We don’t get to say this often, as the company tends to follow what others are doing—at least that’s our analysis of the latest console war—but Sony today announced quite a bombshell: They’ve released the full notes on their latest line-up of headphones for 2012, including a range that runs from $79.99 to $499.99, but it’s the very tippy top of that totem pole that has us interested. You see, as of this year, Sony will be the first to lay claim to the premier, self-contained noise-canceling earbuds. Yes, you heard that right. These puppies have all the circuitry built right in, without any need for as much as an external battery. The technology has finally reached a point where it can be shrunk down enough to fit in one, neat package, and Sony’s now the first to do it.
The First Self-Contained In-Ear Noise-Canceling Buds
The headphones have been dubbed the Sony XBA-NC85D, and they’ll be arriving at the ever steep price of $499.99. Granted, it’s not nearly as expensive as a top of the line Bose over-ear, but even with the new technology, you’ll still likely want to think about shelling half-a-grand on these buds. That being said, they’re reported to reduce ambient noise by as much as 97.5%, and for any pair of noise-canceling earbuds, that’s an impressive feat. Theoretically, one could take these bad boys deep into the heart of the New York subway, and still listen to those old Michael Jackson re-runs in perfect clarity.
Best of all, you can expect the Sony XBA-NC85D headphones to be only slightly wider than a typical set of headphones, and to support a whopping 20 hours of battery life, thanks to in-built, super-low power microprocessor. The headphones also make use of a new balanced armature design that allows for much tinier drivers than a traditional dynamic driver set-up. Instead of having the voice coil move to transfer vibrations to the diaphragm, the new arrangement keeps the coil in place, while the armature vibrates the diaphragm without ever making full contact with the coil. All of the new 2012 headphones will feature this new design, though no word yet on whether or not it performs as well as it sounds.
All in all, we’re excited for the new launch, especially as the most recent in-ear headphones we’ve looked at featured bulky accessory packs. Any company that can streamline the experience, while still preserving quality (and hopefully keeping the price low) is a friend of ours. And by all indications, Sony very much wants to be friends in the coming year.
As always, stay tuned as the months roll. As soon as we can get our hands a pair of headphones in the line-up, you can expect a full review listed here on the site.
