AIAIAI’s New Headphones Continue Trend Of Understated Design

We don’t design and hardware quite as much as we used to, but I’m making an exception for these. A good while back, I wrote about a pair of headphones I thought was the most understated and attractive I’d ever seen. They were the TMA-1s from Danish design house AIAIAI, and while I never got to get my hands on them, I’m going to make it my business to try their new pair out.

Capital is the name of the new headset, and they’re a larger, over-ear, more heavily-designed piece of work. But I still love them — especially the black version.

To be fair, they have lost some of the understatement that made the TMA-1s so interesting to me. The Capital has more pieces, more design elements, more flair. But they’re still simply and beautifully made, from fiberglass-reinforced nylon, with 40mm drivers and a folding design for travel.

They’re being shown at the Agenda trade show in LA today, so if you’re heading down there, be sure to drop by AIAIAI and congratulate them for me. We’re on our way to CES, where design is not a primary concern, and I’m pretty sure we won’t see anything quite as excellent and utilitarian as this.