The Headphone (1) Pro is Nothing’s newest pair of cans, the company announced on Monday at an evening event in New York City. The headphones resemble Nothing’s first-ever over-ear headphones that debuted last summer, though the design and fit have been refined. The key change, though, is audio quality.
Instead of a single dynamic driver producing the sound in each earcup, Nothing has outfitted the Headphone (1) Pro with three drivers for each ear. Most headphones use a single 40-mm dynamic driver, so a single speaker ends up handling the bass, mids, and treble of your tracks. That can cause some muddiness and distortion. Adding more drivers—one for each specific frequency spectrum—gives the sound more room to stretch out and sparkle.
There’s a 40-mm bass dynamic driver to handle the low end. Then there’s a precision dynamic driver to tackle the midrange sounds like vocals, pianos, and guitars. The company says this driver will render those “S” and “T” sounds with more detail. Finally, there’s the treble driver for the highs. Nothing’s driver uses xMEMS technology, which relies on a silicon diaphragm that should make transients—sharp bursts like a cymbal hit or a spiky synth stab—sound clearer.
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Courtesy of Nothing
All of these drivers working together should produce richer sound that’s more detailed overall. Every headphone maker claims their gadget produces the best sound on the market, but at least Nothing has attempted some technical feats here to try to convince you.
What’s neat is you can see elements of the triple-driver architecture on the sides of the headphones—Nothing has added a couple of 9H Panda glass panels so you can peep the tech inside. The rest of the headphones are largely aluminum with titanium accents.
You’ll no doubt worry about cracking that glass; Nothing claims that it is “shatter- and scratch-resistant,” but Philipp Von Lintel, associate principal industrial designer at Nothing, says the glass had to survive durability tests 18 times from a drop of more than 1 meter. Also, the glass construction shouldn’t affect repairability much—repair technicians can heat the glass from the outside to remove it and access the internal chamber for fixes. “Even if you crack it, there’s a plastic film that keeps the chamber still working,” Von Lintel tells WIRED.
The Headphone (1) Pro is slightly lighter (by 2 grams) than the Headphone (1), with a wider headband and thicker padding, though battery life isn’t as long, down to 68 hours with active noise canceling turned off versus 80. It has an IP52 dust- and water-resistance rating, so keep the hood of your rain jacket raised on rainy days.
Almost every gadget maker tosses the “Pro” moniker in the product name to justify a few extra features and a price bump. Yes, the Headphone (1) Pro cost $399, a $100 bump over the standard Headphone (1), but Nothing claims it is specifically catering to not just the average consumer who wants better sound, but also recording artists and audio professionals who work in the studio.
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Courtesy of Nothing
The company is including a feature that activates a flat equalization (EQ) mode—something mix engineers and audio producers prefer when they’re working—that’s triggered by a physical button on the headphones. Nothing collaborated with Metropolis Studio, a pro recording studio, to make the EQ features. There’s even a “Studio B” Dynamic Spatial Audio mode that simulates Metropolis’ mixing room, and four other Custom EQ profiles, like Concert Hall or Club. And yes, there’s a 3.5-mm jack so you can plug in (or stick with hi-res wireless or USB-C).
Charlie Smith, Nothing’s chief brand officer, says people will want these headphones for their commute to work. “That’s fine, but people are making music on the go and need studio-level sound wherever they are,” he says.
Nothing also claims the headphones have the best active noise cancellation it’s ever shipped, thanks to the use of 10 microphones to filter out ambient sounds. (Apple’s AirPods Max, for comparison, use eight.)
“To us, this is a flagship product where we’re able to showcase what we can do,” Smith says. “It also helps elevate us as a brand.”
Sadly, they don’t fold up. Instead, Nothing is following Apple’s lead by including a bra-like carry case to keep the cans protected.
They’ll officially hit store shelves on September 29—not only on Nothing’s online store and Amazon, but also nationwide in Best Buy stores across North America.
