These Headphones' Designers Think We Are All Idiots

[Megalith]

Volant are the world’s first 3-in-1 headphones, but not a lot of people are sold on the idea. I mean, did you ever say to yourself that you wish you had earbuds that slotted into over-ears? And considering they aren’t sharing much about the engineering, I am convinced they don’t even sound all that great.

…the bombast is frankly upsetting. I have a very real problem with companies adding complication for its own sake and exploiting people's lack of tech savvy to sell crap. Volant opts for obfuscation over innovation. There's no advantage to having earphones that double as a headphone wire versus just having a regular cable for your over-ears. In fact, it's worse, because if your Volant earphones or cable go bust, the only option to replace them will be to go back to Volant. Give me a standard, interchangeable 3.5mm connector where I can use wires from other manufacturers, or give me a real reason to accept its absence.

 

[krotch]

People will buy, cause people are stupid. It's like people thinking those Axent Wear cat ear headphones would be super awesome. I already knew they were going to be like Skull Candy junk. But hey, looks over substance is the norm in this world.

 

[gxp500]

Axent Wear cat ear headphones

Heheheheh so asian.

 

[krotch]

Heheheheh so asian.

Asians gotta be Asian. They weren't the first either.

 

[Merc1138]

wtf... why? They're just using pogo pins on the side of the IEMs to pass the signal to drivers in the headphones(at least they aren't stupid enough to just mount the IEMs in earcups and expect them to not sound like ass), and all that does is make the headphones have an expensive and proprietary cable. You'd be better off with a $100 pair of IEMs and a $100 pair of headphones, and actually have 2 separate devices that can't fail and make the other useless. And even if you consider convenience... it definitely isn't convenient nor do they appear to be particularly stylish for those who care more about bling than audio quality.

Plus, if the headphones are already bluetooth, then why the hell have the earbuds acting as a backup cable when you could just use... a cable? This is like 3 steps backwards in terms of design and convenience.

 

[krotch]

Probably better to just make some Bluetooth headphones with a compartment to store your earbuds.

 

[thesmokingman]

Asians gotta be Asian. They weren't the first either.

Those are cool man. Don't knock the neko!

 

[krotch]

I love nekomimi, but it just looks weird when combined with headphones.

 

[DrLobotomy]

They will literally sound like tin cans. I hope they cost a lot.

 

[Quix]

I hope they get sued by the ski company Volant.

 

[Pyroja]

People will buy, cause people are stupid. It's like people thinking those Axent Wear cat ear headphones would be super awesome. I already knew they were going to be like Skull Candy junk. But hey, looks over substance is the norm in this world.

They don't sound that bad. Tbh you're getting your money's worth, but you may not think so if the only thing that matters to you is how good a set of cans sound. Yes, you're not getting $130 worth of pure headphones. You are getting $130 worth of headphones + external speakers + fashion accessory. That may not appeal to you. and that's fine. They don't appeal to me, either. But that doesn't make them bad, and it doesn't make the people that like them stupid. It just means the product isn't aimed at you, and the people who DO like it just happen to have different tastes than you.

 

[Criticalhitkoala]

Some People are always offended how others spend their money.

 

[thesmokingman]

They don't sound that bad.

Lmao he's mesmerizing, rofl... and its at brookstone? No way!

 

[westrock2000]

The writer of that article was pretty raged up.

Red flag number two: this entire introductory video. "Headphones haven't changed much in the last 60 years," proclaims a person apparently unfamiliar with the actual history of headphones.

So what radical innovation has changed in headphones since late the 50's? The basic premise is still the same, 60 years ago is about when electrostatic headphones came out. Sure the form factor and quality have gotten better, but it seems to me the basic premise and method of audio reproduction are still the same. I'm not saying this kickstarter has done anything bold (though I do think the technique looks cool simply from a packaging perspective). But the author sounds very high and mighty.

 

[krotch]

They don't sound that bad. Tbh you're getting your money's worth, but you may not think so if the only thing that matters to you is how good a set of cans sound. Yes, you're not getting $130 worth of pure headphones. You are getting $130 worth of headphones + external speakers + fashion accessory. That may not appeal to you. and that's fine. They don't appeal to me, either. But that doesn't make them bad, and it doesn't make the people that like them stupid. It just means the product isn't aimed at you, and the people who DO like it just happen to have different tastes than you.

