Hasta La Gadget!

Since launching its first product in 2008, Beats has gone from an obscure niche headphone brand to a multi-million dollar business with plenty of star power (Dr. Dre, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, etc.) catapulting the brand into the mainstream spawning several celebrity and musician endorsed rival brands. Now it’s going after an older crowd with the Executive over-the-ear headphones, which I’ve been testing for the last few days.

Originally partnered with Monster, the company has since detached itself from the audio manufacturer, had the majority of the company acquired (51 percent) by HTC, acquired music service MOG, and then regained 25 percent of HTC’s shares back this past July. It’s also had its brand name attached to HP laptops and HTC smartphones.

While the company has tapped into the youth of this country, it hasn’t quite gained traction with the folks whose annual incomes are, well, significantly higher than a 17-year-old’s. It’s unclear why Beats is going in this particular direction given that the “b” brand can be seen just about everywhere you look.

Maybe it has something to do with Monster now marketing its own line of headphones geared towards an older demo. Or the fact that the Beats brand commands over 60 percent of the over $100 headphone market in the U.S. I guess a $1 billion industry is worth protecting.

“If you look at the category right now, almost all the competing products are made of plastic. We’re bringing craftsmanship and premium materials, such as aluminum alloy, stainless steel, and hand-stitched leather,” Luke Wood, president and COO of Beats, told me. “Beats has fans of every age, but we wanted to build the Executive for the business traveller who doesn’t necessarily feel comfortable wearing bright green headphones on the plane.”

Other than looks and what I assume are subtle changes to the audio components under the hood, the Executives appear to be built on the same platform as the original Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, including the use of regular AAA batteries to power the active noise-cancelling functionality. And just like the originals, the Executives won’t work when those batteries die. Pretty annoying in my opinion for a $300 pair of headphones but maybe I’ve grown accustomed to all my doodads having rechargeable batteries.

The Executives are said to last upwards of 25 hours per set of batteries. So far I’ve logged several thousand miles (SFO>JFK>ICN) and roughly 15 hours with the included batteries. The noise-cancellation function can be muted by depressing the “b” icon on the right earcup. Batteries are deposited into the left earcup by popping off the cover, which is tethered by a string and kept in place with magnets. A nice touch overall and they definitely feel premium.

When asked why the core feature still relies on standard batteries, Wood had this to say: “Our research of this particular use case shows the consumer preference is split in regards to rechargeable and disposable batteries. Keeping the demographic in mind for this product, there is anxiety around forgetting to charge your batteries and getting on the plane for a business trip to find they’re dead and there’s no time or place to charge. Many people would rather just bring a spare set of batteries than risk being stranded on a flight with no sound. With that said, as our products continue to evolve we will consider the technology that makes the most sense as well as sustainability issues.”

Regardless of whether I think that a $300 pair of headphones should function sans batteries, the Executives are really comfortable (it’s worth noting that I wear glasses and find it annoying to wear over-the-ears) and offer a less bass-y sound than previous models. Even with the noise cancellation or because of it, you really have to crank up the volume to hear your tunes. The low end seems a bit muddled and when cranked up all the way up it just sounds a bit fuzzy. Albeit ever so slightly.

They’ll be available in mid-October and come with a carrying case, cleaning cloth, two adapters and two sets of audio cables, including one for use with your phone.

Since the dissolution of its partnership with Monster on July 1, Wood says the Executives are “an example of what’s to come” from the now free-standing company.

Click to view slideshow.

This headphone design looks pretty interesting. It combines a sort of retro-looking design with modern tech. They are sleek and stylish, and designer Andreas Konradsen says that they’re supposed to blur the boundaries between music and mind – whatever that means.

The VOLVE Headphones are distinctive because of the way that you can control the music of your MP3 player or smartphone. You simply tap a rubber disc situated on the ear pads. Play/pause is activated by pushing the centerpiece of the ear pad.

The stainless tubing is supposed to be easily adjustable, and reminds me of older headphones, the kind of the thing you’d use when you’d have been doing studio recordings. While they’re not as sleek as some of the more fashionable headphones, they are certainly distinctive.

[via Yanko Design]

By now, you’re probably familiar with Apple’s latest earbuds. But are they an improvement over their arguably disposable predecessor, you ask? You bet. Still, they’re not going to win out over high-end or even mid-range audio options. That’s to be expected, though — the EarPods do sound better, and, well, they cost 29 bucks and ship with all of the devices Apple announced today. The attractive white ‘buds are packaged in a plastic case that’s quite similar to the enclosure that Apple introduced with its previous-gen step-up set. They’re very lightweight, not that you had any doubts, and appear to be durable enough. The “one size fits all” design worked well in our ears — it wasn’t a snug fit by any means, but we didn’t fear that they’d fall to the ground with the slightest movement.

You’ll net the best performance in quieter settings, considering that they don’t isolate sound like some other options on the market, and if you’re a frequent air traveler or often find yourself working in noisy environments, you’ll probably want to consider other options. That said, folks who don’t need the absolute best or want to save up for a better solution should find these to be sufficient — we didn’t have a chance to do any in-depth testing and analysis, but expect that to come after we’ve had a chance to digest all of today’s new gadgets. For now, you can take a closer look in the hands-on gallery just below.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Wearables, Mobile

Apple EarPods hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 16:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When I think of X-Factor, I think of the mutant heroes in the Marvel Universe, not the Simon Cowell’s American Idol knock-off. Sure, Havok can’t belt out any tunes, but he can disintegrate your with his plasma blasts. That being said, these new Sony headphones look good, tech-wise, if you can get past the X-Factor branding.

The Sony X Headphones are aimed at the audio enthusiast market. Despite the X-Factor tie-in, their design is striking and eye catching, and I’ve heard that they are very comfortable to wear for long hours. Naturally, after some time, you’ll probably get the sweaty-ear syndrome, but that can’t be avoided with full-size headphones.

They have 50mm drivers that will deliver a powerful bass directly to your ears. They offer a very wide frequency response range froms 3 to 29,000 Hz and the sensitivity is 106 dB/mW. They also offer an in-line microphone and remote control for use with iOS devices.

The headphones fold up pretty neatly for traveling, though if you are looking for active noise-cancellation, you’ll need to look elsewhere. The Sony X headphones will be available starting September 27th for $300 (USD).

[via Sony]

Sony has announced that it has a new set of headphones coming soon that were made in cooperation with Simon Cowell. Cowell is known for his blunt and scathing comments on The X Factor and American Idol. The new headphones are called the X Headphones and are designed to provide high-quality sound.

The headphones are designed with a high level of noise isolation and to provide exceptional bass response. Sony uses 50 mm drivers to deliver full-range audio capable of high-quality playback of all music genres. The headphones use memory foam ear pads for comfort and to provide an acoustic seal no matter the shape of the user’s ears or head.

The tight seal the ear pads form also help to improve the sub-bass reproduction capability. Sony put a lot of effort into the style of the headphones as well, and they remind me more than a little of the Beats line of headphones. The headphones have an aluminum headband and swivel mechanisms allowing them to be folded for portability and storage.

The swiveling ear cups also allow listing flexibility, and the headphones ship with a carrying case. Sony designed the X Headphones with removable cable, and each set of the headphones will ship with two different cables. One of the cables is a standard 3.5 mm straight cable, and the other has a three-button Apple compatible remote. The headphones will launch on September 15 for $299.

Sony X Headphones made in cooperation with Simon Cowell is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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