This is indeed a pretty gosh-darn slick piece of kit; an “in-ear” headphone (10mm speaker size) with microphone and nice overall design with a steel surface, and six bright colours (from Crispy Apple green to Red Snapper erm… red) to choose from.

Urbanista London comes wrapped in a particularly functional “cuff link”-box with cable management for easy storage when not in use (the box and product together only weighs in at 250g… easy.

To fit modern urban life (and catering for the rushed, stressed and somewhat well-dressed), the cord has an integrated microphone and a 3.5 mm plug that works with most phones and music players on the market (so even the ol’ Sony Ericsson will be covered alongside an iPhone or iPad). As an added bonus, a hands-free (with microphone) option is available.

This London headphone is the perfect accompaniment to your busiest day – it’ll soothe your ears before and after work. To be fair (direct your eyes to the nice image above), you’re going to look pretty swish through the journeys as well.

The London Headphone series is available at SRP £44.99 from http://uk.urbanista.com/

[Source: Urbanisita London headphones: Swish and soothing]

The tagging feature utilises Shazam to quickly identify the song you’re listening to and then stores the result in the user’s area of the Pure Lounge (thelounge.com) site. The track can then either be purchased and downloaded, through their tie-up with 7Digital, or simply used to find similar songs or other tracks by the same artist.

In addition to tagging and recording (which works via an instant record button or manually setting a start date/time and duration), the Sensia 200D also provides access to ‘Pure Music’. This is a cloud-based on-demand music service which costs £4.99 per month and keeps any purchases synchronised between your other Pure music systems, your PC/Mac as well as via an Andriod or iOS app.

Sensia users can also use the colour touchscreen to view weather reports or station slideshows (dependant on broadcaster), engage with Twitter and Facebook, keep up to date with selected RSS feeds or view photos stored locally or via Picasa. The unit provides 30W RMS of digital sound and additional features include an input for an iPod/MP3 player; two fully featured alarms; countdown timer; sleep timer and a headphone socket.

The 200D continues to build on its predecessor’s user friendly approach to digital radio and streaming music – a world which can be quite bewildering for newcomers. We felt one area for future improvement would be to provide an EPG (electronic programme guide) for the DAB side of the product – which would make better use of the unit’s new recording ability.

The Sensia 200D Connect will be available in the UK during the first quarter of 2012 with a recommend retail price of £249.99.

[Source: CES Unveiled – Pure Sensia 200D music system]

It features a 2.1 channel sound system with 20 watts output per channel and also supports a powered subwoofer with an automatic active crossover at 80 Hz. The ‘Twenty’ also sports a volume dial which will enable you to fine-tune the level of output, which is particularly useful for those with speakers who perhaps have steeply stepped (e.g., 1-6, etc.) volume controls.

The AirPort Express (which you still have to buy separately) simply docks on to the top of the unit for power and then connects via an optical out cable to the back of the amp. When we asked if it would be supplied with a remote (useful for turning it off if it’s hidden behind your speakers), the company said there were not plans to ship the current version with one. Hopefully they’ll reconsider for any future revision of the ‘Twenty’.

Unfortunately Griffin haven’t released details on pricing yet, but we’d image it would be competitively priced given that you can already buy speakers with built in amps and AirPlay compatibility relatively cheaply. We’ll update this article with pricing when it’s made available.

Additional pictures follow:

[Source: Griffin ‘Twenty’ Airport Express amp at CES 2012 Unveiled]

Let us assure you though, that the Contour 100Di is a nifty piece of kit, very nifty. It’s most useful when connected with the free Pure Lounge App, which enables the user to access a good variety of internet radio stations, on-demand content (podcasts and listen again programmes) and your own  sounds, as well as the ability to discover, explore and listen to millions of music tracks via the Pure Music subscription service which will go live in December and be instantly accessible through the aforementioned iPhone App.

Refreshingly, the 100Di punches above its weight with 20W RMS of audio for its compact dimensions and a strong feature set including digital and FM radio; made for iPod and iPhone certification; a slimline remote with neat magnetic remote tidy; two alarms; sleep and snooze timers; an aux-input for connecting an MP3 player; headphone socket.

This baby is part of an expanding Contour family of docks, and fortunately for you more fashionable gadget fiends, it has been designed with contemporary styling (well, the one we’ve got is a nice shade of black, any way…) to look good in any room of the house and the smashing revolving dock feature can be tucked away when the dock isn’t being used.

Interestingly enough, the Contour 100Di is also part of EcoPlus, which means that they are constantly upholding a commitment to the environment – very cool. All Pure products are designed to minimise their environmental impact and manufactured in ethically approved and audited facilities. They have reduced power consumption in operation and standby, use recycled packaging materials, have the smallest possible packaging and components selected to minimise environmental impact. Great stuff.

