As expected (and anticipated), Marshall has finally unveiled their first two pairs of headphones: The Major and Minor. The Major is a pair of over-ear cans that features a foldable design for portability, “super soft cushions” for comfort. Not necessarily features that would make anyone rush out to pick up a pair, but the headband’s made out of the same textured vinyl used on Marshall’s amplifiers, so that could make for a strong selling point for rockers who actually know what Marshall’s all about. Of course, for everyone else, it just looks like plain black textured leather, but hey, you get a pair of quality cans for $99 from an established brand, so it’s all good.
We’re pretty sure you’re familiar with the brand. But in case you haven’t been paying attention to the amps and speakers usually stacked behind a live band before, or you’ve never rocked an electric guitar in your life, Marshall is an amp maker who traditionally specializes in, well, amplifiers. For people who rock. Anyway, they’ve just put out the word that they’re going to be branching out into a product range that’ll keep you rocking, but not as loudly or annoying to your neighbors.
Philips has teamed up with sports apparel brand O’Neill, coming up with a line of headphones for active, outdoorsy-types—basically, the exact same people who are familiar with and most likely use O’Neill’s gear. The new line includes four models; two over-ear cans called The Stretch and The Snug, and two in-ear ‘phones, The Covert and The Specked. Awesome stuff, really. Gear that you have to consider if you fit the Philips-O’Neill target market.
Gaming accessory maker Razer’s Orca headset was specifically designed to look good and feel comfy, while delivering premium sound. The sound quality, while not perceivably perfect for demanding audiophiles, should be good enough for th e $60 price tag (also, audiophiles should know enough to stay away from $60 gaming headsets anyway). Comfortable? We have no reason to doubt the design. Does it look good? Now that’s entirely a matter of opinion. The shade of bright Hulk-green they used is certainly striking, and while we’d probably have no problems wearing it while working Call of Duty on a desktop, we think the color’s just too loud to rock outside and it doesn’t match any of our shoes. Or shirts. Or umbrellas. Why did they call it the Orca anyway? Aren’t Orcas black and white?
Lining up with the release of the much-anticipated StarCraft sequel next month, gaming peripherals maker Razer has announced three new StarCraft II-themed PC peripherals: the Spectre mouse, Mrauder keyboard and Banshee headset. Not a StarCraft fan? That’s okay. All three products are pretty high-end and set-up for gaming performance. Just don’t mind the StarCraft II logo that lights up.
