These Genki: Waveform Earphones Let You Stream And Mix Two Audio Sources

Sounds useful if you want to listen to two albums at once.

(I suppose you could turn off the music in a game and then stick on an album)

It's a really nice feature, and whilst not one I "need" it's definitely something I would get at least some use out of from time to time.

Problem is, I'm really picky on the quality of the earphones. Everyone seems to be making and selling them these days, and most are really, really poor quality. I'd want to test them out before I committed the money, and that's not likely to be an option, is it?

These seem interesting, and this is definitely something I could use. Whenever I VC with my friends on the Switch I always just have the Switch audio much lower so that my microphone doesn't pick anything up. This would be great for me, but I'll have to see what the actual sound quality is like.

I love Genki and am very happy with my Shadowcast which I primarily use to make my work laptop an hdmi monitor. However, I don't see myself spending $200 on IEMs which does not fall under semi-pro or professional range. Great for those who have been waiting for a solid wireless option for competitive Splatoon or Smash I guess.

Although I think these are cool I don't have the money for them unfortunately

@StarPoint
Ha! Yes of course. I feel old now...

I have a lucky setup where my laptop, monitor and games consoles are very close together so my Steel Series headphones USB dongle is connected to my laptop and also to my Switch via an AUX cable so I can mix and match both my laptop audio and Switch audio (e.g. play a podcast through my laptop and have Switch volume low).

This is handy for a cheaper BT option though! Neat!

Well I guess this kinda almost counts as Nintendo news? I mean it has a picture of a switch at least.

I really didn't like that "rapper style". Too goldy for my taste

I usually don’t comment on things like this, but I had to say something. I purchased the Covert Dock and it worked for 3 times and then stopped. Their customer service is nonexistent so I never got a replacement. I also bought the ShadowCast, but it is significantly worse than how they advertised it (but at least it works, I guess). I guess all I’m saying is that if you’re looking at buying these headphones, I would suggest looking elsewhere.

@Octane_st1m is that what they cost? I was wondering why the story didn't list what they were going to be selling them for...

@emmettito very helpful for us who don't normally back anything on Kickstarter, thanks.

The cheapest and easiest way to mix audio between anything with a 3.5mm audio output and a PC is just connecting the audio output into the line in port on the PC and turn on listening for the line in port. All the audio comes out of the PC's audio output after that. I was searching for several hours for dacs, adcs, multipoint connecting headphone, mixer, etc.. that costs upward to hundreds when I finally found out I just needed a spare aux cable.

Wish Nintendo kept letting us play music off our memory cards in games like they did with Excite Truck

@twztid13 yes its $199 for the early backers then it will be $279 when they release it according to the Kickstarter page. Its their most expensive product to date afaik.

@Octane_st1m ouch, thanks. So, u have to pay almost 50% more if u don't give them money ahead of time (which I will definitely not do on a product like this). I understand that it's an incentive to get more backers, but I'm just not comfortable with that, considering I'm lower middle class in the US. I guess i will just wait & see how they're received & read some reviews, but i think that extra $79 puts me off enough to not buy it,, because it would only be for that 1 feature,, which i could live without. Thanks for taking the time to reply with the price, much appreciated.

I don’t get this trend of wireless earphones. Let me put it this way, you are spending $100+, just so you don’t have to deal with wires.

@nocdaes this is the trouble I have with headphones and ear buds in particular. I really want to know what it sounds like before purchase but that involves putting it into my ear and there’s no situation where that seems okay for anyone involved.

there are a lot of use cases for this; just being able to use the phone while working and listening to music on the computer or having music in the background of tedious zoom calls.
And yeah, for gaming, I love that the PS4 would run Spotify so I played through all Subnautica with my own Subnautica playlist of ambient stuff which was absolutely great.
And more than once I used my Airpods Pro underneath my overear-headphones to do exactly this, so I'd even be the audience.

The focus on low latency is also very nice.