Contour 100Di is available now for £99.99. Please visit www.pure.com for more information. People interested in the Pure Music subscription service launching in December can register their interest right now at www.thelounge.com/puremusic.

[Source: Pure Contour 100Di: Punching above its weight]

So what’s a good way to preserve the legacy of a musical icon? Lots of poor quality T-shirts, lighters and bongs? If you were loiter in Camden Market then yes you might be forgive for thinking this was the only way. But the Marley Family have put their dreads together and come up with a much better way to carry on their father’s work – the House of Marley MARLEY branded headphones.

The House of Marley, will provide products of superior quality in both sound and design, with all products being made from eco-friendly materials that embody the Marley Family‘s value of equality, unity, authenticity, sustainability and charity. MARLEY is comprised of three collections — Jammin’, Freedom, and Destiny — featuring noise isolating in-ear and, active noise cancelling over-ear headphones. Docking stations and portable audio systems should follow in the UK soon afterwards. And in the Marley spirit of inclusion, the suggested retail prices range from £19.99 to £249.99, offering superior audio products for ―young gongs to ―conscious connoisseurs.

“Our father shared his vision with our family and his fans through the gift of the messages in his music and it is our mission and responsibility to push the movement forward”, said Cedella Marley, Bob Marley‘s daughter. “The House of Marley and the MARLEY audio products that bear our family name were created to spread our father‘s music and vision to a new generation.”

So how do they sound? We were invited down to try on a range of House of Marley headphones and the quality as you expect varies with the price. The budget range are passable (but – like most things – better than Apple’s supplied range of iPhone headphones)

The new range will be available in HMV stores throughout the UK, through Dixons Travel in airport locations, independent action sports specialist retailers and other leading retailers from autumn 2011.

http://www.thehouseofmarley.co.uk/

[Source: House of Marley headphone range: Keep on Skanking]

Enter AblePlanet’s Clear Harmony Sport Earphone (the SP1150 to be precise). It’s pretty clear from the moment you lay eyes on them that AblePlanet take their sports earphones pretty seriously. The Clear Harmony has an incredibly well designed earloop that feels more like a hearing aid than an earphone – I mean that as a compliment. The ComfortFit sound isolation tips block exterior sound and create as you’d expect a custom fit. There’s a very secure feeling as it clicks behind your ear and I tried a variety of shakes, wiggles and even a headspin without managing to dislodge them. Much like a telemarketing campaign, that’s a ringing endorsement.

So the sports part is pretty rock solid. How about the earphone side of the equation? Well the SP1150s come loaded with Patented LINX AUDIO®, Hear the Difference® technology, which is “Award-Winning”. In practical terms, this means that they sound pretty fantastic, with full rich bass sounds, clear high tones and intelligible speech (unless of course you have your mumblecore playlist on full blast).

All in all, a thunderingly good pair of earphones.

AblePlanet’s Clear Harmony Sport Earphone SP1150 are yours for $189.99 from AblePlanet.

[Source: AblePlanet’s Clear Harmony Sport Earphone SP1150 review]

You might remember the Australian brand BlueAnt for their high quality bluetooth headsets from earlier on in the year, as well as some pretty great in-car devices. When review some of the bluetooth in-ear headsets I remember thinking “wouldn’t this be great in both ears.”

BlueAnt have answered my prayers (and then some) with the new BlueAnt Embrace, a high end pair of headphones for stylish audiophiles.

So what do you get? I popped on Music for Airports and gave them a twirl. The big (but not ostentatiously big) 40mm dynamic drivers are impressive at delivering sound the way God (or in this case Brian Eno) intended. I then tried mixing a few tracks, composing a few beats and monitoring the leves on a live recording I had to do, and the Embrace headphones performed admirably on all fronts – these are a lot more than toys.

It’s worth noting that they are super comfortable – like having a pair of slippers on your head. The soft leather earpads block unwanted noise and keep your pretty snug, and the supple leather headband means they can pop on the largest of heads without discomfort.

It’s not just the headband that makes the Embrace a flexible pair of headphones. The mix and match cabling system means you can pop on a straight through cable or a cable with an Apple Remote and OMTP adapter. It also means if your cable snags, you haven’t just destroyed a super expensive pair of headphones. And to help you keep them safe the Embraces come with a tough leather case, which the earpads twist to fit inside.

If you’re interested in high-end design and high-quality audio it’s definitely worth give the BlueAnt Embrace a whirl.

