Tag: earphones

CES 2009: Sennheiser announces "world's best headphones"- the HD800s

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Sennheiser’s making quite a bold claim here – the world’s best headphones. The HD800s apparently sound better than any other pair of headphones on the planet. I suspect that it might be difficult to prove that one to a jury – surely it’s more than a little subjective?

But let’s not quibble over that – it’s beyond doubt that these are damn good. A brand new “RING” driver, developed specifically for these cans alone, can deliver an amazing 6Hz – 51kHz frequency response. For comparison, your average person on the street can hear about 20Hz to 20kHz. Unless you’re an audiophile, therefore, you’re not going to get much out of these. Sennheiser also claims an amazingly low 0.02% distortion.

Duncan Geere Headphones / Earphones

Sennheiser launches high-end in-ear phones

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Sennheiser has announced a new professional line of in-ear earphones, the IE series, offering high quality, accurate sound for a range of budgets (well, except under £120).

The Sennheiser IE 6 are hi-fi earphones with enhanced bass and come in at £119.99. The Sennheiser IE 7 are classic hi-fi earphones with a balanced sound, for £169.99, while the top-of-line IE 8s are aimed at audiophiles and cost £249.99.

All feature high-end, accurate, pro-grade audio and are based on Sennheiser’s in-ear stage monitors, having a single driver to eliminate distortions, strong Kevlar cabling, metal carry cases, and a two year guarantee.

Andy Merrett Headphones / Earphones

Jay's c-JAYS headphones are lightweight, but heavy hitters

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The world of mid-range headphones has just got a little more cluttered with the release of the c-JAYS, from Swedish manufacturer Jay’s Headphones. They’re over-the-head jobbies and they come with three sizes of foam cushion, from small to whopping (whopping pictured above).

You’ve got to love that way that whenever technology companies invent something, they give it a silly name and acronym. In this case, Jay’s has invented something called the Elastic Multi Layer (EML) Membrane, which apparently makes things sound nice, and SGSCC (Single Crystal Copper) cables, which reduce distortions.

For those keeping score, that’s the second time today that an abbreviation doesn’t match up with what it’s abbreviating. I’m not a happy bunny.

Duncan Geere Headphones / Earphones

SHINY VIDEO REVIEW: Noise-proof headphones test


Annoyed with your current headphones? Bothered by people yapping and eating Rice Crispies on the bus in the morning, and need to replace the crappy pair of earbuds that came bundled with your MP3 player? You need to see this video.

Lucy, Zara and I tested out some of the noise cancelling and noise isolating earphones on the market. Dan made some noise. You can see the results above – the Shure SE102s won out, thanks to their low price and extreme effectiveness. Highly recommended.

Shure SE102s

Related posts: Don’t buy them if you use a pacemaker | Semicircular headphones, so you don’t get hit by a bus

Duncan Geere Headphones / Earphones

Klipsch launches new Image X5 earphones, and price cuts for rest of range

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High-end audio manufacturer Klipsch has just announced a new set of earphones to sit alongside its prosumer X10 and budget Custom-1 models.They’re called the X5s, and they’re ever so slightly larger than the X10s.

That slight embiggening saves £50 in the manufacturing process, which they’ve passed on to the consumer, so the X5s will cost £130. For that, you’re getting 50 ohm impedence, 110dB sensitivity, and -26 dB noise isolation. Klipsch are calling these “the least fatiguing in-ear headphones around”, and they’ll be available in ‘late November’.

Duncan Geere Headphones / Earphones