Leslie Shapiro

CES is a crazy, hectic week of running around from press conference to manufacturer’s booths, meetings and deadlines. When Audio-Technica offered demos of their new ATH-ANC700BT QuietPoint noise-cancelling headphones along with a 15-minute professional massage, it was an irresistible treat, and the perfect way to wrap up the show.

Relative newcomer to the headphone industry (but old-timer in the mic business), Blue is shaking things up with a different way of dealing with noise cancelling sounds. While most headphones use a single driver, Blue’s wireless, over-ear Satellite uses a separate driver specifically for the sounds used to cancel out noise. Different, right?

Sennheiser has always been known for exceptional sound quality in their headphone lineup, and now they’re expanding into new territory with the new over-ear HD 820 with a closed-back design.

The problem with many portable speakers is that, well, they’re just not very portable. The X2 speakers from Kempler & Strauss are so small and portable that while they might be able to go anywhere, they’re so small they might get lost.