Apr 25
KEF is one of those companies that quietly gets one with making amazing—and expensive—HiFi equipment. Now, however, it’s decided to apply its knowledge of HiFi and branch out into headphones—and these things promise to be amazing. More »
Apr 24
KEF introduces M Series headphones bred from HiFi speaker know-how (updated)
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Mostly known for its extravagant speaker systems, KEF is finally taking a whack at ear gear. Today, the company announced two new types of HiFi headphones, known as the M Series, which include a pair of on-ear cups (M500) and a set of in-ear buds (M200). Priced at $300, the M500 sports a full aluminum frame and sweat resistant padding, along with a 10mm driver for lows and a 5.5mm driver for mids and highs full-range 40mm neodymium driver in each earcup. If enclosed head gear isn’t your thing, the $200 M200 offers an aluminum housing and a pair of silicone ear tips with an adjustable arm for improved comfort. Like their pricier sibling These earphones feature a ‘DDD’ dual dynamic driver system with a 10mm driver for lows and a 5.5mm driver for mids and highs. While we’ve yet to spend time with the M500 or M200, their press pictures and specs aren’t too shabby. Call it a hunch, but we doubt they’ll need any celebrity endorsements. For more info on KEF’s new headphone line, hit the presser after the break.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wearables
Apr 24
Monster Teams Up With Hublot To Offer $2,275 Luxury ‘Inspiration’ Headphones
Posted in: Today's Chili
Monster has recently been producing ultra-premium headphones over the past couple of months with its recent headphones being the Monster Genesis and White Tuxedo DNA. But their newest luxury noise-canceling headphones take the ultra-premium grade to a completely new level as they have teamed up with Hublot, who is known to be a curator of fine jewelry watches.
The Inspiration Hublot Headphone features a fine-tooled design which accentuates its brushed aluminum finish, a headband that is made of both authentic leather and rubber as well as carbon fiber ear cups. Not only will they look good, but the Inspiration Hublot headphones will also debut Monster’s Enigma Audio Engine as well as a dual-mono amplification, which will give the listener a crystal clear and realistic sound experience. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Wii U Used To Power A $16,000 Japanese Karaoke System, Computer Sounds From Hollywood Movies Combined And Transformed Into A Song, 
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Apr 24
JVC Kenwood is releasing 2 new headphone models HA-SZ2000 and HA-SZ1000 in late May.
They feature their new head phone structure “Live Beat System” that makes it possible to have both real deep bass sound and high-resolution medium and high pitch sound.
The HA-SZ2000 model is especially focused on details. For example, it has a silver-plated wire as its core wire to enhance sound resolution, and plush leather for the earpad material.
HA‐SZ2000
Price: around 35,000 yen
Output sound pressure level: 108dB/1mW
Frequency range: 4Hz ~ 35,000Hz
Impedance: 16Ω
Weight: 480g
HA‐SZ1000
Price: around 25,000yen
Output sound pressure level: 107dB/1mW
Frequency range: 5Hz ~ 33,000Hz
Impedance: 16Ω
Weight: 450g
Apr 23
Apple EarPods—or whatever crap headphones came with your phone—aren’t the best way to listen to music, but nice gear is expensive. You can’t blame people for not wanting to spend a lot of money on something they’re just going to lose or destroy. Well here’s a $40 alternative to garbage that’s almost certain to sound pretty good. More »
Apr 22
Logitech Wireless Headset H820e comes equipped with enterprise-grade audio features
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe Logitech Wireless Headset H820e is the next headset in Logitech’s arsenal to offer enterprise-grade performance features at an affordable price-point. The H820e is similar to the H650e released last month, minus the cord. It promises up to 10 hours of usage before the user needs to recharge it, and it comes with a variety of features that will allow you to communicate in most work environments.
The H820e is designed for unified communications and PC-based soft-phones. It has a noise-cancelling microphone, acoustic echo cancellation, and DSP (digital signal processing). It also features an in-call LED indicator located at the back of the microphone that will warn others if you’re in a voice call. There are volume control buttons located on both sides of the headset that will allow users to easily adjust their volume in-call.
The Logitech Wireless Headset H820e is optimized for Microsoft Lync, as well as other platforms, such as Cisco’s networking apps. The H820e has a wireless range of 300 feet, and can fend off interference from WiFi signals. Users can adjust the wide band/narrow band switch so that they can choose what audio quality and density is right for them. Eric Kintz, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Logitech for Business, issued a statement saying,
“We’re looking to change the attitude that wireless headsets in the enterprise are an afterthought or a perk. Premium audio quality is essential in today’s anywhere workplace, where employees are connecting with each other in open spaces, from the road and from home, and people can do more when they aren’t tethered to their desks. Wireless headsets are rapidly becoming the ‘new normal’ for maximizing audio and video collaboration.”
