# Cut the Cord: A Quick Look at Two New Wireless Headphones



## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

We can’t always park ourselves in front of our two channel and surround sound systems for a bath of sonic waves. What’s the next best option? A good pair of headphones. Headphones come in all shapes and sizes and varying capabilities. Two companies, Harmon and Muzik, have both released details on new entries into the on-ear wireless headphone market. Here’s a quick peek at what they have to offer:

*Muzik: Headphones that Reach Beyond the Ears*
Muzik is a new technology company that is entering the market with its eye on innovation. Billing itself as a pioneer in “Social Smartware,” the company is pushing to be the leading manufacturer of intelligent headphones that are designed for use with smart phones and social media. 

"While the music industry has seen its challenges, technological advances have also created a world of opportunity, which Muzik is seizing to create an entirely new category," said Jason Hardi, founder, president and CEO, Muzik. 








Yesterday, Muzik gave us a glimpse of its first wireless headphone product. Unfortunately, specifications on the product were not released. However the company claims the headphones deliver high fidelity sound and noise isolation along with an edgy design and advanced finger touch controls. Owners will not only use the product to listen to music, but also use it to share their music on social media (Facebook, Twitter) or with a friend. 








"Headphones will never again just be for listening to music or talking on the phone – our headphones will improve the way we socially discover, share, listen and experience music. In addition to music exploration, I look forward to working with the developer community to create amazing applications leveraging smart headphones,"said Hardi.

Interested? Visit *Musik online* and sign-up for an opportunity to be a beta tester. The product is projected to be released during the fourth quarter of this year.

*JBL WR2.4: Touting Sound and Comfort*
Harmon, the maker of JBL, recently introduced its latest on-ear headphone entry: the JBL WR2.4. They are headphones squarely focused on wireless freedom. In fact JBL says that the WR2.4’s have a range of 100 feet using a 2.4 GHz digital transmission bandwidth. They also feature a lightweight design with semi-closed back acoustics for enhanced low frequency sounds (specifications show a frequency response of 20Hz to 20 kHz). The unit’s power comes from two rechargeable batteries that get their juice from a small charging cradle that doubles as a transmitter base. 








"These headphones deliver the carefully-crafted listening experience we're famous for, without tying you down with cables," said Michael Mauser, President HARMAN Lifestyle

While offering a tremendous amount of range for a wireless unit, there is one small snag: the transmitter base. If you have multiple sources, you’ll need to have all of them running through an AVR or else you’ll find yourself unplugging and re-plugging the base’s RCA to 3.5mm audio cable into the sources you’d like to use. 

Other features to enhance convenience include on-headphone controls for volume, power, and wireless pairing along with LED indicators that light to indicate headphone power and wireless pairing status as well as base-centric LEDs to indicate power and charging status.

The WR2.4 headphones are available now at Best Buy and JBL.com at an MSRP of $99.95 each.

_Image Credits: Harmon and Muzik_


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