Verdict
These portable studio proctor vocalise seraphic enough to be used for pure hearing use , although their jolly high price limits how appealing they can be to a non - specialist consultation .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ are not like other utterer . They are wireless and have a battery , but also need to be seen as legit studio apartment monitor .
Who needs a studio apartment on - the - go and would n’t be well served by studio monitor headphone ? That ’s a query , but perhaps we should just be grateful someone is try something really unlike .
The AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ are solid performer that , in AIAIAI mode , have a confidently minimal aesthetic . But the cost will give most break . At £ 700 you could pick up a twosome of Adam A4V monitor for less , or a set of Genelec 8020a for a small more .
Design
The AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ are sold in as studio apartment monitors . But they only bet like them front - on . There ’s the classic two - style driver arrangement , an all - dark case . So far , so studio monitor lizard .
From the side , though , the AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ are revealed to be far slender than the fair box-shaped studio apartment loudspeaker system . These speaker unit have a classical rectangular purpose most of the time . weighting is seldom much of an issue either . But the AIAIAI call for to be more portable - friendly than that to fulfil their legal brief .
They are only 20 cm deep and weigh 2.36 kg a piece . The rearward bass voice port can also double as a carry handle .
One orbit AIAIAI might go a minute far , for some anyway , is the LED ring around the woofer . It ’s a pure white ring , not the RGB style found on a mess of cheaper company speaker system . But , well , while Kanye may like it , this might not be the ideal flavor for a studio apartment .
It ’s not just for the look , though . The ring can betoken the volume level , the burster floor while plug in . And it will flash while in pairing mode . Still , it ’s more the style of a classical Bluetooth speaker than a monitoring machine .
It points to the biggest question behind your potential AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ ownership : do you really call for wireless studio monitor ? You could expend importantly less and get comparable results from a classic cabled design , and then expend the end to get a brace of monitoring machine headphones fromShure , Beyerdynamic — take your plectrum — for use on the road .
But at this point I start to wonder , why am I sort of doing down a fellowship adjudicate something fresh ? There are vast number of wireless talker out there , but not many of them come in an actual stereo brace , or have aspiration for the kind of sonic disinterest required of a honorable studio apartment reminder .
This is a serious endeavor from AIAIAI , and that is all the more laudable devote AIAIAI is a small society . And there are mountain of overnice little touches here too .
Little golosh strip along both angled sides show you may place the AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ on their sides as well as upright . AIAIAI make official accessory too : protective casings , a usance post bag and closing off pads . None are included as standard , but they are n’t exorbitantly priced either .
You do , however , get a twosome of magnetic metal radiator grille , which slot into the slightly indented loudspeaker system front . One part I ’m not sure was entirely necessary is the sheer size of the power adapters . They are chunky prominent laptop - size brick , contributing substantially to the transport majority if one bursting charge ’s runtime wo n’t do the trick .
It ’s no wonderment they ’re so expectant — capable of render 120W a firearm — but I ca n’t help but feel that ’s overkill when their charging speed seems to stick at 50W for most of the cycles/second . Still , fast charging in a reminder utterer ? It yet more evidence of AIAIAI ‘s smart combination of life style and traditional speaker value .
Features
you could choose how to use the AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ . They have Bluetooth . They have 2.4GHz radio receiver .
There are 3.5 mm and balanced 6.3 millimetre input . you could flip-flop between the wireless fashion using a button on the back , and alongside this is another button to switch between stereo and mono speech sound delivery .
Non - bluetooth transmitting uses a dongle that plugs into a USB - C port wine on your microcomputer or laptop computer . There ’s a 3.5 mm input for other sources , and then you just ask the USB for power . And it ’s here with the individual we get the crucial 16ms auditory sensation delay , which is rapid enough not to be detectable ( if high than the fractional delay due to DSP in cables studio monitor ) .
It manages this using the “ W+ ” standard , which transmits at CD quality ( 16 - turn , 44.1KHz ) . We do n’t get any advanced codec sustenance on the Bluetooth side , though , just AAC and SBC .
The speakers check a 77Wh battery , a similar capacitance to what you might see in a larger laptop computer . It ’s rated for up to 20 60 minutes of use , although that trope will of course be lower at higher volumes .
One missing part : there ’s no subwoofer output signal . AIAIAI does indicate using the Unit-4 with a hoagie , but from the other way around .
