ActiveNoiseCanceling
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Velodyne vQuiet active noise-canceling headphones (ears-on)
Velodyne is a name closely associated with subwoofers, but the company also knocks-out portable audio gear, too. The vQuiet, as you may have guessed, is Velo's first pair of active noise canceling headphones -- hopefully ensuring that your jams are more listenable on the rowdy floor of a busy trade show. In our very short time with the gear, we found that Bob Dylan's quiet-voiced bootlegs were a little more audible with the head wear activated than not. Of course, we'd rather spend a little more time with them before making a final judgment, but until then, the vQuiet will arrive more generally in October for $299 -- offering you a choice between them and the ever-present Bose sets that you see during those long-haul flights. Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
Parrot Zik by Starck review: Is $400 worth it for the fanciest, techiest headphones around?
You do know that Parrot makes more than just the AR.Drone, right? It was at CES earlier this year that we first caught a glimpse of -- and subsequently began geeking out about -- the Parrot Zik by Starck. For those unfamiliar, these headphones are jam-packed with enough technologies to make even the geekiest audio lovers smitten. Priced at about $400, they feature Near Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth connectivity, on-board capacitive touch-control, active noise cancellation, head detection, a jawbone sensor for speech and Parrot's audio-enhancing DSP app for iOS and Android -- not to mention a striking design by the renowned Philippe Starck. This isn't the first time Parrot and Mr. Starck have worked together, but this does mark their debut in the portable audio market (as opposed to home-based speaker systems). In the case of this review, not one, but two Engadget editors spent some time testing the product. So, do they impress? More importantly, are they worth the $400 asking price? You know the drill: meet us after the break where we'll lay it all out.
Parrot Zik launching in August for $399, free app included for iOS and Android
Remember those cool-looking Parrot Zik wireless headphones we saw back at CES? Well, now we have a date and a price for you Philippe Starck fans out there. Announced at the Hong Kong launch event earlier today, these NFC-enabled, active noise cancelling Bluetooth cans will be available globally in August, with the US getting a price tag of $399 before tax (and for those who care, you'll be able to nab one in Hong Kong for HK$3,399 or US$440). During our brief ears-on, we certainly enjoyed the Zik's great audio quality, noise isolation and the intuitiveness of its swipe gesture input. While the battery is swappable, note that this expensive package only comes with one cell (accessible under the magnetic cover on the left can) that typically lasts for around five hours, so road warriors will need to chip in about $30 for a spare one. Alternatively, product manager Theodore Sean (whom we had the pleasure to interview at CES) pointed out a unique and handy feature that sort of bypasses this problem: you can still use the Zik as a pair of passive headphones using the included 3.5mm audio cable, but without any battery juice left, you obviously won't be able to enjoy the noise cancellation function (on a plane, for instance) or even make phone calls. %Gallery-159769%
Klipsch Mode noise-canceling headphones tweet highs, woof lows
We've been worried about Klipsch's future since Audiovox joined the picture, but it looks like there isn't reason to fret just yet. Remember the company's first on-ear headphones, the Image One? Well, Klippy's back for round two evidently; its Mode active noise-canceling headphones have quietly popped up on its website with a whopping $350 price tag and a fall 2011 release. The collapsible earcups are padded in plushy leather and house a 40mm mid / low woofer with a 15mm tweeter for silky highs, crunchy mids and thumping lows. Also included are two detachable 3.5mm cables, one of which has an Apple-certified three-button inline remote / mic. Best of all, ANC can be enabled for up to 45 hours on a single battery to zone out any bustle around you. We'll have an ears-on with these very soon, but you'll find details now via the source link below.%Gallery-128214%
