These Écoute TH1 headphones have a glowing hi-fi surprise hidden inside
These shiny new Écoute TH1 cans have a world-first inside one of the earcups – but it’ll cost you
If you were paying attention to le professeur at school you might remember that ‘écoute’ means ‘listen’ in French, but you’ll actually want to regarder the Écoute TH1 closely to see what’s particularly special about them.
In a world-first for a pair of headphones, the Écoute TH1 have a vacuum tube inside that glows when you use them, with a little window so you can see it in action (although not when you’re wearing them obviously). Venture out in public with them on and you’ll probably get people coming up to you to check you’re not a robot.
Most of the best Bluetooth headphones use a single microchip as the brains of the operation but the Écoute TH1 are more like a traditional hi-fi system that you wear on your head. The valve functions as a stereo preamp, plus there’s a pair of Class A/B analogue amplifiers and a high-resolution DAC to complete the chain.
The idea is that it delivers a warmer, more natural sound than you’d get from pairs that use the all-in-one approach, so it’ll feel more like you’ve gatecrashed a band practice and sat down right in the middle of the room.
Some people might think that valves sound a little old-fashioned, but there’s plenty of modern tech here too. They use Bluetooth 5.3 and support LDAC and AAC, there’s active noise-cancelling with a transparency mode so that you can hear people ask why your brain is blue, and the Écoute app lets you customise the sound before it’s converted to analogue.
The battery only lasts around 20 hours and at 424g they’re heavier than the already hefty AirPods Max 2, but if you want the world to know you’re serious about sound there’s no better way than wearing a glowing advert for proper hi-fi on your head. It’s just a shame that it’ll cost you $900 / £900.
Tom Wiggins
Contributor 
