Fender Released A Range Of Headphones That Double As In-Ear Monitors

Fender Released A Range Of Headphones That Double As In-Ear Monitors

Fender wants to make sure you can hear those instruments as well as you play them. They’re jumping into personal audio with both feet, introducing five in-ear headphones at a variety of prices. They sound vibrant and clear, even at the loud volumes, and run from $99 for the DXA1 to $499 for the audiophile-worthy FXA7. Instead of just being earbuds, the hand-assembled housings is fill up the concha of your ears to block external noise and fit the powerful balanced armature and dynamic drivers the different models use.

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Headphone

Fender’s in-ear headphones are putting a premium on custom-made parts, including both the audio components and housings. All but the cheapest model have custom drivers and 3D-printed housings that look like they will conform nicely to most ears. On the higher end of the range, Fender is including a hybrid-dynamic tuned balanced armature array, that should hopefully make for balanced but clear audio. These are meant to be in-ear monitors, after all, so the expectations are going to be high — the most expensive models in the line should be audiophile-worthy.

The non-slip thermo plastic elastomer bud tips and the over-ear hooks keep them in place, and it has detachable cables that can be replaced if it necessary. The sound they produce is balanced, not overly bass-heavy, so musicians and fans get an authentic impression of the music.

The Fenders were designed to fit 90 percent of people’s ear shapes. Still, a $200 pair of the other in-ear monitors plus a $200 etymotic fitting, where they take a custom mold of your ears, might give musicians better isolation from crowd noise.