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Aiwa Arc-1 Over Ear Bluetooth Headphones $74.99 Delivered @ Aiwa US via Amazon AU

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Aiwa Arc-1 Over Ear Bluetooth Headphones $74.99 Delivered @ Aiwa US via Amazon AUAffiliate
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LAntsey on 16/04/2023 - 20:52 amazon.com.au (1592 clicks)
Last edited 17/04/2023 - 12:58 by 1 other user
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Back in the 80s-90s Aiwa was a cool but small Japanese brand making portable audio products and competing with Sony Walkman™. It foundered eventually, Sony bought it yet it still disappeared.

While looking for some bargain bluetooth headphones I found these searching Amazon AU. From my research this is a revival product that launched in the US for $199 USD.

Anyhow, these were purchased by me. They do feel premium and are comfortable, sound great and come in a good semi hard case with micro USB (Boo!) cable and 3.5mm cable so you can use them wired.

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.
Electrical & Electronics Aiwa Headphones Wireless Headphones

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closed Comments

  • easternculture on 16/04/2023 - 20:54
    +7

    American and other regions are owned by Chicago-based Aiwa Corporation. Towada Audio based in Tokyo owns the rights to the brand in Japan and other countries, and has been manufacturing Aiwa-branded products since 2017. In Mexico and other countries in Latin America, the rights are owned by Audio Mobile Americas, S.A.

    • Antsey on 16/04/2023 - 20:57
      +3

      Thanks. I used to work in an off airport Duty Free store in Adelaide in the 90s. Aiwa was a staff favourite!

  • hippo2s on 16/04/2023 - 20:59

    I miss my HP-V99

  • h0mbre on 16/04/2023 - 22:31
    +1

    Thanks OP. Got a pair for some nostalgia.
    Not sure when and where I’ll use them between my XM4s and AirPod pro 2s but that’s a tomorrow problem.

    • Antsey on 17/04/2023 - 19:15

      Please let me know what you think!

  • muzzakus on 16/04/2023 - 22:32

    Does the mic also go over the 3.5" aux for eg gaming?

    • Antsey on 17/04/2023 - 07:56
      +1

      Hi I don't think so. The supplied cable only has TRS jacks.

  • Barry15 on 16/04/2023 - 23:37
    +1

    Would these be good for watching tv or movies?

    • Antsey on 17/04/2023 - 10:33

      I think so. I've been using them on a PC watching videos via Bluetooth no problems and they're comfortable. Earcups are snug for my biggish ears.

      • Barry15 on 17/04/2023 - 10:35
        +1

        Awesome. Thanks for that.

  • plmko on 16/04/2023 - 23:44
    +4

    Cool retro design but I highly doubt these are a return of the old famous quality. Just a branded stamp on your usual Chinese OEM.

  • pacificstorm on 17/04/2023 - 05:34
    +3

    Ahh Aiwa…. Where is Sanyo (that's life)?

  • Romper Stomper on 17/04/2023 - 06:47

    Have Aiwa or Sanyo been taken over by any Chinese company yet?

  • Romper Stomper on 17/04/2023 - 06:50

    Does it have microphone? Amazon site says "Microphone format: ‎Noise Cancelling Microphone" but I am wondering anyone having it could confirm? No such information is on Aiwa website

    • Antsey on 17/04/2023 - 07:15
      +1

      It does have a microphone.

  • dealsforlife on 17/04/2023 - 09:13
    +1

    Wow, Aiwa! Trip down memory lane

  • beanlanda on 18/04/2023 - 13:04
    +1

    These are from Aiwa Corporation (Chicago, USA), who have nothing at all to do with the Japanese Aiwa and its history with Sony and use contract chinese manufacturers.

    From a public statement released by Aiwa Co., Ltd (Tokyo, Japan), "Aiwa Corporation (Chicago, USA) are in not in any way related to us, Aiwa Co., Ltd (Tokyo, Japan) or Aiwa Japan since 1951 to date".

    That said the headset sounds great and is comfortable so far. Microphone is not a boom so be interesting to see how it goes on WFH calls.

  • theabyss on 18/04/2023 - 15:13
    +3

    I received mine in the morning and I tried it for a few hours. The headphone has a critical flaw that it produces very loud static background noise in bluetooth mode. I tried iPhone,Mac,PC,Samsung Galaxy phone and also tried adjusting codec settings of AptX. The noise is simply there. You have to turn up the volume to cover the noise and the sound of this headphone is pretty noce. However I canot bear the volume at this high level and I think it would damage your ear if you insist to do so. The stupid DSP chip is definately not well adjusted and may be the cause of the issue.
    If you use cable there will not be noise on or off. So this could be the only way you can actually use this headphone. Really dissapointed. That AIWA is really gone.
    I gave an upvote and now I have to revoke it.

    • Antsey on 18/04/2023 - 17:00

      There is no static for Bluetooth on mine which arrived on the 12th. It sounds like yours are faulty. I'd send them back for a refund or exchange via Prime.

      • theabyss on 18/04/2023 - 21:54
        +1

        I am returning it now.

    • servicegen on 18/04/2023 - 22:02

      I received mine today as well and was not too disappointed about the sound. After reading your review and I tried again to play a song and put the volume to zero and YES, I also heard the background noise! When I pause the song, the back ground noise will stop after a few seconds.

      • Hampton Wick on 20/04/2023 - 10:39

        Can confirm this. Also click/pops at the beginning of playing media. Returning mine.

  • realaaa on 19/04/2023 - 22:16

    anyone else get that background noise / hiss on these? as per multiple reviews, yet still people are rating them quite high

    https://aiwa.co/blogs/blog/announcing-the-aiwa-arc-1
    https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/aiwa-arc-1-bluetooth-headph…
    https://the-gadgeteer.com/2018/09/27/aiwa-arc-1-bluetooth-he…
    https://youtu.be/vHs2huHfSLQ

  • servicegen on 20/04/2023 - 10:51
    +2

    Interestingly, it seems to be a known issue to the manufacturer. From their own website it mentions the following,

    The noise level / hiss is too loud.
    Because the Arc-1 has a clear and well-extended treble response, background hiss / noise can sometimes be more noticeable than it is on other devices. Noise is more noticeable in the treble region, which is what causes this. Much of this background noise comes from the source device, and unfortunately the headphones cannot prevent this. If you find background hiss bothersome, try the following:
    Use another source device with lower self-noise.
    Lower the volume on the headphones and raise the volume on the source device.
    Lower the volume on the Arc-1 when not actively listening to audio.

    https://aiwa.co/blogs/support/arc-1-faq-and-troubleshooting

    • realaaa on 21/04/2023 - 09:17

      interesting - thanks for posting this !

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