At CES 2024, a new audio business created out of Japan’s NTT is showcasing personal audio hardware that is notable not for what it has but for what it lacks—literally anything between you and the world. Nothing there!
Nwm (pronounced “noom,” short for New Wave Maker) creates headphones that function like noise canceling but are flipped inside out. Headphones cancel sounds they create, not noise entering into your ear.
Similar ideas apply: Destructive interference cancels sound waves by tuning them precisely. Since earbuds and closed-back headphones confine sound, that’s typically not an issue. NWM’s headphones are more like miniature speakers next to your ears.
It’s designed so you can hear your music, calls, and the real world without having to take your AirPods out every time someone speaks and repeat it. Also good for city walks. Unless, like nwm’s headphones, they also emit a destructive sound wave to cancel out escape noise, the music or call is broadcast to the world. The term means “personal sound zone.”
The business has released a few tiny earbud-type headphones, but at CES they debuted two impressive new audio alternatives. A chair with speakers built into the wings near your head makes music audible when you lean back but muffled and silent when you’re a few inches away. Its concealed speakers are hard to see in the gamer-style chair.
In that scenario, you’ll have to enjoy the chair enough to make it your primary sitting choice and have a leaned-back posture to hear audio, which is not me (hunched over and leaning forwards, sometimes remembering to straighten up, as right now). That’s why I liked their other new product, the MBH001.
It resembles an on-ear or over-ear headphone pair with everything except the center and edge removed. Nothing there!
I was skeptical, but I got to try these early versions, and while it was hard to evaluate the sound quality on the noisy show floor (since there was nothing stopping it from getting in), I could hear it clearly while wearing them and not at all when they were off my head.
The headphones were light and manageable, but the silicone gasket padding wasn’t comfortable. They were simple except for lacking 75% of their bulk.
The business confirmed that the MBH001 would ship next, but not for many months. I’ll stay in contact and sample the final product when it’s ready.