Actually the reviews pretty much say you aren't getting $130 worth of anything. It's more like $20-30 worth of headphones, $10 worth of external speakers, $5 worth of mic, and $10 worth of LEDs. If the price was $75, it probably wouldn't be such a bad buy, but $130 is asking way too much for what it is.

Pretty much if someone is saying they don't sound that bad, then they obviously sound bad. Just not bottom of the barrel bad. Really, that's expected when it comes to well...headphones or any product. There will be good and there will be bad. If it's bad, the price should reflect such, which this product simply doesn't.

I'd say they're the only ones in the market and can charge whatever, but they really aren't.

Glowing cat ear headphones nekomimi cute kawaii Cosplay Party AKIBA F/S Japan

 

[Pyroja]

I'd say they're the only ones in the market and can charge whatever, but they really aren't.

Glowing cat ear headphones nekomimi cute kawaii Cosplay Party AKIBA F/S Japan

Are we supposed to pretend that those eBay headphones don't look like dollar store knockoffs of the Axent Wears? I guess Nintendo needs to rethink it's pricing on the 3DS given that the Neo Double is on the market. Also, I find it interesting you criticize the mic on the Axent Wears, considering most gaming headset mics sound every bit as bad (something that bothers me to no end with even expensive headsets sounding like garbage).

I mean, I get it, you don't like cat ear headphones. Neither do I. There's no value in them for us, but for others looking for a certain aesthetic, there is. It is, above all else, a fashion accessory. It's priced and marketed as such.

As for the headphones linked in the OP... Those seem like a horrendous waste of money.

 

[westrock2000]

Also, I find it interesting you criticize the mic on the Axent Wears, considering most gaming headset mics sound every bit as bad (something that bothers me to no end with even expensive headsets sounding like garbage).

Do you think that might be a limitation more imposed by the customer? They don't want some big boom in their face (or the weight), so manufactures are forced to use tiny electret microphones to keep the boom tiny.

I bought a real microphone for some other work and ya I was blown away at the sound quality compared to what I had been previously using on my headset. The mic wasn't really designed for speaking into, but was so much better then my headset, I use it now for recording spoken material. Much less post production work needed.

EDIT: Yes, that video is my experience. Why do they all sound like that? That nasaly, in a tunnel sound?

 

[krotch]

Are we supposed to pretend that those eBay headphones don't look like dollar store knockoffs of the Axent Wears? I guess Nintendo needs to rethink it's pricing on the 3DS given that the Neo Double is on the market. Also, I find it interesting you criticize the mic on the Axent Wears, considering most gaming headset mics sound every bit as bad (something that bothers me to no end with even expensive headsets sounding like garbage).

I mean, I get it, you don't like cat ear headphones. Neither do I. There's no value in them for us, but for others looking for a certain aesthetic, there is. It is, above all else, a fashion accessory. It's priced and marketed as such.

As for the headphones linked in the OP... Those seem like a horrendous waste of money.

The headphones look cheap, cause they are and they're priced as such. The Axent Wear are cheap also, except aren't priced as such. The things look like they just slapped cat ears and some LEDs on a pair of $40-50 Skull Candy headphones from 2009. There's nothing wrong with putting out a quality product and pricing it to match the quality. Like the 3DS, but that's not the case with the Axent Wear.

Also why not criticize the mic? I have a noise cancelling mic boom on my Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Omega Wireless headsets. Mic comes in great. It's obviously not anywhere near as good as a really high quality mic, placed inside a sound dampened noise room, but it's among the best you can get on a headset. Also linking a youtube video of some guy talking about some bottom of the barrel headsets doesn't exactly help your case. Maybe that's just me, cause I'm not a fan of the HyperX headsets

I also have don't have a problem with cat ear headphones. I'd buy a set and wear them to the anime conventions I go to. I would never pay that price for something that sits on the lower end spectrum of headphones though. If I'm blowing $130-$150 for a set of headphones, I expect a certain amount of quality to them.

 

[krotch]

Do you think that might be a limitation more imposed by the customer? They don't want some big boom in their face (or the weight), so manufactures are forced to use tiny electret microphones to keep the boom tiny.

I bought a real microphone for some other work and ya I was blown away at the sound quality compared to what I had been previously using on my headset. The mic wasn't really designed for speaking into, but was so much better then my headset, I use it now for recording spoken material. Much less post production work needed.

EDIT: Yes, that video is my experience. Why do they all sound like that? That nasaly, in a tunnel sound?

