Image from CES
One of the annual events in the technology industry is CES, a trade fair for electronic devices held every year in Las Vegas, USA. This year's "CES 2022" will be held from January 5th to January 7th as a hybrid of real and digital, despite the headwinds such as the postponement of real-world exhibitions by major tech companies due to the spread of the corona infection just before. rice field. [Photo] "CES 2022" award-winning earphones and headphones At the world's largest high-tech event, a notable product called the Innovation Award is announced every year. The names of manufacturers and products that are not known in Japan are sometimes listed, making it an interesting content. This time, from among the award-winning products of this year's "CES 2022 Innovation Awards", we will pick up and introduce the noteworthy audio products selected for "Headphones & Personal Audio".・Open-type completely wireless earphones “Etude” and “Etude” are open-type completely wireless earphones that can be worn like ear hooks, jointly developed by Conduction Labs in the United States and China ALOVA. The reason for the evaluation by the Innovation Award is "directional audio technology". It is a mechanism that reproduces sound with the same transducer as general earphones instead of bone conduction, and reproduces the sound as intended by the artist with minimal sound leakage. It is an item that delivers a music listening experience that uses space more than conventional open-type completely wireless earphones. The connection is Bluetooth 5.2 with continuous playback time of 8 hours, and also supports voice assistant calls. Shipping will start in October 2021 through Kickstarter in the United States.・"X3D Audio Headphone" and "X3D Audio Headphone" that provide immersive 3D audio are not only Hi-Fi headphones, but also headphones that provide immersive 3D audio that performs real-time conversion according to HRTF (head-related transfer function). . In the Innovation Award, the stereo, 5.1, 7.1 surround sound source upmixing to 3D, and the personalization function that acquires the HRTF of each user are evaluated. 3D immersive audio is a hot topic right now in audio-related technology. DIGISONIC, which develops this product, is a company based in Seoul, South Korea, established in 2015, and has developed an innovative immersive sound algorithm "EX-3D". It is also attracting attention as a developer and manufacturer of next-generation 3D audio technology that supports the Metaverse. The mobile app "3D Spatializer App" also won an innovation award.・ Gaming headphones that can be connected in 3 ways “Alienware Tri-Mode Wireless Gaming Headset” The latest gaming headphones announced in conjunction with CES 2022 are DELL's “Alienware Tri-Mode Wireless Gaming Headset”. In the Innovation Award, the latest acoustic performance for gaming, such as DolbyAtmos stereophonic sound, 40mm Hi-Res certified driver, active noise canceling (ANC), and 3D audio support, was evaluated. In recent years, the popularity of gaming products has increased worldwide, and in such a situation, we presented the position of an all-in-one headphone product. "Tri-Mode" in the product name means that it can be connected in three ways: wired, wireless connection via USB dongle, and Bluetooth 5.2. The release is said to be in April.・You can listen to music with a sports band "Run-up" "RUN-UP" is a wearable audio device in the form of a sports headband for listening to music during sports. The innovation award recognizes the innovativeness of the sports band and the direct sound system. The music playback mechanism has a built-in 16mm unit near the band's ear that delivers sound waves directly to the user, and the bass port also reproduces low-pitched sound pressure. The connection with the smartphone is Bluetooth 5.0, and calls are also supported, and continuous playback for 5 hours is possible. Crowdfunding has been carried out overseas since October 2020, and shipping has started in March 2021.・The music streaming system “Uniti Atom Headphone Edition” and “Uniti Atom Headphone Edition” for high-end headphones should be called a stationary digital music player integrated headphone system produced by Naim Audio in the UK. In the Innovation Award, it has been evaluated as a system that brings headphone listening to the next generation, compatible with its own digital music library, Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, Qobuz and other distribution services. Equipped with a 4.4mm balanced terminal, an XLR terminal, a 6.3mm headphone terminal, etc., you can connect high-end headphones that many enthusiasts have. It can be said that the raison d'être is a modern streaming system that can play headphones with high-end quality without going through a PC or smartphone. It will be released overseas from May 2021.
Kazuya Orihara