When you get your hands on a pair of new headphones, especially ones that bear more than a passing resemblance to the previous generation’s hardware, it can sometimes be a little difficult to tell what’s changed. Specs can make things easier, but it’s fair to say that many manufacturers don’t go out of their way to give you the opportunity to compare old with new.
This could be because the changes aren’t particularly radical, or because they just want to shelve the previous generation and replace it quietly, but that’s not the approach Technics took when I was in Kyoto in December to see her new EAH. – AZ100 headphones ahead of their launch KES this year. Instead, the Japanese audio brand gave me plenty of opportunities to swap out an old pair of AZ80 headphones and the new AZ100 to compare them head-to-head. This has made it easier than ever to explain some of the areas where changes have been made.
Clearly improved design
(Image credit: Future)
I don’t mean to say that there was anything obviously wrong with the AZ80’s design – in fact, it was also a welcome improvement on what came before it. However, when comparing these two headphones, you can immediately appreciate that the AZ100 is slightly smaller in the ear, without losing the shell shape that Technics prided itself on.
They’re also a little lighter, which makes the headphones feel more stylish and sophisticated to me. However, just like Sennheiser redesigned its Momentum earbuds to make them much less unique, some people may feel like there’s been a bit of a loss of character between these generations.
Richer sound
(Image credit: Future)
However, in many ways, the more important part of sitting in a quiet room and switching between the AZ80 and AZ100 was the ability to truly compare their sound quality in detail. The AZ80s impressed us when we reviewed them a couple of years ago, but they leaned heavily towards neutrality.
This may be just what audiophiles looking for headphones for everyday use need, but some less experienced or picky listeners may find it lacking. The AZ100, on the other hand, feels like a significant improvement. Bass is much richer, thanks in part to what Technics calls a magnetic fluid driver.
This system was used in some super-premium in-ear monitors a couple of years ago, but the Technics team scaled it down to make it work in a wireless design this time. It mounts the main speaker in a chamber of magnetic fluid, helping to reduce distortion at low frequencies. I’m not saying that anyone can install an AZ100 and distinguish this solution from another, but it certainly sounds great.
Significant increase in battery life
(Image credit: Future)
When you’re designing headphones, you can’t just focus on the sound at the expense of everything else, and the practicalities need to be approached carefully. The AZ80 didn’t have great battery life, and you couldn’t ignore it: less than five hours on a charge isn’t anything special.
However, the AZ100 now significantly increases this time to around 10 hours, even with improved adaptive noise cancellation. It literally marks the difference between earbuds you can’t rely on and headphones you can carry in your pocket all day.
Some inevitable AI tricks
(Image credit: Future)
Guys, it’s 2025 (though it was 2024 when I saw these headphones in Kyoto), so there’s no way to launch a product without at least a little bit of artificial intelligence. I had a fascinating discussion about artificial intelligence with Koji Kuwahara, who heads Technics’ headphone product planning department, on the topic even before I knew the headphones would include any such feature.
Luckily for me, my concerns about the impact of AI on creativity didn’t really intersect with what Technics did here. Everything is limited by the new microphone function, which has amazing potential. Many headphones and microphones come with noise-canceling capabilities to suppress background noise during a call, but I haven’t previously seen a system that can do this for both ends of a digital call.
Using the AZ100 on your phone, not only your own voice, but also the other person’s voice goes through the same process to eliminate noise, no matter what equipment they’re using. The results are often very impressive, if sometimes buggy, and it’s interesting to wonder whether this kind of two-way functionality will become more common in the next few years, ushering in an era of crystal-clear calls enhanced by artificial intelligence.