By Andrew Liszewski

I like the idea of a wireless pair of headphones and finally being able to cut that cord that seems to have a knack for getting tangled in subway turnstiles. But while there are certainly plenty of wireless options already on the market, I’m particularly picky when it comes to the type of headphones and earbuds I use. So for me, the next best thing is a wireless adapter that lets me just plug in my own pair. And thankfully with the flood of multimedia-capable and Bluetooth-equipped smartphones on the market, these have become far more prevalent as of late. I recently had the opportunity to take Sony’s MW600 Hi-Fi Wireless Headset for a spin, and you can find my full review of it after the jump.

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By Andrew Liszewski

There’s nothing like a good old pair of over-the-ear headphones if you’re looking to really hear the bass from your music. But contrary to popular belief, wearing them outside of a home or studio setting makes you look like an idiot. (Those ‘Beats’ you’re wearing on the subway aren’t fooling anyone into thinking you’re an audiophile.) A subtle pair of earbuds are the way to go, and Maxell believes they’ve found another way to boost their bass performance.

Their new Vibrabone HP-VBC40 earbuds are a hybrid of standard speaker drivers and vibration-based bone conduction drivers which serve to give your tunes a bit of an extra kick. They’re also a bit safer for your ear drums since the standard technique for boosting bass performance is to simply increase the size of the driver which puts more stress on your inner ear bits. Available in black, blue and white the Vibrabone earbuds also feature a dual inline volume control for adjusting both the overall sound and the bass vibration, and will hit stores on April 25 for a yet to be disclosed price.

[ PR - Maxell Vibrabone HP-VBC40 Earbuds ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I can’t attest to how they sound, but if you’re the type who goes out of their way to carefully wrap their headphones after using them, instead of just cramming them in your pocket, Moshi’s Moonrock set will probably appeal to you. The ‘Moonrock’ monicker comes from the design of the earbuds’ included carrying case, not because they come embedded with bits of stone brought back from one of the Apollo missions. It’s made from a soft material, presumably rubber, with holes for securing each bud and a slot-accessible pocket for wrapping the cable.

The Moonrock earbuds also feature an inline remote and embedded MEMS microphone for controlling your music and placing and/or taking calls. They also include three sizes of earbuds to fit most people’s ear canals and are available directly from Moshi in black & red or white on white for just $39.95.

[ Moshi Moonrock Earbuds ] VIA [ design milk ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m a bit of an earbud snob, and will probably spend more than I should on a pair with a larger set of drivers to get as much oomph and bass performance as I can squeeze out of them. So I’m really intrigued as to how JVC’s new HA-FXT90 earbuds perform since they employ a new twin driver system to ensure both the highs and the lows are equally represented without being overdriven which can lead to distortion.

Unfortunately once again due to the language barrier, and the use of flash and images which prevents translators from doing their thing, I can’t seem to dig up specific tech specs about the size of the driver units on these. But according to Akihabara News they’ll be available sometime this month for ~$117 (¥10,000) which isn’t horribly expensive if they deliver as promised.

[ JVC HA-FXT90 ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Earbud style headphones already do a pretty good job at blocking out most ambient sounds and noises while you listen to music, but they’re not perfect. Neither are Pioneer’s new SE-NC31C-K earbuds, but thanks to built-in noise cancelling technology they manage to filter out about 90% of unwanted sounds, which could mean the difference between enduring crying babies for hours or catching a few Z’s on a long flight.

The earbuds feature some surprisingly hefty 14.3mm drivers which should deliver impressive bass performance, and the inline sound processing unit is powered by a single AAA battery which is promised to provide up to 120 hours of peace and quiet. Available now for a reasonable $99 given the extra noise cancelling functionality.

[ Pioneer SE-NC31C-K Noise Cancelling Earbuds ] VIA [ SlashGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

They’re not the smallest Bluetooth wireless headphones out there, but I’m going to jump to the conclusion that Outdoor Technology’s new Bluetooth Tags headphones are somewhat weather-resistant given the nature of the company’s other products, so I’ll cut them some slack. At the least I’d say they’re comparable in size to other wireless headphone solutions since you need to cram both the BT hardware and a rechargeable battery in there, and I assume the power and audio signal are shared between the two earbuds via the cord that connects them.

After a 2+ hour charge you can expect to get up to 5 hours of audio playback, 6 hours of talk time (the headphones double as a hands-free Bluetooth headset) and up to 120 hours of standby. On one side you’ll also find a set of playback buttons for controlling your music, or making or placing a call when connected to a smartphone. They’re $79.95 a pair, which isn’t too unreasonable given the wireless functionality, and are available in a red or black finish.

[ Outdoor Technology Bluetooth Tags ] VIA [ SlashGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you were hoping to garner a bit more respect from passing strangers while listening to MP3s about the miracles of rainbows and magnets, I can’t think of an easier way than pretending to be a doctor. So just get yourself a pair of scrubs, and hope that Istanbul-based design shop Antrepo finds a manufacturer to produce their Stetheadphone headphones concept.

As you can see they’re designed to look like you’re wearing a stethoscope while listening to your music, though I suspect you’ll seem a little out of place wearing them outside of a hospital or bank heist setting. And like the earbuds that come with the iPod or iPhone they even feature an inline mic and remote allowing you to make and receive calls, as well as control your music. But feature lists don’t mean diddly squat when a product doesn’t exist yet, so hopefully Antrepo will push to make these a reality for medical school dropouts and doctor wannabes everywhere.

[ Stetheadphone ] VIA [ MedCrunch ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re content to listen to your music with the white earbuds included with your iPod, then you’re probably just going to want to move along. But if you’ve got yourself a nice set of Grados and are looking to ‘pump up the jam’ a bit, I don’t think you’re going to be disappointed with Shiit’s Lyr headphone amp which delivers an impressive max output of 6 watts.

But all that power doesn’t mean the Lyr is only pegged for audiophiles with expensive tastes. The amp features what they call a ‘Dynamically Adaptive’ output stage which “works by sensing the current flowing through the output stage, and dynamically reconfiguring from Class-A single-ended to push-pull Class AB.” Yep, it’s all Greek to me too, but in the end it means the amp will work just as well with high-end cans as it will with low-impedance and low-efficiency models. But if you do happen to be very discerning when it comes to your audio gear, the Lyr even features swappable tubes. By default it comes with a pair of JJ ECC88s but if you’d like a different sound signature you can swap in your preferred tubes instead.

Just don’t be surprised that it will set you back $449 when it’s available in March. But that comes with an unlimited supply of ‘Schiit’ jokes.

[ Schiit Lyr Headphone Amp ] VIA [ Uncrate ]

By Andrew Liszewski

CES treasures continue to trickle in, and I wish I had stumbled across these X2 Hybrid Headphones from ZUMREED while I was at the show because I would have really liked to hear how they sounded. What makes them unique is that they actually double as either a pair of headphones, or a pair of desktop speakers. As you can see in the photo the outside of the earcups feature an exposed speaker cone, so it’s not like the 40mm drivers on the inside have to do double duty which is good. They only output about 0.5 watts which obviously isn’t booming, but for use at your desk when listening to music they’re probably more than adequate.

In speaker mode the headphones run off a built-in rechargeable battery that’s good for about 4 hours of use on a 1 hour charge, which means the X2′s are probably a little heavier than your standard over-the-ear headphones. But apparently the sound isn’t too shabby so it might be worth the tradeoff for the added functionality. The X2 Hybrid Headphones are expected to be available closer to May for around $165.

[ Chip Chick - Zumreed X2 Hybrid Headphones Double as Speakers ]