Streamz will go to CES with headphones that you don’t have to connect to a smartphone or home audio system to hear music.
The company’s Streamz $399 headphones will pack a 96kHz/24-bit high-resolution-audio music player and a Wi-Fi network streamer, which will access computer-stored music and cloud-based streaming services. It will also feature aptX Bluetooth to stream music from smartphones, laptops and home-audio products.
March availability is planned through retailers and the Streamz online store.
The headphones will be available in leather-cushioned on- and over-ear versions, each in a choice of black or white. They will feature on-board high-res 96/24 DAC and decoding of 96/24 FLAC, Apple AIFF, WAV and Pono HD music files. Files can be transferred automatically from phones, PCs and Google Drive, the company said. High-res music can also be streamed via DLNA over a home Wi-Fi network from home computers.
The headphones will use Google Chromecast to stream music from the cloud via Chromecast-enabled apps, initially from Pandora and Spotify but expanding to other Chromecast-enabled services via firmware updates. Users will be able to access the cloud services from Wi-Fi hot spots, not just from home networks.
Users will select headphone-stored songs and cloud services via voice or via a Streamz app running on an Android phone or iPhone. The app also selects phone-stored music.
The headphones come with 4GB on-board storage and accept 32GB memory cards.
The device can be connected to a home audio system to play back high-res music and cloud services for everyone in a room. The headphones will also stream music via Bluetooth to Bluetooth-equipped home-audio products, including Bluetooth speakers.
“Most music lovers, commuters and audiophiles just want to listen to their music without having to mess with their smartphone, apps, cables and Bluetooth pairing,” said CEO/founder Douglas Kihm of the products.
His company was spun-off from Mozaex, the supplier of home A/V servers with 1080p HD video playback.