The problem of combining multiple things into a single product. It can do it all, but do it piss poorly. Sometimes. Other times it does something extremely well, while the other features end up junk. For quality manufacturers, they'll do their best to make everything decent, while other manufactures just want to put in a checkmark for a feature, whether it's good or not.

I was actually thinking of getting a Yeti mic, but after thinking about how much I use the mic on my headset and what I use it for, I decided there wasn't any need. I think the money was better spent on a new mouse, instead of trudging along with my 9 year old mouse.

 

[Pyroja]

I would never pay that price for something that sits on the lower end spectrum of headphones though. If I'm blowing $130-$150 for a set of headphones, I expect a certain amount of quality to them.

Kind of exactly my point, though? Yeah, folks like us spend $130 on headphones, we want $130 worth of sound quality out of them. Because they're headphones and they're supposed to sound good and very little else matters.

The Axent Wears aren't a $130 set of headphones, though. They're a $130 fashion accessory. You're not paying (just) for the headphone sound quality. You're paying for the aesthetic. There's a lot of things out there that are priced not based on specs, but on looks. The Axent Wear's are one of those things. Yeah, you'd be silly to think you're buying a high-end set of headphones when getting those things. My M50Xs would crush them in terms of quality. But my M50Xs don't look as cool. And they don't have external speakers. Or LEDs. And they aren't a headset, either.

Oh well, you're free to think they're a waste of money, and I'm free to think they represent a fair value to their target market. Have fun!

 

[krotch]

Kind of exactly my point, though? Yeah, folks like us spend $130 on headphones, we want $130 worth of sound quality out of them. Because they're headphones and they're supposed to sound good and very little else matters.

The Axent Wears aren't a $130 set of headphones, though. They're a $130 fashion accessory. You're not paying (just) for the headphone sound quality. You're paying for the aesthetic. There's a lot of things out there that are priced not based on specs, but on looks. The Axent Wear's are one of those things. Yeah, you'd be silly to think you're buying a high-end set of headphones when getting those things. My M50Xs would crush them in terms of quality. But my M50Xs don't look as cool. And they don't have external speakers. Or LEDs. And they aren't a headset, either.

Oh well, you're free to think they're a waste of money, and I'm free to think they represent a fair value to their target market. Have fun!

Nah, I understand where you're coming from but to charge a higher price for a fashion accessory, you need to build the brand first. Beats aren't great, aren't bad either, but they pushed it using Dr. Dre's name. Axent Wear is just pushing that they're cat ear headphones. Which will work for a short while, but you just know they're bombing cause they're cheaply made. Guess for them, they'll hit them with a higher price tag to fool people into buying them, thinking the higher price means higher quality I view these no different than I did with Skull Candy. Looks with little substance. Although the Skull Candy at least had a lower price point and the quality matched the pricing. Probably end up like the Neurowear cat ears. Their higher price didn't last long either.

 

[Deathroned]

Nah, I understand where you're coming from but to charge a higher price for a fashion accessory, you need to build the brand first. Beats aren't great, aren't bad either, but they pushed it using Dr. Dre's name. Axent Wear is just pushing that they're cat ear headphones. Which will work for a short while, but you just know they're bombing cause they're cheaply made. Guess for them, they'll hit them with a higher price tag to fool people into buying them, thinking the higher price means higher quality I view these no different than I did with Skull Candy. Looks with little substance. Although the Skull Candy at least had a lower price point and the quality matched the pricing. Probably end up like the Neurowear cat ears. Their higher price didn't last long either.

what I have found about people whining about beats sound quality are idiots listening to jazz, classic, country and western these were made for house, trance, dnb, trap, rap, hip hop music with lots of bass and beats hence the name beats.

 

[krotch]

what I have found about people whining about beats sound quality are idiots listening to jazz, classic, country and western these were made for house, trance, dnb, trap, rap, hip hop music with lots of bass and beats hence the name beats.

I don't like to categorize headphones on music genres, as the genres are large enough that there is no single headphones that can capture it well. I listen to a lot of electronic music, pop, and so forth. Beats are fine, if all you really want is well, a lot of bass. My music has a lot of mids and highs, where the bass should compliment it, not drown it out.

Luckily, the newer Beats are getting better about it. There are obviously still other brands that do a better job for lower or same cost, but the Beats were also partial fashion accessory. I don't think they are a fashion accessory anymore, but more of a "it's all we know" kind of thing. Like why the best selling phones are iPhones or Samsung phones. No one knows anything else.