A pair of headphones has raised more than $720K in five days — because cat ears

By Jason Hahn October 12, 2014

Axent Wear cat ear headphones

A pair of headphones has raised nearly three-quarters of a million dollars on Indiegogo in five days. The reason for this enthusiastic groundswell of support isn’t some sort of newfangled audiophile-pleasing technology. Far from it. The reason is – wait for it – cat ears.

We gave you a heads up about Axent Wear’s cat ear headphones back in June, but now this spectacle is alive and doing quite well thanks to its insanely successful crowdfunding campaign. The brainchild of two UC Berkeley alumni, who were awarded a fellowship for this endeavor, the headphones feature traditional over-the-ear cups, along with a detachable 3.5mm jack equipped with a mic. But the true stars of this pair of “glowing, badass headphones” (words taken directly from the Indiegogo page) are two cat ear-shaped external speakers, along with bright LED accent lights.

The external cat ear speakers (for when you want to share the music you’re listening to with your friends, who will obviously ignore the music) and LED lights can be turned off whenever the wearer wants to, you know, not stand out from the crowd so much.

A pair of these headphones costs $150 — $115 for the actual headphones and an additional $35 for shipping and taxes. It currently comes in four versions, each with different colored LED lights: blue, red, green and purple. You can get all four versions of the cat ear headphones for $575, or spring for either of two $2,000 donation packs: one will get you a pair of Axent Wear’s headphones and a custom digital painting of you “or your character” wearing them, and the other will get you a pair of cat ear headphones with a custom paint job.

For the truly dedicated, a $10,000 pack will get you a personalized painting, a custom paint job and custom LED light colors (changing or a color of your choice).

Axent Wear expects to deliver these cat ear headphones to backers in April 2015. The Indiegogo campaign, which began on Oct. 8, will close on Nov. 7.

Those who can’t afford Axent Wear’s creation but still want cat ears on their headphones can always go for the DIY version.

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Jason Hahn is a part-time freelance writer based in New Jersey. He earned his master's degree in journalism at Northwestern…

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