Display your state of play with these wearable rock quantifiers

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Just the thing for listening to Level 42?

Only eight middle-aged people got that joke, and they didn’t like it either. But, no, these aren’t designed for listening to 80s dad-pop. If you look closely at the music level meters, you’ll see that Meters Music is a new consumer product spin-off from acclaimed British studio amplifier manufacturer, Ashdown Engineering. Notable Ashdown associated noodlers include Foo Fighters, System of a Down and Rage Against The Machine. Wow, and Lenny Kravitz! Oh, and U2.

So did any of those iconic rockers ask for VU meters on the side of their headphones?

Nope… And neither did U2. (Ha!) But the headphones market is more crowded than the mosh pit at a Kravitz gig, so everyone needs something to stand out. And everyone loves an analogue meter, right? Invokes daydreams of sound studios and sci-fi movies – admit it, you’re imagining a kind of electrical ‘woooom’ noise even now.

I am not. (It’s more like a ‘squeeeee’.)

Exactly. And unlike some similar band brands – coughMarshallcough – these Meters headphones have actually been designed and enginnered by the same guys that make the band-pleasing amplifiers. They have active noise cancelling tech built-in – that, and the meters, need occasional charging via a microUSB socket next to the cable input.

Cable, huh? So not wireless?

Not yet. Meters has plans to launch a Bluetooth version soon, along with a VU-meter adorned Bluetooth speaker system and some in-ear headphones. The last of which, sadly, don’t have some tiny twitchy needles. In the meantime, these OV-1 headphones launch in January, at a sweet-sounding £279.

About

Fraser used to wear a Psion Series 3 palmtop in a shoulder holster. Perhaps he still does.Either way, his lifelong mission - including fourteen years for Stuff - has been to see whether the consumer electronics industry can ever replicate that kind of cyborgian joy.So far: nope. Despite a plan to combine a action camera and Olympus Eye-Trek goggles to become Man Who Sees The Vision Of A Man Three Inches Taller Than Himself.He also likes mountain bikes, motorbikes, cars, helicopters. Still thinks virtual surround is witchcraft. Dislikes jetskis, despite never having been on one.