpieces that provide all the necessary information about the ambient sound to process it optimally, always within reasonable parameters. At the same time, this work also serves to achieve higher quality telephone conversations by largely eliminating wind or ambient noise in many cases and making telephone conversations more fluid.

Battery life is related to two factors: the use we make of noise cancellation and the type of transmission we use (the higher the quality, the more energy is used). And here I want to mention a very important point, it is a Bluetooth 5.3. Some time ago, when this technology was being worked on, its creators clearly stated that with this specification, the performance, in terms of quality, would be equal to physical connections. Obviously, I have not been able to verify this as I cannot connect it to my living room system. They made the statement, and I am only passing it on, but it is already a reality: Frequency response, 20 Hz-40 kHz (LDAC at 96 kHz/990 kbps).

Young people want to listen to good quality music. It is not true that they do not value music. Young people value their music. And with the Technics EAH-AZ60M2 it sounds fabulous. Their life is movement, and this is the hi-fi of movement and dynamism. More and more manufacturers are seriously addressing this segment and confirming that they are giving it the importance it deserves.

And for the not-so-young... their customization, equalization and ease of use make them an excellent tool for both work and leisure. Their lowest sound point is really low and so is the highest. This makes them suitable for all day use, even at night to fall asleep listening to the radio without disturbing your partner.

Another very noteworthy aspect is the accuracy of the durability data (battery) of the headphones and their carrying case. Nothing normal nowadays, and they fit in perfectly with my conclusions, so take a look at the manufacturer's data sheet and you can take them as true.