I was kindly sent some of these rather tasty looking new Hed Kandi Headphones recently, and I’m completely amazed by them. I’ve always loved Hed Kandi’s strong visual identity -
by the amazing illustrator Jason Brooks – and so it’s great to see they’ve branched out into products. Take a look at the lovely packaging for instance:
I almost didn’t want to open it!
“Hed Kandi defines the sound and vision of the international party scene so it was only a matter of time before they ventured into the audio market. Their headphones are not only uniquely fashion-focused but they also have the look and feel of a designer product at a competitive high street price.
Designed to suit the fashion forward, glamorous and trendy consumer, the range features a wide selection of products from the Kandies in-earphones which look good enough to eat and are sold in unique sweetie packaging to the over-ear, superlight and hair-friendly Disco Heavens available in four eye catching colours. There is also a plethora of other over-ear designs each with a distinct look and feel and bespoke iPhone/iPhone 4 sleeves. To complement the Jet-Set lifestyle of the hedonistic, summer customer they have also developed the clever GlitterBall and Pearl Drop speaker which lets you take your latest house tunes with you wherever in the world you are going.”
At first, I was a bit wary of big, over the head ‘proper’ headphones – they’re not exactly subtle. But after trying these out, I would never go back to the silly little ear buds I had. For one, the sound quality is so much better; I hadn’t really thought about it but those standard white earphones you get with your ipod etc are just so tinny, you really lose a lot of the sound. It occurred to me that most people spend a good £100 odd on things like ipods, then don’t invest in anything decent to play it out of! I’m the first to admit I hadn’t even realised what a difference headphones like this could make.
I realised that 80% of the time I’m listening to music, it’s through headphones, usually on the tube. I mainly wanted something small I could wrap up and shove in my bag; admittedly, these were not those. But I’d gladly sacrifice that (they’re not actually that big, they fit in my, albeit large, handbag fine) for how different it made all my music sound. I did the whole sound test thing where I had one song playing, then switched between my old earphones to these Hed Kandi headphones (very scientific) and you can instantaneously hear so much more depth in the songs. I happened to have Nine Inch Nails playing last and god, what a difference. Actual bass! Was like listening to a whole new band.
So aside from the sound, looks are quite important I think too. I had thought in the past of getting ‘real’ headphones but worried a bit about how conspicuous/geeky I might look; but you really don’t need to worry about that. I’ve spotted so many people out in London with these kind of headphones on, and as I intrepidly wound my way through the tube network this morning, I didn’t feel conspicuous or weird at all. In fact, the crazy bright colours suited me fine and I was in such a world of sonic amazement that I kind of didn’t care. That’s what I found was the best thing about these; not only do they play your music in amazing quality, but they block so much external sound out too. If you sit on the tube for nearly an hour and a half a day, like me, that’s a godsend. Even if you just want to chill out at home and block everything else out; this is what you need.
Here’s me being silly and posing like a proper East-end hipster. Oh yeah. I’m so cool now.
Perhaps if you live in the suburbs of Norfolk or somewhere, you may not feel so liberated by the brash and bold colours; it’s not for everyone I know, but I’ve always been one who loves to stand out, and for city living, these are great. My favourite part is the striking bright blues and pinks; perfect for this current Colour Blocking trend right now. I’m a big fan of coordinating colours so I’m looking forward to clashing these up with neons and brights over summer:
The Hed Kandi Discotheque Headphones are only £19.99 (seriously! if you love music, you need these) and you can get them here – they also have them in white and black, and also the lil earbud versions if you really need to hide away, then also these great Pure Kandi versions with a thin band so you don’t wreck your hair! Amazing. Those ones are £29.99.
