If you workout then you’ve probably at sometime in your life got tripped up by your headphone cord draped from your ears to your pocket.  When the Shuffle was introduced it hardly resolved this issue, but since Apple released the model that included a built-in spring loaded belt clip we easily overlooked this caveat.  Not Jeremy Saxton & Jacob Hall who recently launched a Kickstarter project to raise funds for the ODDIO1, a cord free set of headphones designed to work in conjunction with the Shuffle.

The headphone’s outer chassis is built from a nylon plastic while the inner ear cushion is crafted from of high-grade silicone.  This should make them lightweight, durable and comfortable to wear during rigorous activity.  This is further complemented by a set of 30mm drivers, which should result in a rather reasonable spectrum of sound.  But that’s the hardly shining feature of these conceptual ear cans.

Located on the right headphone is a special slot specifically designed to hold the latest iPod Shuffle.  Just plug it in and  the Shuffle is converted into an all-in-one portable music player.  The makers say that the controls are fully accessible and that there is no need to remove the Shuffle to sync or charge the device.  They have plans to offer these headphones, which mind you include an adjustable headband, in grey/black, black/blue, and black/pink. Though for some extra scratch you can score a limited edition “Cupertino Colorway.”

To get in on these headphones you simply need to pledge $35.

GadgetReview is giving away a pair of UrbanEars TANTO headphones ($40 value), to ONE lucky winner!

UrbanEars TANTO headphones come in a variety of colors (to say the least).  They’re lightweight and portable, but that doesn’t mean they’ve sacrificed on sound quality.  Included is a fabric cord to minimize tangling, as well as an inline microphone for those that like to chat handsfree on their smartphone.

We’re giving away one of these to one person for FREE. To enter just LIKE our Facebook Fan Page and then leave a comment on the associated FB post telling us your favorite band.  Again, you’ll need to head to our Facebook page and leave your comment on the post announcing this contest.

Will pick one winner at random from the comments, but in order to WIN you’ll have to Like Us and comment on Facebook. If you’d like a double entry, follow us on Twitter and retweet this url with the following hashtags #contest #urbanears #headphones.

This contest ends 9/7/2011 at 11:59 PST

It’s open to US residents in the continental US of A only.

Retro is in.  Always has been and always well be.  Take for instance classic cars.  A 60s Mustang will forever hold its value.  And lets not forget about the music.  It will forever have a place in everyone’s hearts, old or young.  And as it turns out, the fine folks that make those iHome Devices, SDI technologies, have their roots in an era when things were built to last.

The company has now reissued their SD63 Retro-Style Hi-Fi Stereo Headphones.  Aesthetically they’re all 60s, but on the inside is today’s tech, although speaker technology hasn’t snadvanced all that much in the last 40 years; as far as we know it’s still a coil and magnet setup to a large degree.  iHome says these phones boast rich hi-fi sound, plush air cushioned ear pads, an adjustable headband and a rotary volume knob on the headphone for added convenience.  And guess what?  You can buy them today for $49.99.

We’re not too crazy about highend headphones.  In our experience they more often than not turn out to be overpriced and in turn under deliver.  Perhaps our expectations are too great or our ears just aren’t as discerning as the audiophiles that craft the mini speakers.  However, we’re a big fan of functionality and while we’ll reserve our judgment of Bower and Wilkin’s C5 headphones, they look bad ass and might just be the high end buds you’ve been searching for when it comes to exercise.

The “secure loop design” comes in a variety of sizes and is designed to keep the C5s glued to your head even during the most rigorous of exercise, or we can only hope.  The in-ear design should mean significant noise isolation from ambient sound, though don’t get your hopes up too high, since they don’t have active noise cancellation.  If you’ve got an iPhone or iPod then you’ll be able to utilize the in-line controls and take calls on the microphone.  B&W has incorporated some sort of filter called “micro porous”, which they say act as a sound diffuser to open up sound and make the music feel “remarkably rich and expansive”.  Lastly, a tungsten tube has been strategically placed in these buds to keep the phones balanced towards the ears and helps them stay secure.

Expect the C5s sometime this August for about $240.

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Sleek, powerful and opulent are just a few of the words that come to mind when looking at Klipsch’s Mode Noise Canceling Headphones.  A single battery provides up to 45 hours of active noise cancellation, though they can still be used as a regular pair of headphones without. 40mm woofers provide what the company says are “deep bass and dynamic midrange”, while a pair of 15mm tweeters deliver crisp highs.  The phones are finished in soft and supple leather to enclose your listening experience in top notch comfort.

No word on an actual launch date, but expect the Klipsch Mode Noise Cancelling Headphones to arrive sometime this fall for $349.99.

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How many times have you pined to share your iPhone’s tunes with your bud only to realize that the built-in speakerphone won’t suffice in that ‘loud as balls’ subway?  Too many right?

The Robot Headphone Splitter is a cute as puppies device that instantly provides two headphone inputs to any 3.5mm headphone infused device.  Sure, headphone splitters are nothing new, but this one is not only utilitarian, but uber cool seeing as the eyes are the plugs and the body pops off to reveal the headphone jack.

Do we hear ‘I want one’?  It’s $14.

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Probably more for show than anything else, the Street Headphones are a totally customizable set of luxury headphones from Freedom of Creation.  Submit several of your favorite band names and artists and close to 10 weeks later you’ll receive a pair of headphones that reflects those choices three dimensionally.

Constructed from a Laser Sintered Polyamide the company doesn’t provide any actual technical specifications so you are going to have to trust that these headphones will sound awesome for the staggering price of $1,260.  From the looks of the picture they really don’t look all that comfortable.

What do you think?  Cool gimmick or total waste of hard earned street hustling cash?

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Sony has been scrapping to make a come back and apparently so far so good.  Perhaps in an attempt to solidify their supposed comeback, they kicked out 3 new headphones that aren’t looking too shabby.

First up is the DR-350USB, a USB PC headphone with a boom, 30mm drivers and is available in black, red and gold.  It has a built-in boom mic and a set of in-line controls for manipulating volume as well as a quick mute button. The appear pads appear to be slender in shape, so let’s hope they can put out some decent bass.

Next up is the DR-320DPV.  It forgoes the USB jack for what I presume is a 3.5mm headphone jack.  The inline volume control is limited to a jog dial (no mute function), has a mic built-in to the headset and the phones come in Gold, Blue, Red and Black.

Last up is a pink headphone, the R-310DPV.  It’s looks pretty minimalist and sports an inline mic and some volume controls as well as a mute button.

As of now pricing is unknown, but don’t expect the DR-350USB, DR-320DPV or the R-310DPV to hit US shores any time soon.  Word is that they’ll be hitting the Asian countries first and then who knows where.

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• Closed supra-aural stereo mini headphones with switchable NoiseGard active noise cancelling
• Ideal for air travel and noisy environments
• Ultra-lightweight design and soft ring ear pads
• Excellent sound quality with deep powereful bass performance
• Supplied with two adaptors (1/4″ stereo jack and 3.5 mm double mono jack)

Get this. NTT Docomo has designed a pair of headphones that can detect your eye movement, which if performed correctly, can change tracks, pause/play and stop your mp3 player.

Using something called electroculograms, the headphone some how sense which direction a person is looking when wearing the ear buds.  Add in some programming and you can control your MP3 player or phone’s media player by performing a set of queues, such as rotating your eyes clockwise to increase volume or looking left to right to skip a track.  Whacked, straight whacked!

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It’s $129.99 – $20 coupon (3A825) + $10.99 S&H = $120.98 shipped!

Don’t forget Crutchfield’s $20 coupon: 3A825 (expires: on going)