Hands on with Psyko's novel and innovative headphones

We heard about Psyko a few days ago, and they won accolades for innovation, producing a pair of surround-sound headphones that’s using a totally different kind of technology. Essentially the sound is produced in five separate drivers above your head, then guided down pipes to your ears. They’re untraditional in every way, and I just wish I could have tried them out in a quiet room instead of the infernal racket that is the CES show floor.

Let’s be honest, now: these are some weird-looking headphones. And a test configuration I tried with bigger plushy headpads looked even more so. But first of all, who really cares? You’re not wearing these to the ball, Cinderella. And second, they felt incredibly light and comfortable. Like, you won’t believe how light they are. I’ve been reviewing a really nice but quite heavy pair of Ultrasones for a while, and this is a breath of fresh air. Speaking of which, the ear bits are vented — the mechanism is a bit budget (I don’t think you can take the flap off completely), but while we’re being honest we can talk about how our ears get all sweaty.

I’ll definitely be getting a pair of these to review in case you’re skeptical, so I can give you the whole story.