“ We recommend pairing UNIT-4 with any studio subwoofer , for a very full and capable auditory sensation , ” read AIAIAI .
“ Most studio apartment subwoofer have a pass - through function – go your machine output into the subwoofer input , then start the subwoofer outputs either directly into UNIT-4 or into the X02 Wireless+ transmitter . Then you could tune up the crosswalk relative frequency and phase to correspond your elbow room . ”
There ’s a practical , no - nonsensicality sensibility to the AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ ’s raiment of features . The clit and dongle approach means there ’s no pauperism for secondary software . And I ’m a sports fan of the matter - of - fact buttons up top , which still negociate to face sleek in a variety - of Scandi vibes way There is an app , though .
This connects your phone to the speaker when usingBluetooth . It let you alter the intensity of the LED ring light around the talker cone or alternate the light off entirely ( a extremely paying attention accession ) , update the speaker microcode and apply EQ .
I was a little surprised to see the app does n’t use a scene discover as categorical by default , but a “ bass tilt -9dB ” modality mean for use when the speakers are in a modest elbow room and less than 1 m from the wall . Listening to the other mode , Aiaiai is perfectly correct to plunk this as the default for the average room .
Sound Quality
Many potential buyers will be able-bodied to state the AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ ’s primal deficiency as soon as they see their lively statistic . These speakers do not have much in the way of low bass or sub bass .
Their -2dB frequency floor is 50Hz , because while the main equipment driver is a “ long excursion ” cone , it ’s still just a 4 - column inch driver .
Do n’t permit the LED ring fool you into intend these are secretly mini public address system - style company utterer either . The AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ are , just as I hoped , primarily really sweet - sounding dear - field varan .
I ’ve drop hours listening to the Unit-4 with them not much further than 60 cm from my fountainhead at multiplication , and they take up remarkably well to the closest listening .
Forgetting the obtrusive lack of down in the mouth bass power , these speaker go more impersonal and flat than most of the studio apartment monitor earpiece I ’ve own over the years .
There ’s no mid - bass bloat , the mids feel well textured , detailed , with no obvious absolute frequency holes . The soprano is nicely resolved and avoids sibilance even with content that can really bring it out .
And while I ’ve noted there ’s a lack of sub - bass here , the residue of the bass range is signally well - represent for such a diminutive speaker trapping that does n’t use passive radiator .
My favourite part , though , is how this is n’t just sound uncoloured enough to do some fuse study on . It ’s that they also vocalise enjoyable . My first monitor headphones were the Beyerdynamic DT100 , which are imply to be pretty flat but are also extremely boring . The AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ are far more engaging , with a lovely sense of clear imagination , solid separation and a realistic , innate tonality to vocals when treated as moderate - volume near - airfield speaker system .
Sure , the AIAIAI are n’t going to have the scale of presentation you ’d get with a great 8 - inch driver admonisher . But they can also go quite gaudy before sounding compromise , considering their sizing . And when you ’re not deliberately throwing wedge - deep packed track their direction just to test their limits , the AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ do sound full enough to avert the sense your favourite tracks are n’t being recreated fully .
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Should you buy it?
Just as promise , these utterer sound like studio monitors , but can be used in the middle of a grassy discipline if you wish . They do , of course , sound like small studio monitors rather than giant single with great low - freshwater bass facts of life , psyche .
These portable speakers do n’t issue forth cheap . And for role in a place studio when not out and about , you may want to turn over pair with a subwoofer to hear the lower frequencies the 4 - inch drivers ca n’t retroflex .
Final Thoughts
The AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ are ambitious portable speakers that seem to marry the DNA of a studio apartment monitor and a lifestyle radiocommunication speaker unit .
That they kinda take out it off is quite remarkable . They fathom great , last a respectable while off a charge and speech sound vapid than the mainstream wireless speakers you might compare them to .
You do have to give a fair amount for them , though , and of course ca n’t quite conjure the bass freshwater bass or mid - range dominance of a set of speakers with significantly large driver . Still , it ’s good piece of work from AIAIAI , ordinarily known for its headphones .
Trusted Score
How we test
We try out every wireless speaker we review thoroughly over an extended flow of time . We use industry received tests to liken feature properly . We ’ll always tell you what we witness . We never , ever , accept money to review a product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics insurance policy .
FAQs
They have no water system electrical resistance rating .
They support Bluetooth for utilization with phones .
There are dual 3.5 mm and 6.3 mm inputs on each talker .