Wireless Connectivity
The TMA-2 Studio Wireless 2+ (as alluded to earlier) offers two methods of connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, and W+ Link (using the provided X01 transmitter). On the underside of the right channel, there is a physical toggle to switch between ‘Bluetooth’ and ‘W+’ modes.
After switching between both connection modes, I’ve documented the following.
Bluetooth
Exclusively listening to music on Bluetooth is an excellent experience. On the daily commute and in an office environment filled with signals, there were barely any dropouts in audio (save for one or two instances). There is a noticeable lag of at least 1-3 seconds between pausing/skipping forward or backwards. This is fairly inconsequential in general use-case scenarios.
W+
For W+ Linking to work, the X01 receiver must be charged and connected to the source/device with your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) or MIDI controller. Do take note that the physical controls on the TMA-2 Studio Wireless+ do not work in this mode.
I am not a studio engineer by trade, nor do I have access to a fully-fledged soundcard and DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). However, there is an immediate tangible difference in terms of responsiveness. Pausing, skipping or scrubbing through tracks is spontaneous and immediate. The TMA-2 Studio Wireless+’s ability to stream uncompressed audio in a lossless state also offers audiophiles the ability to push the boundaries of wireless listening. Lossless ‘WAV’ files of test albums I have stored on my laptop sound lively, engaging and less dynamically compressed on the TMA-2 Studio Wireless+.
Battery Life
Bluetooth 5.0
The TMA-2 Studio Wireless+ has been my go-to office beater for day-to-day use. On a single charge, I managed to drain the battery over 10 days (4-5 hour sessions per day). The discrepancy between the advertised 80-hour rating versus my documented 50 hours boils down to my excessive tinkering (skipping tracks, pausing, answering phone calls in between etc.).
In today’s crowded marketplace, 50 hours is class-leading. To put things into perspective, the globally-revered Sony WH1000XM5 has a rated battery life of 30 hours. However, the lack of ANC is likely the reason for the TMA-2 Studio Wireless+’s efficient power reserve.
W+ Wireless
The W+ (X01) module has a rated battery life of 16 hours. Based on my consumption habits in the previous section, the X01 module was drained after a combined 8-10 hours of day-to-day usage.
However, given the outstanding signal quality, ultra-low latency and lossless streaming W+ provides, the shorter battery life should be no surprise to anyone. Realistically, I would expect studio engineers to be able to use the X01 module over two brief sessions in the studio.
Hands-free and virtually latency-free monitoring generally don’t exist in the prophile world. The TMA-2 Studio Wireless+ bridges that gap.
Turn to the next page for Sound Quality
