Dyson Zone - Official Thread

[Resolve]

Zone™ air-purifying headphones | Dyson US

This is the place to discuss all things to do with the Dyson Zone air purifying headphones.

This one is very strange, but I imagine there is in fact a use case for air purifying headphones. I’m taking a look.

Here are the measurements.

B&K 5128: Using DF + 10dB Slope

Raw

Compensated

Sound Profiles

GRAS: I got two common positions on the GRAS, so this may give an idea of how it may vary depending on the position it’s worn on the head.

We’re currently in the process of updating the KEMAR DF + Slope target so I’m showing them against Harman for now. Also Sean would want to see this

Position 1

Position 2

A coarse grained look at the tuning indicates it’s solid for bass and mids, just a bit too bright, and I’d take a downshelf to the treble by at least 4dB. There are also some noticeable fine-grained treble peaks that come across a bit sharp, in particular the one at 7khz, which is definitely audible.

ANC Performance:

Attenuation

ANC is good in the bass, but nothing special for the rest of it. One thing with the ANC, the app seems a bit glitchy with when ‘isolation’ is turned on, as it sometimes doesn’t toggle correctly. I’ll double check the measurements, but I expect the above is the actual result since it shows a clear difference with passive isolation mode.

I don’t think the glitchiness is down to the ‘on-head’ sensor not triggering since it occurs even when listening to the headphone.

The Mask
It’s more of a mouthpiece than a mask. The headphone intakes air through the cups through a filter and pipes it down into the mouthpiece, blasting you in the face with purified air. It’s… a unique experience.

Notes:

• The headphone has good build quality, but the mouthpiece is the worst feeling plastic of all time, likely to ensure it’s not too heavy.
• Comfort is decent but it’s also a bit heavy, creating a hotspot up top.
• Subjectively about middle of the road technicalities. Occasionally the treble gets a bit mushy and smears tones together a bit. Certainly not better than most other lower priced ANC headphones.

To me this is a device that is either highly useful for very specific niche situations, but apart from that, it doesn’t really need to exist.

[Pr0Xy]

The FR looks a bit “airy”, doesn’t it?

Still wonder if there’s even a market for a 900€ Headphone with an air filter. Seems either too gimicky or too expensive.

[Resolve]

Here’s the review:

Yes... the air purifying headphones are real - Dyson Zone Review

[Perdido34]

Review is hilarious. I think I will put on my best headphones and a N-95 mask and have a good muffled chuckle…

[Nuance]

I just sold all of my other headphones, IEMs and source gear and purchased 49 of these. I win.

[AJCxZ0]

A detail I may have missed in the most entertaining video is that it’s a headset with the equivalent of a shielded boom microphone. So while it’s obviously not a great headphone, it could be a great headset for a variety of environments.

As all fellow HEPA filter enthusiasts know, the money isn’t in the device, but the replacement filters - especially when purchased from the device vendor. In this case Dyson advertises that the purchase includes “2 x Electrostratic Carbon Filters” (though it’s unclear if these are in addition to ones in the device), however I can find no replacement filters despite these requiring replacement when the app tells you. For the asking price, I’d want a replacement filter subscription for several years - especially since there is unlikely to be a market for third party replacement filters.

The logical extension of this idea is the lightweight ANC helmet with multiple drivers, object audio, processor with full format support, Dirac calibration, upmixing, etc., microphone, True HEPA filtration with easily replaceable HEPA, carbon and cleanable dust filters which also work with the acoustic treatment.
Models could span the open to closed spectrum, with and open model something like

PS. Future options might include a visor with AR, HUD, navigation and more.

I’ll stop now.

[pennstac]

How is this for swimming in polluted water?

[Nate]

They spent 6yrs to develop this?! Entire automobiles take less time. Someone may be getting fired.

[MrNailhead]

MKBHD had a good video on these as well - his feeling was they are meant to be a loss leader - not designed to make money themselves, just to get Dyson all over the news/youtube. In that regard I would say it has worked. It is a hilariously silly device.

[mknewman]

Zeos seemed to like them as well. Said he does his yard with them every week. Seems like a good use case, especially with the noise reduction.

I actually ended up buying a pair of the Dyson Ontrac, which is the more normal pair of headphones with no air purifier. I like them a lot but they don’t have LDAC or APT-X, only SBC and AAC. They sound good but the noise reduction is amazing. 40 db I believe.

[mknewman]

I use a wired J&M headset in my motorcycle helmet. I did the install myself but they sell preinstalled as well.

Elite Series Headsets

I use foam earplugs when I ride but these work great and provide lots of clean audio without wind noise.

I’ve never tried an IEM but not sure they can provide the 30ish db isolation I get from foam earplugs.

Ride safe.