Headphone News

CNET have given a glowing review to the Etymotic ER6i iPod headphones.

These noise-isolating headphones have been designed especially for use with an iPod and give “fantastic audio quality even in loud environments”. But it gets even better.

“The sound hits you like a herd of buffalo. The bass sounds like bass, not like a flea punching the inside of your ear, and the treble is clear and doesn’t remind you of a dying cat.”

The earphones are available now for around £100/$150. Sounds like a good buy to me…

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Sony have increased their headphone range with the release of the MDR-NC11, a set of noise canceling earbuds.

These earphones block out external noise both via close fitting earbuds and active noise-canceling circuitry which attempt to negate ambient sound. This is done via a small box in the cable which is powered via a single AAA battery (Sony claim this should provide around 40 hours use).

The ‘phones are reviewed in this months T3 magazine and although they get a good write-up, T3 were disappointed by their tendency to pick up interference from mobile phones, including at least one painful, ear ripping, experience.

The MDR-NC11 are available now, priced at around £70.

[Found via T3 Magazine]

Related Link: Noise Cancelling Headphones Noise cancelling headphones are available from the world’s largest headphone store. Sale now on featuring all noise cancelling headphones

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Koss have added to their earphone range with the announcement of the QZ77 Dual Noise Reduction earbuds.

These earbuds offer noise reduction both via noise-isolating earbuds (i.e. they fill your ear canal to block out background noise) and via electronic noise-cancelling technology that attempts to cancel out background noise.

In common with all noise-canceling earphones, the QZ77 requires batteries to power the active noise cancelation system.

These earphones will cost around £75 in the UK (although they can already be found for around £25 cheaper) and are available now.

[Found via Pocket-Lint]

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Here’s the perfect solution if you’re sick of tangled headphone cables - Cordgo.

This little gadget allows you to wind up any headphone cable to the perfect length minimizing any tangling caused by excess cable. Shame it’s a bit bulky though…

[Found via Gadgets Blast]

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Koss have announced an addition to their headphone range, the Koss Cobalt.

The Cobalt are behind-the-ear headphones that use Bluetooth for wireless audio. This gives around a 30 foot range from your Bluetooth device or the supplied USB and headphone socket dongles.

These headphones have a built in lithium ion rechargeable battery with Koss promising around 8 hours playtime between charges.

In addition, the headphones have a volume control on the earpiece and are collapsable for easy storage.

The Koss Cobalt are available now for around $180.

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Following on from last month’s post there have been another bunch of reviews of Shure’s new top-of-the-range in-ear earphones, the Shure E500PTH.

First up is Information Week who repeat the experience of previous reviewers by being blown away by the sound quality.

if sound quality is paramount — and you have $500 to burn — you’re unlikely to find any with more complete, professional sound quality.

The reviewer was also impressed by the noise isolation and comfort of the Shure E500PTH going so far as to describe them as the most comfortable earphones they’ve worn.

USA Today also reviewed the E500PTH as part of a feature on noise isolating/noise canceling headphones alongside the Bose QuietComfort 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones, Sennheiser’s PXC 250 NoiseGard and Voyetra Turtle Beach’s ANR-20. Again, it is the quality of sound that most impresses the reviewer with the Shure beating the other three products for sound quality.

Overall the USA Today reviewer gives the E500PTH three and a half out of four, tied with the Bose headphones as the best in the test.

Again, the Shure E500PTH has faired excellently in reviews. If you’re in the market for a pair of personal headphones - and have $500 spare - it appears you’re unlikely to get a better pair.

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Japanese manufacturer Thanko are the latest to get into the retractable earphones market with the Thanko iBud (in Japanese).

These in-ear earphones have a cord that retracts into a small reel allowing you to shorten the cables or completely retract them when not in use. These aren’t the first earphones to use this technique but the are amongst the first in-ear earphones to do so.

Of course, the big advantage of the retractable cord is the reduction in the inexplicable tangling that headphone cords seem to achieve while sitting on a flat surface not being used. What causes this effect anyway?

These earphones are available in Japan priced at ¥980 and come in the now standard black or white color schemes.

[found via Gizmodo]

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Following on from the iDiamond and the Elecom Ear Drop earphones, Earmecca have released another pair of fashion earphones, the EarMecca EP Series.

This time the earphones are masquerading as a pair of earrings (but with a wire, obviously) and are available in ten different designs made out of gold and silver.

These earphones are available now in Korea although it’s not clear whether they’ll be released worldwide.

[Found via Gizmodo]

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If you’re bored of your standard iPod headphones and even the Elecom ear drops wont cut it, then why not try Mac@Work’s iDiamond earphones.

These earphones appear to be the standard iPod buds but with white gold wrapped around them and an inset of diamonds in the shape of a heart, star, crescent moon or lightning bolt.

The earphones are available now priced between 660 and 750 euros.

[found via Sybarites]

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Japanese manufacturer Onkyo are about to release the MHP-A1 wireless headphones.

These headphones operate on the 2.4 Ghz part of the spectrum and have a range of around 30 meters from the base station. As these things go, the full size headphones are pretty good looking with a discreet base station.

They will be available in Japan next month priced at around ¥25,200.

[Found via Digital World Tokyo

Related Link: Wireless headphones Huge range of wireless headphones available from the world’s largest headphone store, sale now on!

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