Out now from www.myblueant.com RRP £149

[Source: BlueAnt Embrace headphones review]

From the moment you crack open the box, it’s pretty clear that Urbanista are going for a high-end design aesthetic. First impressions count and if the care put into the packaging is anything to go by, this should be a classy set of cans.

The Copenhagens also come in a stylish protective box, which is handy for keeping them safe from harm (I say this every headphone review but I really do seem to have a magic talent of killing headphones). The box plays nice with the actual design of the headphones, which sees a clever steel frame fold in half to become pocket sized. The Copenhagens are pretty light-weight, even with the box, so it’s pretty much like having an extra pair of sunglasses in your bag. The steel frame feels a little flimsy to my clumsy, oafish hands, but a gentle twist proved them to be fairly robust.

The headphones themselves are pretty distinctive and have funky square shape that should help you stand out among the legions of people with gargantuan cans on their head. The pads are also pretty comfortable and can easily double as trendy ear warmers as the winter months draw close.

And how do they sound? Well with nice deep bass and crisp mids you certainly aren’t missing out just because your headphones look super fly. There’s an inline microphone built in as well so you can take calls or chat with Siri to your heart’s content.

Available in six different colours – Red Snapper, Crispy Apply, Gun Metal, Fluffy Cloud, Dark Clown and Pink Panther, the Copenhagen Headphone series is available at RRP £79 from http://uk.urbanista.com/ or Mobile Fun.

[Source: Urbanista Copenhagen headphones review: It’s hip to be square]

From the packaging onwards, you can tell TDK put a lot of thought into making this a premium pair of headphones. Flat cables seem to be all the rage these days and the BA-100s are likewise equipped. The design of the BA-100 has a hooked feel – similar to Klipsh S5i and can be worn conventionally, or looped over your ears if you are so inclined. As you’d expect with headphones in this price range, there are a range of silicon tips so you can pop the in just right. This is obviously key as once you get the seal just right these headphones have the power to really bang. I’m probably the world’s worst person when it comes to cable snag, so the detachable design of the BA-100, where you can vary cable length, was greatly appreciated.

The headline feature of the BA-100s is the balanced armature micro drivers, fresh out of TDK’s Audio Research Lab. TDK claims they are aiming to elevate the personal listening experience and I experimented with some podcasts (Comedy Bang Bang if you’re interested) and some albums (Relax by Das Racist and The Cold Vein by Cannibal Ox if you wanted to know just how cool I am) and in both cases found it to be a truly immersive experience. The basslines on things like “Iron Galaxy” or “Punjabi Song” really kicked, whilst listening to the high audio quality of some of the improv bits on Comedy Bang Bang really drew you into the world of the scene that the hip, alt-LA comedians had created.

The only downside was the lack of inline remote control for iOS devices and the like. Whilst this isn’t a big deal, and certainly not a deal breaker, I’ve become addicted to Siri of late so it was a little bit annoying switching back to using my hands for my phone (oh how quickly we grow complacent!).

TDK

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Plug type:
Driver type:
Driver Diameter:
Frequency response:
Sensitivity at 1kHz:
Input impedance:
Cord length:
3.5mm gold-plated
Balanced armature
8.5mm
20 – 20,000 Hz
118dBSP@1V
16 ohms ±10%
1.2 m

[Source: TDK BA-100 in-ear headphones: Intimate listening]

Fortunately a whole third-party ecosystem has evolved of apps to look after your iTunes library for you. The latest of these is Rinse from RealNetworks

Rinse automatically looks up songs in the widely-acclaimed Gracenote music database, downloads the correct details for each song and applies them in your library. With more than 8 million albums and 100 million tracks in its catalogue, there’s a pretty good chance that most things in your library will be covered.Even if a track is misspelt or unknown, Rinse includes an identification technology to recognise audio samples throughout the track.

Rinse is simple but very hardworking, taking over a number of tasks in your iTunes library. Have a bunch of Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prints CDs in your collection? Rinse can take care of that. All your Django filed under Death Metal instead of Gypsy Jazz? Not a problem. Missing pictures of naked babies chasing dollars in swimming pools? Rinse can download all your missing Nirvana album artwork. The push button simplicity is great and it’s pretty unambiguous. There’s also lots of in-app guidance and hand-holding, so you should have no problems sorting through your library. As a word of warning, to be this good takes ages, and it’s taken Rinse days, (literally days) to work its way through my 500GB music collection – although the accuracy with which it is doing this makes it all worth the wait.

Rinse is a downloadable service available for a one-time payment of £30 at www.rinsemymusic.co.uk. A free trial version that cleans up 50 songs in your iTunes library is also available

[Source: Rinse: Taking your iTunes library to the cleaners]