Usage & Testing
For testing the TMA-2 HD Wireless, I followed the same testing methodology as with gaming headsets or any other audio device. I play several games to start. I’ve been on a GTA V kick as of late. In fact, I played through most of the story mode of GTA V using the TMA-2 HD Wireless. In addition, I use any excuse I can to play Skyrim. When testing the TMA-2 HD Wireless with the headset plugged in via the 3.5mm cable, it was tested in a few ways. First, on my LG Q7+ then on my main PC, not a testbench. This is because I tested the TMA-2 HD Wireless through the Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus. Check out our review of the AE-5 Plus here: https://thinkcomputers.org/sound-blaster-ae-5-plus-internal-sound-card-and-dac-review/. The Sound Blaster AE-5 Plus features up to 32-bit/384 kHz hi-res lossless playback, as well as discrete headphone bi-amp using Sound Blaster’s XAMP technology. The XAMP on the AE-5 Plus basically amplifies each headphone channel individually. Each channel is powered by an amp that has an impedance of 1Ω that can easily drive high-end or even studio-quality headphones between 16Ω-600Ω. So, the AE-5 Plus can allow us to see how much power the TMA-2 HD Wireless can handle.
I tested the Bluetooth mostly on my phones. I was able to easily connect the TMA-2 HD Wireless to my android phone, the LG Q7+, and both my iPhone 7+ and 8+. The TMA-2 HD Wireless also connected to both of my test benches, as well as both of my gaming PCs with no problem. For whatever reason, The TMA-2 HD Wireless would not connect to my editing system via Bluetooth. With both of my jobs, I’m constantly connected to both of my phones via Bluetooth. I generally use the LG Tone Pro on my LG Q7+ and the Phillips Up Beats on my iPhone 7+, both of which are earbuds. Both the LG Tone Pro and the Up Beats I get a range from my device of about 100 feet before it starts to cut out. Previously, my only Bluetooth headphones were the Bose QC35 Bluetooth headphones. They sound great and all. However, they are about two years old at this point. It also seems that the older they get, the shorter the Bluetooth rage gets. Currently, I can get about 80 feet from my device on the QC35s. However, on the TMA-2 HD Wireless, I can go nearly twice as far as any of my other Bluetooth devices. This impressed me for sure.
Since the TMA-2 was originally designed as DJ headphones, I spent extensive amounts of time listening to all genres of music. For music, I listen to a wide variety of songs and artists. My playlist consists of everything from 90’s rap and classic rock, to heavy metal, country, pop, and classical. I always include the Eagles Hotel California in my testing. My reason for picking this song is I once listened to it on Sennheiser’s $55,000 Orpheus headphones at CES several years ago. Overall, I spent about 30 hours in total listening to music. For movies, I watched my usual Black Hawk Down as it won the Oscar for best sound mixing in 2002. In addition, I watched the last two Harry Potter movies and binge-watched the fifth season of 24. By the end of my testing, I used the TMA-2 Wireless for roughly 60 hours, having to only charge it three times, after the original charge. I used the TMA-2 HD Wireless mostly at work where I do 8-hour shifts and one charge would last me two full workdays.