The first new Urbanears headphone design launched at CES this year was the Turncable which i just showed you. Second ~ Humlan! Interesting part of this design… there is a metal headband (love the detail of the urban ears tag actually being cloth sewn through a slit in the metal!) with MAGNETIC ear-speakers? pads? poofs? what would you call them? The simplicity and the satisfaction of feeling them snap into place and slide to adjust feels great ~ and i supposed when not using the headphones, you could even use it as a headband in their rainbow of colors… or even mix and match the usually monochromatic Urbanears. These are launching in fall of 2012! See more pics of the details on the next page!

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Tags: accessories - audio - ces - gifts - headphones - music - shopping - technology

Urbanears always has beautiful color palettes for their monochrome headphones and the most stunning photography/layouts for their lookbooks/displays. This year at CES they showed off two innovative new designs… the first: ZINKEN w/Turncable. These premium over ear DJ headphones have a cable with a 6.3mm adapter (perfect for your turntables/guitars/etc) on one end and a standard headphone 3.5mm plug on the other… and depending which you need, you plug the other into the headphone! Interesting alternative to simply using an adapter to go from 3.5mm to 6.3mm? Take a peek at more pics on the next page…

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Tags: accessories - audio - ces - gifts - headphones - music - shopping - technology

ZIK Parrot by Starck: the Bluetooth touch-activated headset. There are a LOT of headphones (often with celebrities attached to them now) at CES ~ but these actually surprised me! It feels amazing, and i was fascinated by the user experience of it… in a nutshell, you bluetooth pair or NFC tap your phone to connect it to the headset, you swipe the capacitative touch panel (left/right for song flipping or up/down for volume), it pauses the song if you take it off and instantly picks back up when you put it on, has 3 microphones and a bone conduction sensor for your calls and active noise cancelation, and even has an app to control it all. 4 years of work has gone into these ~ and the prototype was surprisingly fun to play with at CES ~ take a peek at lots of design detail pics on the next page!

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Tags: accessories - ces - gifts - headphones - prototype - shopping - speakers - technology

We first looked at Urbanears a while back when their stunning color themed ads started circulating… then, their CES booth was hard to resist. Well now, in the same beautifully colorful, minimalist design… i couldn’t resist showing you the origami like unboxing experience and product details. So much attention to detail, and clean playful designs! It literally unfolds and presents itself to you. Love the matte boxes, and the soft touch details… the extra connectors… and the built in microphones mean you never need to miss a call! Take a peek at the unboxing of their Tanto and Plattan models on the next page!

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Tags: CES - gifts - headphones - packaging - shopping - technology - unboxing

This CES content is sponsored by BestBuyOn.com. Thanks, Best Buy!!!

There’s something irresistible about a matte black wall covering glowing cubby holes… with ears in them… and gorgeously colorful headphones/earbuds… Such a visual and tactile wall of goodies at the Urbanears booth at CES! You can see their Tanto and Plattan over heads, their Medis that you twist to lock into your ear, and a peek at the new Bagis! They are also behind the much circulated Marshall headphones and earbuds, and had a fun amp display as well… A close up look at the smart packaging and products here… but first, check out the booth on the next page!

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Tags: CES - gifts - headphones - shopping

First impression. Wow. I mean, i’ve heard ABOUT the Ultimate Ears Customs for some time now, but being custom, no one elses will ever really fit you perfectly… so you can’t know how incredible they can sound, until you try your own. And wow. They sound and feel amazing! Freshly arrived today are a set of Ultimate Ears 18 Pro Custom In-Ear Monitors, which i got molded for back at NAMM (but was bad and had trouble deciding colors/prints/etc ~ as you can see, i went with the smoke!) From the goo they stuck in my ears, out came these perfect fitting molds hand made right here in socal! I’ve never loved the feel of ear plugs or headphones very much, but i barely notice these after wearing them for a while… and they sound incredible. While i can’t exactly SHOW you how they sound, i can show you the thoughtful packaging and what you receive when your customs arrive… take a peek at the unbox on the next page!

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Tags: audio - gifts - headphones - Logitech - packaging - shopping - technology - Ultimate Ears - unboxing

When right in the center of downtown Los Angeles, and up on a tiny balcony of the 35th floor penthouse Logitech Loft ~ the city really sparkles at night! During the day ~ there was some secret TV show being filmed, with people repelling right past our windows down from the roof to the pool on the 7th floor… and helicopters buzzing the building from the half dozen helipads on nearby rooftops. Even got a chance to play around with the GoogleTV Logitech Revue early ~ as well as the Logitech peripherals - from the keyboard, mini clamshell keyboard, and video camera. But the occasion of the night? Logitech’s Ultimate Ears sponsored an intimate concert with Anberlin, as hosted by the winner of the Logitech Loft LA Contest - Rob Blasko (@roblahblah). Really the views blew my mind ~ and looking straight down was not for the vertigo afflicted… see more on the next page!

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Tags: concert - events - gifts - google - headphones - logitech - music - tv - Ultimate Ears

The super sweet folks of Ultimate Ears (an irvine based Logitech company) ~ reached out and invited me to visit them at NAMM ~ and little did i know that when i arrived at their booth, i’d be sat down in an ominous white leather chair, while Dr. Noy in white lab coat and all would make me bite down on a piece of foam while he filled my ears with mysterious blue quick drying goo. Ok, so to be fair, that’s the creepier way of wording it, basically they took impressions of the inner workings of my ears for some custom fit earphones by Ultimate Ears - while i’ve never been much of a headphone connoisseur, they’re catching me up quickly… i’ve been using their 700s since the unboxing and the sound quality has been awesome… but people can’t seem to stop raving about the customs… not to mention i’m fascinated by the idea that they can be customized to your heart’s content (color, graphics, etc) and they fill fit perfectly into your ears (and only your ears! unless you find an ear twin?)… more to come once i actually figure out how i want to customize my customs (any suggestions?) ~ but for now, take a peek at the fun Ultimate Ears NAMM booth! It had quite the crowd, but i tried to sneak a few fun pics of the ear molding process and some of the examples that were out!

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Tags: audio - gifts - headphones - logitech - music - NAMM - shopping - Ultimate Ears