BUT: they definitely don't look "pretty slick". And the regular retailprice of 280 bucks also don't make them cheap ones. Which is OK for a quality thing, but not for something from some kickstarter I never heard (yes! literally heard! I know!!) of. But I'll be looking forward to see some youtubers test it.

@blindsquarel
I didn't understand this either until I at some point bought cheaper ones from Marshall and it happens to be a different thing.
After they turned out to be crap (stopped working quite quickly) I got Airpods Pro for a pretty hefty price but the thing with them is that I can have them in my ear all of the time (or as long as the battery lasts) and just connect to whatever device I'm using.
I can put that device wherever you want in my flat and run around, accept calls, listen to podcasts and so on.
I totally get what you mean, but its actually surprising how a wire really is a leash thats very constraining and limiting you to using a very specific device in a very specific range.

BUT life was definitely cheaper when I didn't feel like that, so maybe you just wanna forget what you just read

Sad to see they got that crap ear plugs design ugh. I only like the og apple earbud/ airpod design that doesn't make you feel like your ears are clogged up...uck. Why ppl like this style now I'll never understand.

@Travisemo007 its funny. when the original airpods launched, I laughed at how stupid they looked. After seeing them in the wild literally at every corner, everything else looks weird now. Still like the newer, short designs more but I agree, I generally like the design approach of not having two bricks coming out of your ears, even if it means that there's a thing leading away. But I guess if we'd all wear bricks like those here, I also wouldn't care.

@valcoholic I'm mainly referring to the in ear silicone part of it and the way it makes ones ears feel. And how most earbuds have that now instead of the non in ear non silicone design that apple earbuds were known for, not counting the airpod pros which have the same silicon ear plugs design I dislike. As far as how any look style/astetic visually wise, that's never really been a selling point for me. When it comes to earphones n buds, sound quality and comfort is what I care about. Apple earbuds have stood out to me as the all around best option I've tried. Only issue I have with airpods is windows has problems making their volume too quiet and sometimes pairing issues to PC.

@Travisemo007 ah yeah right, my wife also got the regular ones as she hates silicone plugs and its sorta true that there isn't that much good competition for the regular ones (which might be reflected in their sales ... a bit)

@Travisemo007 I’ve used both types - the EarPod/OG AirPod-style no-silicon tip and the AirPod Pro-style silicon tip, and I can say that at the end of the day, it’s personal preference based on what you want to prioritize, and that neither type is inherently better or worse; in many ways, it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Also, ear shape plays a significant role in comfort, so what fits great for one person may not even fit in another person’s ears.

I hated the EarPods when they were first released. They never stayed in my ears unless I was sitting still. But when the AirPods were first released, the lack of a cable made a world of difference; I came to realize that no cable meant no gravity pulling the buds down, and the AirPods sat comfortably even when I was running while wearing them.

My personal favorite though are earphones with triple flange tips (https://www.techhive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/er4sr_er4xr_reg_tip_straight_cord_pair_jpg-100794287-orig.jpg?quality=50&strip=all&w=1024). These are deep insertion types - they fill your ears beyond most silicon tips. On the one hand, because of the extra isolation, you don’t have to raise the volume as much, thereby lowering the risk of hearing loss. Also, there is little to no leakage - you could blast the volume and people around you will barely hear a peep. On the other hand, because of the extra isolation, I would not dare wear these when I’m walking outdoors because I lose all situational awareness.

Comfort is subjective; I actually prefer the filling sensation. However, there are those who find the sensation suffocating.

The EarPods and non-pro AirPods have the opposite results. They are less isolating, so they still help you maintain at least SOME situational awareness in public. Also, because of the different shape, the sound waves would travel differently and subsequently present a different sound signature. However, in places with a lot of ambient noise, you would have a harder time listening so that can force you to increase the volume and consequently increase the risk for hearing loss. And the louder you play, the more leakage there will be around you.

So yeah. My guess is that domed buds are mainstream because they allow lesser sound leakage in public. But each form has their own features and shortcomings. It’s up to the listener to determine what feature is a plus and what feature is a minus.