aNewDomain — At the CES Unveiled event in New York recently, I got a first hand preview of what’s showing at CES 2016 in January. Audio te
ch is a huge trend at this year’s show, and the good news is, you don’t have to wait till 2016 to get an earful. Here are three award-winning CES 2016 audio products that will be available by Christmas.
ToughTested’s JobSite Earbuds
ToughTested, for instance, showed off its JobSite “Heavy Duty Noise-Control Earbuds with Mic.” With a certified Noise Reduction Rating of 23 decibels, the buds are designed to protect against high levels of noise that might damage hearing over time.
The earbuds, a CES 2016 Innovation Award honoree, also come equipped with the company’s properietary EQ-Voice technology, aimed at letting users easily flip between listening to high fidelity music and hearing voice calls loud and clear.
Available now, JobSite is targeted for use both in job settings such as construction and other noisy environments, like sporting events, said a spokesperson at ToughTested’s booth.
The buds would doubtless come in handy, too, on urban streets where ambulances whizz by blaring their sirens. Hopefully, they’d even block out the unearthly squeals of the New York City subway system (which would surely be great music to my own ears, regardless of the playlist).
JBL Reflect Aware Headphones
Also in the noise cancelling arena, JBL Reflect Aware (left) is a headphone set for Apple devices. One of 20 winners in the CES 2016 Innovation Awards contest, these headphones also let you adjust noise level to suit your environment.
Already stocked on retailers’ shelves, Reflect Aware needs no battery because the headphones draw both audio and power directly from the lightning connector. The microphone is embedded into the headphones.
Yamaha’s YSP-5600 Soundbar (and 19 other audio components)
Yahama chose the more sedate environment of an offsite press event to demo the YSP-5600 Soundbar and other audio products in a new 20-member family of components for single or multi-room audio. All 20 are slated for availability by the end of 2015.
The YSP-5600 soundbar, another CES 2016 Innovation Award honoree, is designed to combine high-end Dolby’s Atmos surround sound technology with Yamaha’s proprietary Digital Sound Projector (DSP) for a multidimensional, “immersive” listening experience.
The soundbar (right) also includes MultiCast, for streaming audio content among other MultiCast components in the home, along with Bluetooth, for streaming to and from smartphones, tablets and portable audio systems.
For aNewDomain, I’m Jacqueline Emigh.
