What is life without music and beats? My day starts with switching on my vintage Pioneer integrated stereo amplifier, which is matched to a pair of Sony V-700 speakers which are from the 1985’s. How do they sound? Well for most of us it is just good sound, but for those who seek more, they will know how the highs are crisp, the mid-range is detailed and the bass is punchy with almost no distortion. Well, I am not a true audiophile, but I can differentiate between good sound and bad. That’s why I never got myself a Bluetooth speaker because I feel they all sound the same and I do not enjoy the quality unless it some extraordinary sounding one form some manufacturer I cannot afford.
Now comes this package which is handed over to me and I open it to find something of my interest. A pair of over-the-ear headphones from the Swedish manufacturer JAYS. The JAYS a-Seven Wireless headphones now become a part of my everyday schedule and here is my experience of using the a-Seven for more than a month on a daily basis.
The design language from the Swedish manufacturer is very minimal and simple. I paired it with both my android smartphone and my laptop for the source. I also have an entire collection of music in high-quality FLAC format which also ensures a great listening experience when the sound output is good. The first thing to notice is how good the Bluetooth connectivity is. There were very fewer dropouts and even walking around in the house with the phone inside the room did very less to drop the transmission. Only when things got too far, it started to lose connection but, the moment you walk into the range, the music is on. The built-in controls are simple, allowing you to play-pause, skip tracks and rock the volume up and down. The presence of a built-in microphone makes it easy to take calls and the microphone is very efficient for calls as well.
The a-Seven uses the Qualcomm Bluetooth atpX chip which improves the overall audio performance. However, it does not support AAC which is a downer as most Apple devices use AAC format for high-quality music content. The sound from the headphones is quite detailed, especially when you play music from a good and a very good source. The difference is evident.
My playlist includes rock and roll, instrumental and a wide variety of from Dire Straits to Def Leppard, AC DC, Metallica, Guns and Roses, Rolling Stones, Daft Punk and some podcasts with hour-long sets of funk and disco. The sound the headphone deliveres is quite clear with good and punchy bass and clear highs and mid-range. I wish the mid-range was a bit more detailed but it is definitely good for the package.
But wait, there is more to share. The headphones look very neat and have a matte black finish. The construction is from lightweight aluminium and the overall ergonomics is very good. The band sits firmly over the head and there is enough padding on the band to keep it comfortable. The earpads are filled with memory foam which is a great thing. I am not a fan of over-the-ear headphones but I was keeping the a-Seven on for hours without worry until it began to hurt from the less padding and the drivers hitting the ears and I think JAYS has been a bit stingy about it. It comes in four different colours but the one unit I reviewed is black in colour. The most important thing though is the very nominal hours of charging required which translated into 25 hours of listening. This is something which more than impressive I would say and I personally could exhaust the battery in almost 3 days of listening while travelling and every break I could.
The standby time of 35 hours allows you to continue from where you left off. I think the headphones still need to burn in a lot and the sound should improve even more. For those audiophile ears, these might not cut in, but for most of the music-loving folks out there, the a-Seven are worth keeping. The box is supplied with a USB cable for charging and a cable for using it as a wired headset. I wish JAYS would have been thoughtful enough to bundle a headphone carrying case or at least a pouch which would have made the whole deal sweeter. For Rs. 7,999/-, this is as good as it can get and the a-Seven wireless is worth investing. One can find some better deals online especially on headphone zone where they are known for selling some very great products for all the audio lovers out there.
