MX W1s have a problem charging?
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Added on 2009-02-04 11:03:00
by Mark Brezinski
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Well, we have the MX W1s in for review, but we've run into a strange issue: they don't want to recharge. At first the headphones complied with our requests, their orange "I am charging!" LEDs shining merrily. As time wore on, however, we started having more and more trouble getting them to charge. When we'd plug them in they wouldn't recognize their orange LED would flash briefly, but we couldn't get it to stay on.
Our PR contact said it's a known issue and set me up with Sennheiser's tech support line (860-434-9190 if you need it). We've left a message and are awaiting a response. We will update this blog post as we delve deeper into this mystery.
UPDATE: Apparently some of the early production units are simply broken. If you own a pair and run into a similar issue, Sennheiser will replace them for you. Just call the aforementioned support number.
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| Tags: wireless, MX W1, Sennheiser |
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First listen: Sennheiser MX W1 wireless in-ear headphones
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Added on 2009-01-28 09:50:00
by Mark Brezinski
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We just got in a pair of Sennheiser's MX W1s, which are wireless in-ear headphones. Our super-fast initial impressions? The audio quality seems fine for a pair of in-ears, especially wireless ones (in-ears and wireless headphones, separately, often have poor audio quality compared to wired, full-sized headphones). The sound was a bit muffled/blanketed and suffered from some high-pitched noise. We didn't really notice the whine unless we listened to classical or quiet music.
The headphones have two pieces that go into your ear: the first sits in the ear, like Apple's packaged-in headphones, and the second helps wedge the ear piece between your concha and tragus to keep it from falling out. We were very surprised to see they didn't come with any sleeves for the main in-ear piece; the result is some discomfort and very poor isolation. UPDATE: haha, we're dumb and didn't fully empty one of the boxes. They do come with one pair of sleeves for the main part and two sets for the smaller nub.
Keep an eye out for our review, which we hope to get up soon(ish).
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| Tags: headphones, first listen, Sennheiser, MX W1, wireless, in-ear |
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Headline: Headphones to Herd Heiffers!
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Added on 2008-08-07 08:21:00
by Mark Brezinski
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 Farmers, who traditionally shake their collective fist at headphone-wearing youths, will soon be employing headphone technology themselves. Cow headphones.
The headphones, called "Ear-A-Round," don't work like the typical invisible fence, either. You know how cowfolk always wisper sweet nothings into the ears of their cattle to get them to move? These headphones will play the farmer's croonings, among other sounds and voice commands. The sounds will help the farmer wirelessly corral his livestock. If the cows don't respond to their owner's dulcet tones, they'll get a mild electric shock.
The most interesting part of this story, though, is each headset will be outfitted with GPS: the farmer will be able to see where each cow is in his field, so he can direct them away from over-grazed parts of the pasture. Is it us, or does this sound like a real life hybrid of StarCraft and Harvest Moon?
[Via Delaware Online]
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| Tags: headphones, cows, GPS, wireless, farms |
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Wireless headset powered by body heat, reads brainwaves, grants telekinesis
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Added on 2008-04-18 10:32:00
by Mark Brezinski
 Though this headset is more medical device than headphone, it uses technology that could one day remove the battery dependency for active noise cancellation or wireless connectivity. What the headset does is monitor brainwave activity, which it can then wirelessly transfer to a nearby computer. It's able to do this without a battery.
Witchcraft? Probably. It harnesses energy through two methods: solar power and thermoelectrics. The solar panels are pretty obvious to see, and relatively old hat in terms of innovation. The main source of energy, however, requires your body heat, which is interesting and awesome. Basically, it uses thermoelectric materials that depend on your head being hot and the air around you being less hot. What if it's a hot day? That's where the solar panels come in to pick up the slack. If you're sitting inside a sweltering cave, you're out of luck, so try to avoid sweltering caves while wearing this headset.
The applications of this headset are myriad and interesting, such as your car being able to tell how sleepy you are, or monitoring seizure patients around the clock. Obviously, this is all leading up to machines being controlled by thought, which means it's officially THE FUTURE.
Granted, these headphones look ugly, and are only capable of consistently harnessing one millivolt of energy through this method, but with some tweaking we might see similar technology cropping up in headphones. Perhaps some day soon, your entire library of La Bouche hits will just be a thought away.
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| Tags: battery-less, wireless, technology, SCIENCE! |
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