So For No Reason, I thought I’d compare results found on different search engines for “Sexiest Headphones” leaving safe search to a moderate level. Here are some interesting finds:
GOOGLE:
Lots of garbage results, but these were multiple hits
BING
returns a fair number of not safe for work images but in the shopping tag, these are first:
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones (Black) PAK W/
DuckDuckGo
Returns a bunch of reasonable results for the search, in products, their top hit is
MPOW EM1 Bluetooth Earpiece, V4.1 Wireless Headphones, 6-Hr Playing Time Mini
Yahoo has amusing results
First on the hit list is https://crazybaby.com/us/air-nano
But then they parse the search to return “Adult Headphones on Amazon”
and “Best Bone Conduction Headphone”
I really wonder what’s going on behind the scenes with those searches. I could guess, but it would be NSFW.
Literal answer: From a style standpoint, Beats absolutely transformed the headphone market and led to incredible growth. Before Beats, the mainstream considered them a necessary evil:
Sennheiser and AKG – boring studio professionals and retired audiophiles
Bose - middle class travelers on airplanes
Beyerdynamic - school nurses testing children’s hearing
Koss - people stuck in the 1980s with mullets
Stax - wealthy eccentrics
Jecklin Float - no comment necessary
After Beats, style became a much bigger factor in the market. Master & Dynamic, B&O, V-Moda, Meze, and even Audeze. And Sennheiser now considers style too.
Jokes aside, I’m a fan of Japanese urushi and steampunk aesthetic, so that these two have my vote should be no surprise. Also, regrettably, the only thing that’s mine in the photo is the Klipsches; the photo was taken during a store meet, haha.
Have yet to see one in person, but the ZMF Auteurs likely get my vote for most handsome headphone, specifically the Blackwood LE with brass grilles. Man those look amazing.
Steam is great technology. I see a future for steam headphones. Envision two flexible, insulated tubes going to each side of the headphone. With steam instead of electricity, there is no need for 6N copper, unobtainium plated cryogenically treated wires. A boiler should be placed conveniently out of the way - perhaps in the basement. When pressure builds, it is released into the tubes. Along the way, the tube is connected to flexible diaphragms and Victrola-type horns. These are placed near an ensemble of musicians playing hot music - like Star Wars Cantina. The music flows into the horns, to the diaphragms imparting itself eventually on the pressurized steam. This flows into the headphone, where it presses against another hard-rubber diaphragm, re-creating the sound in the headphone. To release the pressure, the steam flows into the return tube, back to the basement, and through a turbine, creating electric to power house lights and a heating element under the boiler. (I haven’t yet completed a design for steam lighting, but I’m working on it).
I’m sure this would work. Steampunk esthetic is very inspiring.
Here I was trying for a variant of a perpetual motion machine. Yes yes, I know about the calliopes, but I can never get the headband right on those. Wonderful machines. But I’m also reverse-engineering the headphones for hearing-impaired at live performances.
Hey, Maybe I should substitute Calliope for the Cantina band. Does anyone have a player disk/scroll for that?
Sexiest headphones, well I’m a wood o Phile… and that said I think @zach915m has the sexiest cans on the market! Their open backs with wood and metal grills are dastardly handsome!
While I used to not much care for the look of this guy, it’s really grown on me. And I keep trying to find an excuse to sell it so I have some cash to try new stuff but I’m just in love with the sound. It’s weirdly the perfect contrast to my Auteur.
I think I probably need a new job so I can get the new ZMF cans. Not just for the sound but for the fact that it doubles as artwork. My girlfriend laughs at my complete disregard for a need to decorate our apartment but I feel like a collection of ZMF cans would more than make up for it. Although I doubt she’d see it that way
Based on a pure look and beauty, I think he1 the most beautiful headphone to date. It looks like a modern art piece to my eyes. Not sure about its sound though…
I found the HE1’s build quality unacceptably cheap for its price. Almost every that you actually touch, aside from the mesh and the aluminum baffle, is just plastic. The cable is also a bit shoddily built compared to high end aftermarket cables.
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