It's not always practical for gigging DJs to wrap a pair of hefty cans around their heads when selecting or preparing tracks on a portable music player, smartphone or tablet, but even high-end earbuds might not cut the mustard when it comes to the specific audio needs of today's digital pancake turner. Pioneer's Professional Sound and Visual Division has developed some enclosed inner-ear headphones specially tuned for mixing and playing on the move.
"Many DJs feel regular headphones are too big to carry around while on the go, which is why we created these new in-ear headphones," said Pioneer's David Arevalo. "We want DJs to get the best of both worlds, obtaining the same DJ quality sound found in our HDJ headphones but in a much smaller form factor so portability isn’t an issue."
The company's flagship DJE-2000 earphones have a hybrid 2-way driver system in each earpiece for precision audio reproduction across the whole frequency range. The 9.4 mm driver positioned at the back of the housing delivers low end thunder, while another at the front concentrates on the pronounced mids and highs. The frequency response is reported to be 6 Hz to 22 kHz, with remaining audio specs being an impedance of 30 ohms, 103 dB sensitivity and a maximum input of 500 mW.
Three Comply foam tips are included to help cut down on background noise so that the DJ can concentrate on the beat. There are also four silicone tips and one triple-flanged silicone tip to ensure a snug ear canal fit. The 1.6 m (5.25 ft) textile-coated, detachable cable promises reduced tangling and extended life, but can be quickly replaced by the user in the event of failure. The cable can also be secured over the ear for stability thanks to the inclusion of memory-shape resin material.
The DJE-2000 earphones come in black or white and carry a suggested retail price of US$299.
There's a 9.4 mm dynamic driver in the DJE-1500 earphones, too. The copper-clad aluminum wire voice coil and magnet are reported to efficiently reproduce different kinds of music across a wide frequency spectrum, and the diaphragm is made of a ceramic powder coating composite to reduce internal vibration for low distortion output.
These earphones boast the same wide frequency range as the DJE-2000s, but with a 22 ohm impedance, 105 dB sensitivity and a maximum input of 30 mW. The detachable cable can also fit over the ear for a better fit, but the housing of these inner-ear headphones can be rotated to user preference.
The DJE-1500 flavor comes supplied with one set of medium-sized Comply foam tips and four silicone tips, for a suggested price of $159.
Both DJE inner-ear headphones will be available from April.
