Looking for some petite and practical gadgets to fill your stockings this holiday season? Mini MP3 players, diminutive digicams, technicolored iPods, and slim and sleek headphones are perfect items to top-off that holiday stocking. We’ve rounded up the ten best stocking stuffer gadgets and electronics of 2009.
Category: Headphones
Sleek Audio SA1 Earphones Offer Wireless and Tuning Options
Sleek Audio has just introduced its new SA1 Tunable and Wireless Compatible Earphones, which can be used either as standard wired headphones or wirelessly via Sleek Audio’s Kleer system…and expand on the tuning options available in the company’s SA6 headphones by offering two treble port options that can be screwed into the earphones in front of the 6mm driver to customize the sound output to individual taste. The earphones also sport a rosewood body and a variety of sizing flanges for a comfortable fit.
Bowers & Wilkins P5 Headphones
The P5 is Bowers & Wilkins first foray into headphones, but with 45 years of experience in the business its hard not to expect these guys to hit it this one out of the park. The P5s have been design from the ground up to produce natural, precisely-tuned audio that sounds crystal clear while maintaining long hours of listening without fatigue. The headphones use a specially designed set of ultra-linear neodymium magnets combined with optimized mylar diaphragms to deliver the acclaimed Bowers & Wilkins sound. The headphones also feature an interchangeable “Made for iPod” cable for audio and phone control. Link / Source
Bluetooth Headsets Shipments Down Sharply in 2009
Common sense would seem to indicate that with U.S. consumers ever more-dependent on mobile technology, the sale of mobile telephony and mobile media peripherals would be a pretty solid business, even during a broad economic downturn. Not so, according to research firm Strategy Analytics, which is forecasting sales of those oh-so-trendy Bluetooth headsets will be down a massive 28 percent during 2009. Apparently as U.S. consumers tighten their belts, they’re decided that wireless headsets are luxury items rather than necessities.
Ultrasone HFI-2400
Driven by 40mm drivers and Ultrasone’s S-Logic technology, the HFI-2400 delivers a frequency range of 10-25Khz and 75 Ohms of impedance. The headphones also feature metal shielding to reduce the emitting of magnetic radiation. Priced at $295
Monster Goes Gaga for Heartbeats Earbuds
Almost a year ago big-ticket audio gear maker Monster threw down Beats by Dr. Dre, a line of Dre-endorsed headphones and earbuds designed to pummel user’s hearing across a wide variety of devices and environments. Now Monster has expanded out the Beats line to include Heartbeats, a new collaboration with pop star Lady Gaga. And Monster is quick to boast that the pop diva didn’t just put her stamp of approval on a product: she helped design the earbuds so they’d look like nothing else on the market.
Griffin MyPhones Look to Protect Kids’ Hearing
Peripheral and accessory maker Griffin Technology is looking to score some points with parents this holiday season with its forthcoming MyPhones, a new pair of over-the-ear headphones designed for kids ages 3 to 12 with a special feature: a built-in limiter circuit caps the volume of the headphones at 85 decibels, the level that safety agencies and audiologists recommend as the highest safe sustained noise level for children.
“Children are as interested in technology as adults these days,” said Griffin CEO Paul Griffin, in a statement. “MyPhones are the first headphones that kids can really call their own. And with MyPhones’ 85 decibel volume limit, parents can rest easy, knowing that their kids’ hearing is not being compromised.”
Sony MDR-EX500LP Earbuds
As Sony’s aggressive line of car speakers and UFO-like mini-systems indicate, the company has never been shy or understated in the design of its audio equipment. Though its new MDR-EX500LP earbuds don’t promise to blow out your ears with a name like Xplod, the pair that tops Sony’s new EX line certainly haven’t gone quietly on style.
Upon first inspection, the first thing that stands out about the EX500 are their disc-like drivers. Unlike a traditional earbud that has the flat portion of drive pointing directly into the ear, the EX500 orients it vertically with a soft silicon earbud appended, perpendicular, to the side. And it’s all packaged up in rigid aluminum to minimize vibration – not your typical white plastic.
Acoustibuds
If you’ve been through an MP3 player, or two or three, chances are you have a few pairs of cheap earbuds lying around that just don’t sound that great. While plenty of music fans choose to upgrade to silicon in-ear models for the better sound quality and the sound isolation they offer, one company is offering a cheaper solution: just upgrade the ones you have.
M-Audio IE-40 Earbuds
Earbuds aren’t normally an item of any interest to the audiophile community. The tiny little headphones that rose to ubiquity with the iPod are much more closely associated with convenience and affordability than high fidelity. But many companies, such as Shure, Westone and Ultimate Ears have begun to change, that with high-end earbuds for more discerning consumers.
M-Audio recently broke into that fledgling market with its IE-40 professional reference earbuds, which claim to boast the same quality of sound reproduction as studio-grade reference speakers, with a price to match. They take many of the same technologies used in full-size loudspeakers and shrink them down into a portable ear-sized package.
