AIAIAI is a fresh, young and vibrant brand hailing out of Denmark. With a retro design aesthetic, bold colours and complete disregard for unnecessary bling bling it sets itself apart from many of the established manufacturers. In my opinion AIAIAI and Swedish Urbanears have a lot in common when it comes to both the design, and the materials used. The clean coloured approach for example is shared to a great extent. I will test three different earphones with microphone from AIAIAI in the following weeks, and first up is the Pipe.
The Pipe is an in-ear earphone with a pipe-like look to it. The word that comes to mind when it comes to the housing is standard. If I had to pick out a standard look out of 100 earphones the Pipe would be the ideal candidate. From this point however the Pipe is everything but standard when it comes to design. For one it has a gradient colour shift with four to five different colours from the tips to the angled connector. The pair I have tried have clear blue ear tips, matte blue housing, matte blue cord, greenish blue Y-split, greenish cord, and finally green connector. This is a really interesting approach to spicing up the colours of the earphones, and I find it highly enjoyable.
The sound of the Pipe is clear, with an overall strong mid-to high range. The lower sounds, and bass are not heavy or boosted. All sound sources sound good, but rock and metal sounds extremely well for some reason. Gritty garage bands such as Foo Fighters and early Metallica thrive within these. Bass heavy hip hop, and techno/trance loose some power and punch. Overall I found these highly enjoyable though.
Design that takes the retro style this far should really been seen as contemporary, or even futuristic. The microphone looks like something taken from an old computer from the mid eighties. It works really well for conversations though, but I find it hard to press the correct one as there are no markings on the three identical buttons. Too often I affect volume when I want to pause or answer. Still the microphone design offers great durable design that has been water proof for several days of riding my bike in the rain. The microphone placement is excellent slightly below the mouth.
The cord is lightweight, and has little to no tendency to tangle. The noise transferred is minimal when it rubs against clothes. As the earphone silicone tips have a high level of friction this becomes a rather good choice when running or exercising.
AIAIAI has managed to create a really great design that sounds excellent, and attracts a lot of attention due to the unique gradient colour scheme. The only negatives I have is the lack of markings on the microphone buttons, rather weak bass on lower volumes and a lack of extras in the package. If you are looking for a set of earphones that works all day, all evening and all night these are a great choice.
Final Rating
