Specialty Headphone Reviews

The Technology Curve is getting steeper!

Something you didn't suggest in 'your daily use description' of these devices was a comment about 'what percentage of the Day' were these things useful? I'd say that I'll wear my LG Tone for 90% of my working/waking hours, I have a ( never been used ) back-up.

Shure are making a headset using their 215 but also able to use their 535 and 846 in-ear monitor.

Geez, I see this segment getting some Style Attention, hmm, how long before they're on the Front Cover of GQ, being worn by Anderson Cooper or someone else, doing: Product Placement?

I still have uses for my wireless Sennheiser headphones but for how much longer?

Tony in Michigan

ps.. Onkyo & Pioneer have just released little Digital Audio Players with MQA, these devices seem like having an entire 1980s front end music system in the palm of your hand ( include having TTVJ's entire 12,000 vinyl collection on SD memory cards ) phewwwww.

ps.2, those Europeans, like Goldmund & DynAudio, are getting serious about going Wireless & Active.

They forgot the Mute button...

http://www.japantrendshop.com/sony-wearable-neck-speaker-srsws1-p-4096.html

There's one product category that serves the same use cases even better: Wireless IEMs

..and then the same old same old: when battery has been consumed after 3-4 years, one can throw it away and people have to buy another one. That's how Apple, Bose, and Co. create repeat customers.

Glad I still have two noise-cancelling earphones that run on a (rechargeable) AAA battery.

Thank you Bose - too expensive in the end.

Tried it in the bose store. Comfy and surprisingly good sound. Certainly good for doing the dishes, laundry, talking on the phone. You don't always want to put in and take something out of your ears. This is far less intrusive. Even custom fit or "comfy" iem's are not appealing to me. Will I buy this new bose product? Hell no, not even at a used price. I have better things to spend my hard earned cash money on, but it was fun trying it out, and I bet it will make a lot of users happy.

We have new Sennheiser HD660s headphones and you are reviewing a gadget?!? Come on Tyll, I value your opinion, please skip the silly gadgets and review the 660s.

Thank you for your detailed review and for your passion / appreciation of quality music. I read and watched and just now ordered my own SoundWear. Thanks again!

Tyll, when will you finally review and measure the Sennheiser HD660S?

How about the new Sennheiser HD600S?

Not sure what brand (now that I know this is a "thing" I'll be obsessed with finding out) but a couple of cashiers at a nearby supermarket wear these around their necks. Headphones wouldn't be tolerated by the market (or probably by customers) because they're so obvious and would send a clear "I'm not listening to you" image. I did hear what they were playing, really low level, and it was way better than the pervasive, far too loud Muzak the store plays. I wonder if they are hearing both the blaring Muzak and their own music, simultaneously.

Not sure how I feel about this category of device being worn in jobs where someone's work involves dealing with others. At least the couple times I've seen this, the cashiers weren't tuning out their job or customers, so I didn't really pay too much attention.

This review did get me thinking about them for myself, though. I do photography, and on travel shoots, or when I'm out shooting street photography, there are long periods of time of just hanging out, waiting for the right light, or the right character to wander by. By long periods I mean an hour or two of just hanging out time. These would make that dead time a lot less boring. Headphones, even IEMs, take you too much out of the environment.

Hi, thank you for the in-depth review. I seem to be noticing a touch of lag whereby the movement of mouth is not syncing to the word. I'm connected to a macbook pro touchbar. Is this to be expected?

Heard them at the Bose display at the local Frys. Sounded way better than I expected. The Bose display let me pair them to my phone so I could listen to my own music and I was pretty impressed. As mentioned in the article they won't replace a good pair of headphones for critical listening but they will, for me, replace my computer speakers for everyday listening. I love that I can hear the music but can also hear what's going on around me. For casual listening they're just what I didn't know I was looking for. Wish they were cheaper, though.
Jim

Tyll, Nice review of alternative listening gear. You mention "Sonos" throughout you review.

May I ask what Sonos gear you listen with at home?

I considering the simplicity of the Sonos system...

Thank you!

Why do you refer to the application of science to design as tricks and trickery rather than audio engineering. Nearly a century ago pioneers like Stanely Stevens and Fletcher realized that in order to accomplish good acoustic playback (of music, voices, whatever) it would be valuable to understand how humans receive/process/perceive sound and incorporate that knowledge into the engineering design process. Maybe I'm just too sensitive but describing what you've discovered about the design of this device as tricks and trickery seems a bit biased or negative. Otherwise, I really enjoy your reviews because they are full of interesting content based on facts uncovered by your investigations.