Japanese Technics has introduced its second generation of completely wireless headphones. And in addition to design improvements and longer battery life, they had a new technology ace up their sleeve. Technics promises that the new plugs can differentiate between the sound we want to hear and the noise we do not want to hear – and this applies both when we listen and when we talk.
The two techniques are called “Just my voice” and “Attention mode” respectively.
Just my voice should improve the sound of the receiver when talking on the phone. Then the sound from the microphones is analyzed and then wind noise, voices from the surroundings and other sounds are removed so that only the own voice remains. The idea of being able to have an understandable conversation at an airport or in heavy traffic sounds promising. A test will show how effective it works in practice.
Attention mode is an improved version of the ambient or hear through mode that most noise-canceling headphones have today. That is, where the sound from the surroundings is led into the ears through the microphones. According to Technics, Attention mode should be able to sort out the noise from the surroundings and at the same time emphasize the sound of the voice you are listening to. If it’s just a matter of technology letting the frequencies in the middle register, where voices are, pass or if there is artificial intelligence in the game, we will find out in practice.
Just my voice is built into the models EAH-AZ60 and EAH-AZ40 which was launched yesterday. Attention mode is probably only available in the more expensive of the two models, the EAH-AZ60, as the smaller EAH-AZ40 does not have automatic noise reduction.
Other differences between the models include that the EAH-AZ60 supports the LDAC audio protocol and is Hi-Res Audio certified.
The battery life is stated to be seven hours, a full day with the charging case. Wireless charging is not available.
Price and availability
Technics EAH-AZ60 costs SEK 2,300 and EAH-AZ40 costs SEK 1,500. Both are in stores from the second half of October.
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