The Logitech Wireless Headset H820e will come in two models. The ‘Mono’ model will be available for $179.99, while the ‘Dual’ model will be available for $199.99. The headsets will become available in May. According to a survey, many companies are switching from the traditional desk phone to headsets. To take advantage of this market trend, Logitech plans on releasing many more of these enterprise-grade wireless accessories.
Logitech Wireless Headset H820e comes equipped with enterprise-grade audio features is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 22
Solidalliance – Crazy Earphone – Back by popular demand… No doubt you will get a lot of attention in public!!
Posted in: Today's Chili
Solidalliance has started selling again the funny earphone series “Crazy Earphone” on April 22. It ended production a couple years ago but has made a comeback by popular demand.
A few years ago we wrote about these and here we go again. As we noted, they’re not the ultimate in sound performance but sometimes you need something a little bit different…
There are 4 models this time around: Banana, Ikura (salmon roe sushi), Katana (Japanese sword), and Kinoko (mushrooms). Put the the Katana model on, it will look like a katana penetrates your head and the blade is popped out of your ear. 
Weight is 15-19 g. All are 2,000 yen.
Apr 19
Man who sold up to $40 million worth of counterfeit headphones gets two years in jail
Posted in: Today's Chili 
A man accused of being one of the “most prolific sellers” of counterfeit electronics in the UK has just been sent down for two and a half years. Over 4,000 KiRFs, mainly consisting of knock-off Sennheiser and Monster headphones, were found at Michael Reeder’s address, with a value of around £250,000 ($400,000). However, Sennheiser claims this is just 1 percent of $40 million worth of items Reeder has sold online, which is why the German manufacturer has taken a keen interest in his prosecution. Last year, Sennheiser introduced a series of authentication technologies to prevent counterfeiting that was mainly originating in China — including QR codes on product packaging that customers can verify online. If Sennheiser’s estimate of 400,000 fake items is accurate, then it makes the UK’s recent Microsoft Windows scandal look almost like small fry.
Update: Apologies for the earlier stumble with missing zeroes on this post.
Filed under: Misc, Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video
Apr 18
Pioneer – New headphone model “SE-MJ732″ from the “BASS HEAD” series – putting importance on deep bass sounds and “street fashion”
Posted in: Today's Chili
Get some street cred with Pioneer’s new headphone “SE-MJ732″ from their “BASS HEAD” headphone series, to be released in mid-May.
According to the company: “BASS HEAD places importance on quality deep bass sounds and it has a design that shows up in street fashion and features a wide head band that is suitable for street dance…”
A large 40mm speaker unit is built in.
Price: 6,200 yen
Color: red, blue, and black
Weight: 220g
Apr 16
Fans of the JRR Tolkien novel series Lord of the Rings will remember the mystical metal known as Mithril, rare and precious as the finest diamonds, as strong as the hills themselves. Here in the earbuds known as Mythro from the folks at Moshi, the excellence in the name is called upon to present a pair of sound blasters that are surrounded by a durable metal casing, bring on high-quality sound, and don’t cost a mint doing so. Have a peek at what the makers of fine accessories have conjured up!
With the Mythro you’ve got a collection of color choices at your hands including gunmetal gray, jet silver, tyrian purple, satin gold, rose pink, and burgundy red. You’ll be picking these little monsters up for a cool $29 USD, which should throw up a red flag for you quality seekers out there – but no worries! These buds are for you!
– DR8 Neodymium drivers (15Hz-20kHz / -10dB@1kHz) in an anodized aluminum casing.
– Integrated microphone with universal button control.
– Hybrid injection silicone earbuds in three sizes for superior noise isolation and comfort.
– A convenient Velcro HandyStrap cable manager.
The strap you get with the buds wrap around the cord real hand-like, keeping everything in order for transport. The color of the different sized buds you get in the package reflect the specific color of the buds you’ve purchased, and you’ve got a unique application available for your experience right out of the box as well. With the unique “Burn In Tool” app available for free from the iTunes App Store you’ll have a curated series of sounds played from your iPhone through your new set of earbuds that’ll break in or “burn in” the phones for a more satisfying experience from the start.
By playing back a curated list of tones/frequencies, the Moshi Audio Burn-In Tool allows the headphone diaphragms to relax and reach their optimal level of sonic performance. Simply install the burn-in tool on any iOS device and select the headphone and desired burn-in period. The burn-in tool is customized for all Moshi Audio headphones, but also includes support for any third-party audio headsets as well.
These little buds will be exactly what you need if you’ve got a twenty dollar bill, a ten dollar bill, and a love of fashionable audio accessories for your smartphone or tablet. Grab them right this minute – and have a peek at the timeline below for more Moshi excellence as well!
Moshi Mythro Earbuds offer high-end sound with Tolkien twist is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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