- 10mm pulp and rosewood hybrid drivers
- Self-healing paint can remove minor scratches
- About $270 / £205 / AU$410, Japan only for now
JVC Kenwood launched its new Victor WOOD Master wireless headphones in Japan, and they’re a little different from your average headphones: Their drivers are made from African rosewood and finished with self-healing paint. And you might recognize an old friend printed on the outside of each cocoon: it’s the dog Nipper, famous for “his master’s voice.”
The WOOD Masters feature hybrid drivers with diaphragms made from a blend of pulp and rosewood and, according to the brand, deliver clear vocals and precise sound in the best-sounding Victor headphones yet.
Would these headphones be good to have made of wood?
So what’s the problem with the dog? Victor takes its name from the Victor Talking Machine Company, founded in 1901 and creator of the His Master’s Voice catchphrase and puppy logo.
Victor was an early manufacturer of record players and amplifiers, and in the late 1920s he set up an operation in Japan. That operation would become JVC, and after splitting from RCA Victor in the 1940s it kept the Victor and His Master’s Voice trademarks, but only in Japan, which is why for people living in the UK like me, Nipper the dog is synonymous with record store chain HMV rather than the Japanese hardware firm.
That’s all very interesting, I hear you say, but what about these wooden headphones? The drivers are 10mm and the earbuds support SBC, AAC and LDAC, with Victor’s “Custom Sound” to measure the shape of your ears and adjust accordingly. There’s also spatial audio and battery life is up to 10.5 hours for the earbuds and 31.5 hours for the charging case. Bluetooth is 6.0 with multipoint connectivity and low latency mode for videos and games.
The WOOD Master are apparently the first truly wireless earbuds treated with self-healing paint that makes minor scratches disappear over time. They are IP55 rated against dust and water and weigh 6.5g per earbud.
The WOOD Master headphones will go on sale in Japan at the end of November 2025 with a price of 41,800 yen. That’s about $270 / £205 / AU$410. So far there’s no indication that these particular headphones will be released in other markets. One hope: I, on the one hand, like to try them.
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