- Daisy One: new headphones from a new brand — and they’re not cheap
- No application, heavier version than average, smaller drivers…
- …but I honestly think the dedicated “Still Mode” button on the ear could be a winner
You’ve never heard of Daisy (the California tech company; you may have heard of the flower) but she wants you to hear about it. Or listen to it… the first over-ear headphones, called Daisy One.
These new cans retail for a not-insignificant $399 / £364 (around AU$700), money that could, it’s important to say, buy you Sony or Bose cans. So why buy them instead? Refreshingly, rather than playing the heavy hitters at their own game, Daisy throws out the rule book on how to win you over.
Take the audio chops from the cans; instead of using the same 40mm drivers that almost everyone opts for, Daisy opted for a 35mm option, tuned by ex-Harman engineers and geared toward the low end. This is quite rare in more expensive wireless models, where the goal is usually neutral sound.
Then there’s the design: it’s heavier than average, at 318g, and uses a thinner metallic look than your average ears and comes in silver, dark green, or blue (no traditional “charcoal” option here).
Perhaps the biggest selling point – something many brands (and reviewers) might consider a drawback – is the lack of app. Instead, controls are done on the headset, with a dial for volume controls and play/pause, and a dedicated button that plays soundscapes recorded throughout California. And what a dial/button it is! It reminds me of Montblanc jewelry headphones or the tip of a Montblanc pen.
What this button offers is called “Still Mode” and includes access to rain sounds, five-minute breathing tracks, ocean tides and more, but from the earbuds themselves, that is. without the need to open an app or keep your phone connected to its source device.
There’s also noise cancellation listed on the spec sheet, but Daisy may know it can’t beat the class leaders at this game. Where most flagship cans want to give you silence through ever-improving ANC algorithms, Daisy blazes a different path directly to the desired result. effect of this silence: a calmer mind – and more able to concentrate.
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do it
By turning traditional earphone flaws (see lack of an app and a slightly smaller driver) into selling points, Daisy makes it clear that it’s trying something different.
It’s unclear if this is intentional or by accident. In an interview with Wired, the company’s CEO Jack Mulroe confirmed that the designers were “from outside the audio industry.” The brand therefore brings new perspectives, but potentially some gaps: Mulroe admits “to having refined the transparency for months” while trying to solve its problems.
In recent years, we’ve seen that headphone fans will welcome new brands, perhaps more so than in other tech sectors. The CMF Headphone Pro, Nothing Headphone(a), and Soundcore Space 2 models have proven popular (at least I’ve seen people wearing them) and you can see at the very end of the next wagon that they’re not part of the traditional Sony, Bose, or Sennheiser lineup.
We’ve seen other headset startups try to help wearers stay calm and focused, albeit using very different technology. Take Neurable’s “brain-hacking” headphones, which monitor your brain activity while you wear them and thus aim to help you achieve a flow state. But Daisy’s approach is different again, and it seems to me that by taking a more hands-off approach (and leaving our gray matter alone), Daisy’s approach may sounds more conducive to calm…
Ultimately, it’s always good to see a new brand take over, especially if they think they can do things differently from the big dogs. It will be very interesting to see what impact the Daisy One has and where the company goes from here.
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