• On TechRepublic: Windows 7: Slower to boot than Vista?
January 3, 2008 4:55 AM PST

JVC looks to the trees for latest earbud design

by Mike Yamamoto
  • Font size
  • Print
  • 1 comment
(Credit: JVC)

Woodworkers have had a field day with the design of various consumer electronics products, with sylvan finishes in everything from TVs and PCs to cameras and keyboards. Even J. Lo has gone with the grain in her signature line of USB drives.

But wood in earbuds? It hardly seems worth the trouble for JVC's new HP-FX500 ear buds, which Slippery Brick says are made with birch, as well as hybrid drivers that include a "dampening gel" to improve stability and noise cancellation. Then again, this is a company that's known for its unconventional use of lumber in its audio equipment--so unconventional, in fact, that it even makes loudspeaker cones out of wood that's been soaked in sake, as fellow Craver Michael Kanellos found first-hand on his last trip to Japan.

There's no word whether these earbuds have been so fortunate.

Recent posts from Crave
Audio-Technica sets its sights on fashionable females
Digital City No. 58: Apple vs. Psystar; our fave laptop backpack; and New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Vizio's entry-level LCD not especially green, but still a good bargain
When BlackBerry developers play with robots
Microsoft opens app store to more phones
Mad Catz to offer cheaper muliplatform Wireless-N adapter for gaming
Toshiba LCD produces (slightly) deeper black levels
Android in the kitchen
Add a Comment (Log in or register)
Good looking!
by U. Tripps January 3, 2008 9:02 AM PST
I don't know if they sound as good as Shure's earbuds, but they certainly look a lot prettier.
Reply to this comment

About Crave

The name says it all. Crave is our blog about gorgeous gadgets and other crushworthy stuff. If you would like to contact Crave with a tip or comment, please write to: crave@cnet.com

Add this feed to your online news reader

Crave topics

A CNET Conversation with Eric Schmidt

CNET's Tom Krazit and Molly Wood sit down with Google CEO Eric Schmidt to discuss the future of Android, the Chrome OS, the problem of real-time search indexing, and more.

Verizon tests sending RIAA copyright notices

The No. 2 phone company, known for its reluctance to intervene in antipiracy cases, strikes an agreement to forward copyright notices on behalf of the music industry.