Headphone News

Anyone flying Singapore Airlines next year will be pleased to hear that they have updated their in-flight headphones to sets with noise canceling technology.

The new headphones, manufactured by New Zealand manufacturers Phitek, will have built in technology to block out external noise while you listen to your in-flight movie.

Now if only they could get rid of the kid in the row behind kicking your seat…

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There’s been a real flood of wireless headphones announced over the last month but most of them have been based on Bluetooth technology. However, Panasonic are bucking the trend with the release of the RP-WF6000H Wireless headphones.

These headphones transmit on the good-old 2.4Ghz frequency range which should provide a better sound quality. They’re also designed for in-home use rather than with iPods. Old skool!

Fortunately, there’s nothing old fashioned about the technology. The built in decoder supports DTS, AAC, Dolby professional logic II, Dolby digital EX and DTS-ES. They also have an excellent transmission range of 30 meters with a decent 8 hours of battery life.

They’re released in Japan on the 15th of November priced at 30,000 Yen (around $250).

[Found via MobileWhack]

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Sick of a lack of recognition for their headphones, Sony have really pushed the boat out with the announcement of the forthcoming Sony Altus headphones’ 80 KHz frequency ceiling.

Of course, observant readers will recognize that the vast majority of humans can only hear up to around 20 Khz making the top range of these ‘phones somewhat redundant. Still, it’s the sort of boast that marketing departments love to make so we can probably expect to see it repeated a lot.

Apart from their extreme audio range the Altus (or MDR-D777LP to it’s friends) is similar in looks and specs to the recently announced MDR-D777SL.

They’ll be available in November priced around $150. Personally I can’t wait to part with my hard earned cash so that I can enjoy sounds I’m not even capable of hearing…

[Found via DigitalTrends]

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It looks like Sony are about to take a real interest in noise-canceling technology by bundling noise-canceling headphones with their new S700-series of digital music players.

For example, the Sony NS-S706F player incorporates noise-canceling technology for use with the bundled earphones. The player will cost around $240 for a 4GB version making it more expensive that an equivalent iPod Nano but, assuming you like the headphones, it works out as a decent deal.

[Found via CIO Tech Informer]

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Gadgetnutz have published a review of the Sennheiser OMX 70 Sport Headphones and have rated them a very good A-.

The OMX 70 are the ear-cip in-ear headphones in Sennheiser’s Sport range. Gadgetnutz certainly approve of the ear-clip design with the review claiming they could wear the ‘phones for hours on end.

Gadgetnutz are also impressed with the sound quality of the OMX 70 Sport - as tends to be the case with Sennheiser reviews. They do have some slight concerns about the bass but, considering the budget price, they seem impressed with these headphones overall.

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CNET have reviewed the Jabra C820s noise-cancelling headphones and they reckon they’re pretty good.

Giving them 7.4 out of 10, CNET rate these headphones as good in just about every department. In fact, really the only flaw they can find is that they aren’t quite as good as the Bose Quiet Comfort 2, a headphone they closely resemble. Of course, the Jabra’s make up for this by costing around $100, a third of the price of the Bose headset.

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As well as announcing a pair of on-ear headphones Bose have also announced the Bose Triport IE headphones.

These contain the same TriPort sound technology as their larger brother but all packed into a much smaller, in-ear design.

The TriPort IE are available now for around $100 and come complete with a carry case.

[Found via Engadget]

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Bose have announced their latest set of headphones, the TriPort OE.

These on-ear headphones (OE, get it?) feature Bose’s proprietary TriPort Acoustic Headphone Structure, first used in the original TriPort headphones, which they promise “allow the drivers to create deep lows while keeping the headphones small and lightweight”. Of course, they would say that.

Apart from all that marketing talk these headphones are foldable, come with a hard carry case and detachable 43″ and 16″ cables. Available any day now priced $180.

[Found via Engadget]

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Faced with the possibility of extinction Sony have found a new channel to sell their products, vending machines in airports.

Need headphones for your next flight? A snazzy new vending machine at Indianapolis International Airport has them, along with digital cameras, batteries, memory sticks, MP3 players, CDs, DVDs and all manner of other entertainment gizmos.

Seems a pretty good idea to me, especially if you get to the departures lounge to find a room full of screaming babies all itching to make your flight the worst ever.

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Another new release from Sony’s headphone department, although this time it’s a set of in-ear noise canceling headphones.

Similar to the highly regarded Shure E500PTH the MDR-NC22(JE) block external sound both by being close fitting in the ear canal and through noise canceling circuits stored in the box on the cable. Sony promise these ‘phones will cancel out an impressive 75% of ambient noise although it’s hard to tell how they actually judge this.

As with most noise-cancelling headphones, they do require battery power, in this case Sony claim a single AAA battery will power the headphones for 50 hours.

At the moment, these headphones are only available in Japan and pricing is unclear.

[Found via Gizmodo]

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