It took just a few short years for the amount of headphone projects on Kickstarter to go from novelty to nauseating. In the early days, we would keep tabs on the crowd-sourced funding website for the latest cool-looking or innovative headphone designs, so that we could share them with our readers. Trouble is, there’s too many of them now – we simply can’t keep up. Consequently, to appear on our headphone radar these days, you’ve got to be rocking something that looks like it could really take off. And that’s just what Aurisonics appears to be doing with its new Rockets in-ears.
It was Aurisonics’ promise of the Rockets’ indestructibility that first grabbed us. The in-ear “monitors,” as Aurisonics prefers to call them, are made with a titanium shell and a Kevlar “tri-weave” cable, and can take more abuse than a user is likely to exact upon them. A (somewhat corny) video on the company’s Kickstarter page shows the earbuds surviving a whack from a 30-lb. wooden sledgehammer. Apparently, 100 different earbud models got hammered, but the Rockets were the only pair to survive.
Upon closer inspection, however, it looks like the Rockets have more to offer than being sledgehammer-proof. The ‘buds have a “tri-tab adjustable flange,” which gives them a rocket-like appeal, but may also improve stability and passive noise isolation. Aurisonics also says the Rockets are water resistant enough to hold up to rain or sweat, and should stay in place through any kind of activity, broadening their appeal to those with active or just flat-out hardcore lifestyles.
Need more incentive? The Rockets are designed and built entirely in the USA. And the man behind the company isn’t just some opportunistic entrepreneur, either. Dale Lott is a long-time sound engineer and – provided he didn’t rock his ears too hard while on gigs – likely knows exactly what kind of sound he wants. He does seem especially proud of the 5.1 mm micro-driver he helped develop for the Rockets.
Frankly, the company doesn’t need a lot of help on Kickstarter at the moment. The Rockets project flew past its $20,000 goal and now sits at a little over $96,000 – all of that with just 645 backers, no less.
The Rockets are expected to run $250 once available, though they are available for much less during the Kickstarter campaign, which is set to run for another 11 days.
