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Sony’s audio onslaught brings hi-res Walkman players, colorful headphones

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Sony introduced a whole new range of headphones at IFA 2015 earlier today alongside new Walkman models.

The over-ear hi-res headphones are called h.ear On (though you’d think they’d be called h.ear Over), and come in a range of vibrant colors, including viridian blue, charcoal black, cinnabar red, lime yellow, and Bordeaux pink. Sony focused on building the headphones to have “virtually no seams” between the headband and earcups, offering a more rigid and sleek design. Sony has added minimal branding to the new headphones for a sleek look.

Specs on the closed-back headphones are impressive, including titanium-coated 40mm drivers that offer a massive claimed frequency response of 5Hz-60kHz, and 103dB sensitivity. Those are some serious numbers for the price of just $200, and the cans are designed to pair with Sony’s hi-res Xperia Z5 or other compatible devices, such as Sony’s Walkman line of hi-res portable players. The headphones are slated for release in November.

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Sony has also rolled out some new in-ear headphones in the series, called the h.ear In NC, which offer noise cancelling functionality, and come in a range of colors that should go together with the Xperia Z5 quite nicely. Not much details have been given about the in-ears yet, so we’ll have to wait for pricing and release dates.

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Sony h.ear On
Sony h.ear On
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Sony h.ear In NC
NW-ZX100HN
NW-ZX100HN
Sony NW-A25HN
Sony NW-A25HN
Sony h.ear On
Sony h.ear On
sony hi res headphones walkman ifa h ear in nc 5
Sony h.ear In NC
NW-ZX100HN
NW-ZX100HN

Alongside the headphones, Sony also teased a new Walkman range to add to its growing collection of hi-res portable music players, including the NW-A25HN, and the NW-ZX100HN, both of which are capable of playing multiple files at 24bit/192kHz resolution. The NW-A25HN has its own hi-res noise cancelling software on board, and Sony says they come with a pair of “hi-res noise cancelling headphones,” though it’s not clear which cans come along for the ride.

The NW-ZX100HN Walkman is the music player for the serious audiophile out there, with up to 45 hours of high resolution audio playback per charge, hi-res digital noise cancelling capabilities, and a pair of hi-res noise cancelling headphones.

Finally, Sony  announced the new CAS-1 audio system, which appears to be a miniature amplifier designed to work with speakers or headphones to deliver higher quality sound for a desktop, TV or any other set-up that requires an external audio system.

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David Curry
David Curry
Former Digital Trends Contributor
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