[faileas]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendary/earbuds-time-to-change-the-status-quo
 
Apparently someone's trying to design an extremely modular, almost indestructible pair of headphones. gratuitous connectors aside, some aspects of the design are interesting - almost all the cables are easily replaceable, its designed in sections (and there's nothing stopping someone from offering a less complicated headphone cable), and its reinforced. I'm not totally sold on the way they split the cable (granted, its perfect for someone who wanted to DIY a bi-ended cable).
 
And its funded on kickstarter - which is a pretty interesting way to find projects like this - it only goes ahead if they make enough funds, which, if some small amp designer wanted to build a amp en mass, and needed funding, would work pretty well.
 
I'm sure someone's going to complain about the sheer number of connectors, but, its still a cool project - considering most earbuds i've owned have either gone at the earbud end, or at the joint, its probably the most robust way to do it.

 

 

[DaBomb77766]

I really don't like the way that they come apart at the Y-split...that just seems like a dumb, overcomplex design choice to me.
 
Also, it would be really hard for a small startup to make something at the same quality as some of the bigger brands...not really sure if they'd get anywhere with this.

 

[Ishcabible]

I've been tempted to get the most expensive model for the past month just to try it...

 

[xxhaxx]

This pretty much looks like cheap IEM with detachable cables

 

[JamesMcProgger]

Quote:

I really don't like the way that they come apart at the Y-split...that just seems like a dumb, overcomplex design choice to me.
 

x2
 a regular detachable cord a la custom IEMs would be enough.
 
nothing new there besides the unnecessary connections.
 

 

[Eric_C]

With all those interconnects, isn't there more chance for wear and tear at the jacks? The adaptor at the Y-split would probably make it more bulky...I'm sorry, but I think this problem has been "solved" with replaceable/detachable cables long ago.
 
The project guys also state that they're sound engineers, but with all due respect, do they know what they're doing insofar as designing in-ears? From what I understand it's a whole different ballgame from speakers and even headphones.

 

[rroseperry]

I'm tempted to support them out of curiosity alone (and because I like Kickstarter_.

 

[Ishcabible]

Quote:

 
The project guys also state that they're sound engineers, but with all due respect, do they know what they're doing insofar as designing in-ears? From what I understand it's a whole different ballgame from speakers and even headphones.

 
They OEM them (try different existing IEM's I think?), and freely admit it, so I'm guessing they just use what sounds good.

 

[deadsea]

This pretty much looks like cheap IEM with detachable cables

More like too many detachable cables. That 4 part Y split doesn't really serve any purpose does it? Well, maybe if the hp jack broke, but it just introduces another jack at the other end to break... And another 2 on the side of the driver connections? Yeah, more stuff to break/snap...

 

[faileas]

@dabomb : That's the advantage with kickstarter - they can get the funding they need to mass produce it with a production partner who can produce it en mass, and actual production would be by someone else . The guy who designed this seems to have worked with Henry Kloss according to the kick starter site. Besides, don't tell me there's no small boutique gear people use, and somehow being new or small is going to mean its going to be crap.
 
As for the cables, There's nothing stopping someone from grabbing a pair of 2mm connectors and making their own cables (i mean, who dosen't replace cables at some point?) - one of the main design considerations for this seems to be to make it as tough as possible - the overengineered Y split, and the connectors they have chosen tend to be a lot harder to break than say, your typical 'pin' type IEM connectors - if anything breaks, its just that section that gets replaced. The design they've chosen seems to be built around robustness first - proper connectors as opposed to pins, and as much modularity as possible, and the parts that seem bulky are what tend to break most often - if i was cabling a bi-ended headphone, without fancy parts,  and absolutely did not want it to break, that's how i'd do it.
 
@deadsea: cables break more often than connectors - and you can replace just the section that broke
 
as for sound quality, not enough information to really decide - if i get a pair i'll probably post a review on what i think ^^
 
 
 
 

 

[Eric_C]

Quote:

They OEM them (try different existing IEM's I think?), and freely admit it, so I'm guessing they just use what sounds good.

Ah, yes. Silly me--that was such an obvious solution that I can't believe I missed it. Kind of begs the question why they'd need to talk about being sound engineers then? 

 

[Sil3nce]

Meh, the drivers/transducers would have to impress me. Cables/design/cosmetics are all secondary. I'd rather have a crappy broken lcd-2 sounding earbud then an immortal monster.

 

[Sil3nce]

Quote:

With all those interconnects, isn't there more chance for wear and tear at the jacks? The adaptor at the Y-split would probably make it more bulky...I'm sorry, but I think this problem has been "solved" with replaceable/detachable cables long ago.
 
The project guys also state that they're sound engineers, but with all due respect, do they know what they're doing insofar as designing in-ears? From what I understand it's a whole different ballgame from speakers and even headphones.

+1

 

[DaBomb77766]

The thing with these, though is...well, they won't be indestructible, they'll just have replaceable parts.  I don't think I've seen many OEM IEMs that have truly exceptional build quality before...and these would pretty much need that to be worth of the title of "indestructible."  I guess I'll see where this goes, but I don't really want to invest in it...

 

[Sil3nce]

Quote:

The thing with these, though is...well, they won't be indestructible, they'll just have replaceable parts.  I don't think I've seen many OEM IEMs that have truly exceptional build quality before...and these would pretty much need that to be worth of the title of "indestructible."  I guess I'll see where this goes, but I don't really want to invest in it...

Exactly, more like interchangeable. Things like these pop up all the time. But few times do they actually become worthwhile. Call me a skeptic.