[kloan]

Anybody see this yet?
 
They look incredible. I WISH I had the money to get in on the $199 price. I just hope my financial situation has improved by the time these hit the market.
 
Anyway, they're on Kickstarter right now, and man these things are rocking quite a list of features!
 
Check em out:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hellobragi/the-dash-wireless-smart-in-ear-headphones
 

 

[KO95]

Yeah! I just backed them at the 199 reward. Seriously if these perform as good as they look it's a complete steal.
But i can see some flaws. Security first and foremost, like i need these to "not get lost when im in the water or pop out when i'm playing basketball/running/etc", thats something that they have to figure out. Also the battery life is pretty "MEH", but with the charging capabilities of the case, i believe i could live with it. The last thing that got me really worried is that if this company really does have all patents required to me this a success. *crossign fingers*. Hope they can deliver and that these are as good as they look!

 

[Deviltooth]

They're promising a lot.  I'm not willing to jump on board until I read some reviews of the final product; notably the audio quality.  Theoretically neat though.

 

[ottotron]

I just saw this on engadget. They have a lot of features and am surprised they were able to cram it all into a pretty small housing. I'm very interested in the reviews. Maybe another shell with an arm or something that goes behind the ear could help secure them better. 

 

[Philski]

  They're promising a lot.  I'm not willing to jump on board until I read some reviews of the final product; notably the audio quality.  Theoretically neat though.

 
Same here.  This is what they have to say about the sound:
 
 
What is the sound quality like?
The sound quality is dependent on a range of things. Your content has to be of a sufficient quality.

If your phone supports aptX, you will be able to transmit CD-like quality audio stream to The Dash. The Dash has a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) that can enhance the sound. It is able to do so well, since the DSP has been programmed with the characteristics (i.e. frequency response) of the transducer used in the system.

We know the actual characteristics of the transducer, because we have measured it inside The Dash chassis. Such a audio system is called an active system. Any regular headphone with a cable is a passive system. The phone that does the playback usually has a inferior Digital to Analog Converter (DAC), and has no idea of the characteristics of the target headphone. 
Because of the active system, we are able to provide better sound than a comparable passive system.

The Dash features a double acoustic chamber that significantly improves tonality of the mid frequencies and enables a powerful bass. 
The powerful bass is further improved by significantly reduced air leakage from the ear canal through smart design.




 
So, nothing of any substance really.  However, I don't feel that the typical Head-Fier is their target market for this!
 

 

 

[MashaT2281]

   
Same here.  This is what they have to say about the sound:
 
 
What is the sound quality like?
The sound quality is dependent on a range of things. Your content has to be of a sufficient quality.

If your phone supports aptX, you will be able to transmit CD-like quality audio stream to The Dash. The Dash has a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) that can enhance the sound. It is able to do so well, since the DSP has been programmed with the characteristics (i.e. frequency response) of the transducer used in the system.

We know the actual characteristics of the transducer, because we have measured it inside The Dash chassis. Such a audio system is called an active system. Any regular headphone with a cable is a passive system. The phone that does the playback usually has a inferior Digital to Analog Converter (DAC), and has no idea of the characteristics of the target headphone. 
Because of the active system, we are able to provide better sound than a comparable passive system.

The Dash features a double acoustic chamber that significantly improves tonality of the mid frequencies and enables a powerful bass. 
The powerful bass is further improved by significantly reduced air leakage from the ear canal through smart design.




 
So, nothing of any substance really.  However, I don't feel that the typical Head-Fier is their target market for this!
 

 

I tend to disagree that The Dash isn't for Head-Fi'ers!

I backed these long ago and have been following their development progress very closely. As of late, Nikolaj (the CEO of Bragi) reported that there is still some fine tuning needed on the software end, but he's extremely pleased with the hardware and overall sound as of the 5th and 6th iterations they've recently been working on. He also reported the the mics are producing awesome results overall too. The fit will also be great -- people who have tried on the prototypes at various tech conventions and in their Munich office (some lucky backers won a behind the scenes tour) have reported a very secure, comfortable fit (even while jumping, running, etc.), and the added leash will provide more security when people swim or do extreme sports.

Since a large portion of Bragi's staff worked at AKG for many years (including the CEO and other major players at Bragi), I know they'll produce high quality sound and fit that will please the majority of audiophiles. However, if anything, some audiophile "purists" may not be interested in all of the added smart features. I can report that many backers who are active on the Kickstarter comments are hardcore audiophiles who love tech as well -- and those are the audiophiles who The Dash will appeal to most.


Bragi has been obsessively working overtime to make every single feature of The Dash beyond perfect, so I have no doubts that The Dash will be amazing in all respects, including its sound. I'm sure they'll release more specific specs once they will go into production officially to begin fulfilling Kickstarter orders -- and that's slated to begin during mid-September as of now.

 

[Sinocelt]

We're in December, though, and the units are still "nearly ready to ship."

 

[roguepp88]

Anyone has a discount voucher for this? Would be awesome if any one who doesn't need theirs is willing to donate one to me 

 

[james444]

Subscribed...
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

... and preordered.

