AIAIAI has unveiled a world-first collaboration with Ninja Tune: the new TMA-2 Ninja Tune Edition headphones – made from the leading independent label’s recycled vinyl.
The TMA-2 Ninja Tune Edition builds upon AIAIAI’s modular design ethos and a shared desire for the collaboration to focus on experimentation. Building on this modular approach and a vision of doing something meaningful together, the natural progression was to experiment with Ninja Tune‘s main resource: vinyl. Ninja Tune remarked: “We finally found a way for you to listen to our deeper cuts.”
Released on 27 April 2021, the new TMA-2 Ninja Tune Edition headphones uphold the design and product ideals expected from a partnership between AIAIAI and Ninja Tune. They have a customized detailed and rich sound representation based on AIAIAI’s Bio-Cellulose S05 drivers, and come with the comfortable choice of both on-ear and over-ear vegan leather cushions. A full charge gives 20 hours of high-quality wireless audio via Bluetooth 5.0, making it the ideal choice for long and critical listening sessions.
United by a shared focus on environmental responsibility, AIAIAI x Ninja Tune represents a joint commitment to “doing things better.” With both companies tackling inherent difficulties when pursuing sustainable goals, the experimentation involved has revealed the changes they can instigate in the core manufacturing for future products.
Since the launch of the first TMA-1 headphone in 2010, AIAIAI has been creating products that are designed to last, focusing on designing modular functionality to extend the longevity of every product and create less waste for the planet. The modularity of the AIAIAI TMA-2 headphone design, first released in 2015, affords the ability to upgrade and expand as technology evolves, creating an extended functional lifetime. Now in 2021, AIAIAI continues to innovate in audio product design by seeking out like-minded partners, and implementing the usage of recycled materials for components of the headphones, ranging from sustainable Alcantara for ear pads to recycled plastic for speaker units.
Ninja Tune, who also incorporate scene-defining labels like Big Dada and Technicolour and work closely with Brainfeeder, is committed to becoming carbon neutral by the end of 2021 and carbon negative beyond that.
AIAIAI co-founder Frederik Jørgensen said: “Since 2010 with the launch of the TMA-1 headphone we’ve been committed to doing things better. Sustainability has since been a key aspect of our design and development process and we still believe we’re only just getting started. Informed by a heritage of Scandinavian design we create products far beyond trend-driven aesthetics, with sustainable modular functionality and recycled materials we extend the longevity of every product and create less waste for the planet – designed to last.”
Ninja Tune’s Senior Designer Joe Durnan said: “For Ninja tune as a label, we are keen to not only celebrate the past but also mark our intentions going forward both sonically and ethically. We are keenly aware of the need to explore more ecological and Earth-positive means of manufacturing. To continue to exist as an industry we need to place these topics at the forefront of discussions and decisions. This collaboration is not the final answer but more so an example of how working towards greener solutions can lead to innovative and exciting results. This project is an opportunity to continue to shine a light on an increasingly pressing global issue.”
You can check more, and grab your pair HERE.