126 MACWORLD MARCH 2020
PLAYLIST REVIEW: AUDEARA A-01flat EQ—I left all
sliders at their
default position,
leading to a completely
flat audiogram. Interestingly,
different strength settings
changed the sound; 0 percent was still
dull and lifeless, while 100 percent was
very overemphasized in the highs. A
setting of 50 percent sounded best,
though still a bit tubby in the bass. It
seems to me that a flat EQ should sound
the same at any strength setting, but it
definitely doesn’t, and I have no idea why.
I listened to each of the tracks with
active noise cancellation off and on. As I’ve
experienced with several other ANC
headphones, the A-01 actually sounded
better with ANC on. The bass was tighter
and the overall sound was cleaner with less
veiling. With no music playing, however, I
could hear some noise that disappeared
when I turned ANC off. That shouldn’t be a
problem in a noisy environment.
Speaking of noisy environments, I took
the A-01 to a freeway underpass as well as
a spot right next to the freeway to test the
noise cancellation. The ANC
worked very well, reducing the
level of low frequencies quite
effectively.COMPARISON TO
PSB M4U 8
After hearing how dull the
sound was at 0 percent, I
wondered if my hearing was
really that bad. So, I brought out the
PSB M4U 8 Bluetooth ANC headphone,
which became my reference product in
this category after I reviewed it for
TechHive (go.macworld.com/m4rv). I
breathed a sigh of relief when I compared
the M4U 8 to the A-01 set to 0 percent—
the PSB sounded way better!
In particular, the PSB’s bass was much
tighter on all tracks, and the overall
sound was more natural, even when the
Audeara was set to 50 percent. By
comparison, the sound of the A-01 had
a slightly artificial quality.
As I noted in my review of the M4U 8, I
prefer its sound with ANC off, whereas I
prefer the sound of the A-01 with its ANC
on. Still, I give the nod to the PSB under