5 of the best new headphones

Innies, outies... but enough about belly buttons. Seeing as a lion-sized portion of the tech coming out at CES has a 3.5mm jack socket, we thought we’d scour the halls to find some the best muffs and buds to plug into them. Here they are...

Signeo Soul by Ludacris
www.soulbyludacris.com
It’s a pair of sturdy over-ear, mainstream rapper-endorsed cans with a distinctive logo and colour scheme that can be transferred on to the franchise spawn at a later date. The legal department at Signeo is surely preparing its legal team for a strongly-worded letter from their counterparts on Monster’s Beats by Dr Dre team?

Marley Easy Skanking Rasta
www.thehouseofmarley.com
Whatever carefully-worded instructions Bob Marley’s family gave the designers of his new headphone range, we can pretty much guarantee ‘subtle’ was not among them. The selection is almost as breathtaking as the in-your-face skattitude of most of the designs. To be worn with dreadlocks and sandals at all times.

Sennheiser CXC 700
www.sennheiser.com
It’s almost a blessed relief to find a pair of buds in the CES halls not stamped with the identity of a recording artist, but don’t think the CXC 700s don’t have a hook. Sennheiser’s tri-mode noise cancellation lets you switch between three levels of ambient hum – the daily commute, air travel or crowds. On the off chance you do want to listen to someone on the Tube, there’s also a talkthrough button.

Monster Miles Davis Trumpet
www.monstercable.com
With design cues that nod to the brass mouthpiece of the jazz legend’s instrument and a silhouette of the man in mid-blow on the cord, you could accuse Monster of playing only to the (substantial) fanbase of one of America’s greatest musical innovators. But we’d happily don these tiny buds before cranking Freddie Freeloader up to seven. So much so, we’ve given them an award. Mmm… jazz.

Sleek by 50 Cent
sleekby50.com
Designed by the hand of Fiddy himself, we’re told, perhaps after watching Tron: Legacy. Thankfully he left the engineering to Sleek Audio, who’ve seen fit to bust out some military-spec metalware for their Kleer-powered lossless wireless tricks that claim a 20m range, USB rechargable cells and a cable for when your ears feel like hitting a retro groove.