Sony's PFR-V1 headset mimics front-facing speakers, baits bullies

Aw Sony, just as you were getting back on our good side you come out with this, your PFR-V1 headset. A steep ¥55,650 (about $480) buys you a headset that mimics front-facing speakers with an "extended bass reflex duct" which fits onto your ear canal. Of course, you could buy a decent pair of front facing speakers for that dough but that would be too easy, eh? Sony, like.no.other.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

[TubeTop100.com @ Sep 3rd 2007 4:31AM]

I think this one will do even better than their PS3, I love the improvements that nobody even asked for. Their great non-excisting-problem-fixes.

[mfed3 @ Sep 3rd 2007 2:56PM]

agreed. sonys sucks.

[Deluxe @ Sep 3rd 2007 4:46AM]

Normally my Sony love would prompt me to defend said item, but that is one hideous contraption. I'd beat myself up wearing those.

[Twitchy @ Sep 3rd 2007 5:39AM]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to duct-tape a pair of Bose Cubes to one's head?

[sheniferous @ Sep 3rd 2007 6:26AM]

... i thought it said "borg cubes". then i laughed.

[Twitchy @ Sep 3rd 2007 6:50AM]

XD

[LondonConsultant @ Sep 3rd 2007 5:41AM]

Can a design get any geekier... that looks just weird.

[strider_mt2k @ Sep 3rd 2007 6:27AM]

Don't you people know anything about design?

It's obviously designed to look attractive when combined with dental head gear!

just the thing for that orthodontically challenged telephone operator from 1936!

[Bad Cyborg @ Sep 3rd 2007 8:01AM]

This looks like it's made for Saw IV. Hmm, that's not Sony Pictures, is it?

[quahogian @ Sep 3rd 2007 8:25AM]

wtf have they been smoking?

[Eli @ Sep 3rd 2007 9:48AM]

And knowing Sony, these $500 headphones won't even sound as good as $80 for the Sennheiser 280.

[peternj @ Sep 3rd 2007 11:21AM]

O.K. these phones will not look good if you are wearing a faded T-shirt, old shorts and bright colored rubber shoes.... while it's snowing outside.

I love the look! They look cool. Sony has a good eye for the retro look. These at least don't have the Apple no taste but only our taste look. So tired of Apple design it's nice to see something different.

Does everyone live in a house? Any apartment dweller will tell you how often cranking up those speakers invites a knock on the door or a complaint from the spouse.

Too expensive? If they do what they claim to do, then it's about right, given the street will discount a little.

[John @ Sep 3rd 2007 11:51AM]

If you can afford $480 for headphones you can afford to live in a house.

[Dave @ Sep 3rd 2007 12:06PM]

Guess you've never been to New York City, have you John?

[derek @ Sep 3rd 2007 12:37PM]

Ok, ok, but if I see you wearing these in public, a pounding is coming.

[John @ Sep 3rd 2007 12:32PM]

I wonder what head-fi thinks about these

[CapWKidd @ Sep 3rd 2007 1:29PM]

I have seen heaphones with similar designs before, like theses:
http://www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews/akg/k1000_1.html

I could of sworn Stax had some that did not touch your ears as well... actually, it does make for a nice sounding experiencing, I for one, do not like heard phones....

[Beau @ Sep 3rd 2007 2:54PM]

I am astonished there is no mention of the AKG K1000 in this thread.

Come on Head-fiers, represent!

[David Hearn @ Sep 3rd 2007 5:30PM]

Does it come with a matching pocket protector?

[Alexandre Ste-Marie @ Sep 3rd 2007 5:32PM]

Is this the new line of mickey mouse hat souvenir?

Seriously who would wear such a thing?

[Kaizoku @ Sep 3rd 2007 6:32PM]

Has anyone ever been to Japan? These headphones will have a market there. If you consider how many people live in the large cities in Japan, do you think everyone there has a house? You can't just buy a speaker system and crank it up when you want to watch a movie. It's just like any other large city in the United States. Just like peternj has pointed out. Why not instead of bashing Sony, you take into consideration the target consumer and purpose of the product. You obviously aren't going to be hooking these up to your mp3 player and walking around outside with them so what does the design matter? It's so disheartening how design has taken priority over functionality.

[Wwhat @ Sep 3rd 2007 6:56PM]

Meant for the howard hughes types who are scared to have things touch their ears but still want to fit in and use an ipod.
Always nice to see the small, and very small, groups catered to.

But there's another target group, these things will be INCREDIBLY annoying when used in public places and public transport in particular due to sound leaking, so a dream for assholes, and there are plenty of those I can inform you.

[Kaizoku @ Sep 4th 2007 7:51PM]

wow way to completely miss the point of the product. You really thing these were designed for public places and playing mp3s?

[Wwhat @ Sep 4th 2007 12:34PM]

Who knows, you'd expect not but some designers are real nasty/weird, and sony.. well we know their story.

[scompton @ Sep 5th 2007 4:49PM]

As someone who has to listen to headphones, I like them. For high end headphones, they're not expensive and there are weirder looking headphones. AKG K1000s go for $1400 and are as comfortable as anything I've listened to and sound fantastic. Sony R10s have sold for $6000 lately on eBay.

[scompton @ Sep 5th 2007 4:50PM]

our comments: As someone who has to listen to headphones, I like them. For high end headphones, they're not expensive and there are weirder looking headphones. AKG K1000s go for $1400 and are as comfortable as anything I've listened to and sound fantastic. Sony R10s have sold for $6000 lately on eBay.

[Trenton @ Sep 19th 2007 2:46PM]

I'm a bit of an audiophile (and a head-fi member). I've gone through 20+ pairs of high-end headphones, many of which are quite a bit more expensive than these. What I want in a headphone is not much like what the mainstream consumer wants, but I'm personally pretty excited about these. Sony has made some pretty big compromises in usability (and appearance) for the sake of sound quality in these headphones, and that from a large corporation with a big R&D department means that this headphone has a good chance of sounding pretty darn amazing. But the inclusion of the battery booster shows that they're not targeting audiophiles with these; these are meant to be used with an iPod, and I'm betting they won't sell many to those people, at least not in the US. The Japanese market is pretty different; they're not nearly as averse to odd new designs as we are.

If I get these, I'll be removing the 2xAA signal booster and using these with a high-end amplifier. Who knows, maybe they'll be a K1000 killer. Sony's had some pretty amazing headphones in the past, such as the MDR-R10. The MDR-SA5000 is by far my favorite headphone in its pricerange.

Also, remember that Sony headphones end up going for a lot less than the suggested retail price within a few years. The MDR-SA5000 originally retailed for $699, and can now be had for $350-$400 in many places. I expect these headphones' price to drop in similar proportion within a few years, and I'll be waiting until it does.

[Gordie @ Nov 26th 2007 10:24AM]

I just tried these in Shinjuku, Japan. They are actually awesome! They sound wonderfull. I don't know how much 'color' is added to the sound, so I don't know if they could be used as close field monitoring-type studio mixing.

Despite their look, they feel great, also.