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Spracht Aura EQ hands-on
Another day, another Bluetooth headset. Well, not exactly. This futuristic accessory rocks a capacitive volume control, meaning you can turn it up to 11 with just a swipe of your finger on its outside. If that hasn't got you stoked, the Aura EQ has also collected a CES Innovation Award, which should reassure us that the built-in six-band equalizer and dual mics do the job they promise. Unfortunately, we can't offer any corroboration or dispute to their claimed usefulness since no functional units were on hand. What we can say is that the earpiece that enters your ear canal is quite threatening looking and never really fit us very well -- though there will be multiple adapters in the final package. Finally, there's a cool audio enhancement feature, which collects sound from up to five feet in front of you and amplifies it should you need to focus in a noisy environment. The Spracht Aura EQ is coming out within the first half of the year when you'll be able to grab one for $79. %Gallery-82513%
Sennheiser RS170 wireless headphones ears-on
We don't generally run around plucking wireless headphones off their stands, but the CES Innovation Award here drew us in for a quick test job. In spite of the almighty din around us, these RS170 headphones delivered terrific noise insulation. They don't feature any sort of active noise cancellation, but just popping the sealed cans atop our noggin was sufficient to neutralize a vast proportion of the mayhem around us. The sound too was impressive -- certainly nothing unexpected given Sennheiser's reputation. What was pleasantly surprising, though, was the $300 asking price and since these are already available we've been able to find them online for as little as $250. For that you also get bass boost and surround sound functions, but from our limited time with the set we'd say you'll be getting some pretty awesome audio straight out of the box. %Gallery-82386%