 

[skipwilly]

Some news from CES is breaking about these (reviews from The Verge and Engadget). I read that these will be shipping soon and so I'd be curious to hear what some head-fi'ers who backed the project think of the sound quality as well as some of the other features.

 

[Philski]

I have a set in order now. Latest update two days ago was to say they're aiming for mid-Feb at the moment, as they're achieving 75%-85% success rates for waterproofing, which they are working to improve.

 

[ariesq]

Anyone have a voucher code they can share? Willing to pay a nominal fee. PM. Thanks

 

[Jared1764]

I've been waiting to hear from actual owners about the headphones.  Guess we'll just have to wait and see..

 

[wood1030]

I placed an order for the Dash a couple of weeks ago. Missed the Kickstarter price, unfortunately 

 
I'm anxiously waiting to here updates on delivery but have resigned to believe that I may be at the bottom of the delivery barrel. I know the Kickstarter, early buyers will be getting theirs first, so I'm not really expecting to receive mine 'til March, at the soonest, (if there are no more delays).
 
I searched for coupon codes everywhere but came up empty. Hope your search is better than mine.

 

[Lobaba]

I am a kickstarter supporter and I have the dash with me since last thursday. I have also been following the dash facebook group for quite some time and here's my 1st impressions and a summary of what the kickstarters have faced:
 
My impressions 
 
Packaging is great as all the videos and online pictures would have shown you. I am lazy to post pictures so bear with my wall of text. I have shown the dash to 3 friends and let 2 of them tried. They commented that it was high end and about the coolest thing they ever tried.
 
SOUND QUALITY
I came from using custom molded UE-TF10. Before that, I had mi pistons 2.1, klipsch x10 which I lost, mi headphones which was barely used before it went into cold storage, ATH-ES10, ATH-ESW9, ATH-ES7, AKG some-budget-sub100-headphones.
 
Pros: To cut a long story short, the bass far exceeded my expectations. Once you get a good seal, it sounds incredible. 
 
Users have unhappily reported that their ears were not able to get a good seal. However, there have been recommendations from other users on how to tackle that using silicon gel and the solutions work well. Custom sleeves such as comfy have also solved the problems of seals. However, changing sleeves will cause it to be unable to fit back into the charger. Silicon gel trick will not have the problem.
 
Cons: However, it does not sound as 'full' as my custom molded UE-TF10 and felt like some frequencies are cut off - this is just my impression and may not be true. Nevertheless, this does not affect my enjoyment while on the go. Connectivity on the left dash is also flaky at times, reported by some users.
 
USABILITY
How easy is it to use without taking out your phone? 
 
1. Pair it via bluetooth for the 1st time by pressing the surface of the touch sensitive right earpiece and holding it for 5s. it will then appear to be visible. Connect it and a soothing female voice will inform you then it is connected.
2. Go to your music player and press play on the phone.
3. To stop, take it out from your ears and put it into the charger/case.
4. To continue, turn on bluetooth on your phone. put earpiece back into your ears and it AUTOCONNECTS back to your phone with the lady once again informing you that it has connected. Press once on the right dash to continue the music from where you stopped. Swipe right and left to adjust the volume.
 
Pros: This certainly beats unravelling the tangled wires of earpiece and keeping them again. Convenience served right up. You can also turn on and off audio transparency by swiping left and right on the left earpiece. No chance of forgetting to charge them as the moment they go into the charger, they get charged right away. Recharging the charger/case is also incredibly fast. I would say less than 1 hour or so.
 
Cons:  Using it as a standalone 4GB music player allows only 4 playlists (shown as 4 folders when connected as usb drive via the charger/case/'hub to be connected to the computer with the dash acting like memory cards'") . You can dump files outside those 4 folders and it will be considered as unsorted but playable.
 
Choosing the playlist is also an acquired technique. Play and hold to enter the playlist mode. Double tap to go the next playlist - this is hard. Triple tap to go back. When a song is playing, double tap to go to the next song, triple tap to go back. Many a users have raged about their lack of skill. Oops.
 
FITNESS 
I have yet to try it out. Swimmers have reported that swimming mimics the swiping motion resulting in volume increasing or decreasing against their will. One person had the audio transparency turned on and this likely resulted in a blown speaker as the feedback loop killed it. I wonder why his ears didn't die first from the feedback.
 
ANSWERING CALLS
How easy is it? Nod your head - answer a call. Shake your head - cancel the call.
 
I tested it against my will when my hands were occupied with an umbrella and stuff while in the rain. Nodded my head and answered the call. Music came back automatically after the call. Person on the other side later commented to me that i sounded a little echoey after I asked him.
 
Conclusion:
I have been incredibly happy with the dash. Indeed, the left dash instability at times causes me to cringe but that only happens like 5% of the time. The people at bragi have also been responsive on the facebook group even though they are swamped. Updates are happening and the latest update is out at 1.3.0. I would recommend this to people who wouldn't mind trading a bit of quality for a lot of convenience.