Taction Technology Kannons

Call to arms, my basshead friends! The Taction Technology Kannons are now on Kickstarter! You can get them for ~$300 if you back them now!

I put my money where my mouth is and ordered a pair.

Taction Kannon Headphone Kickstarter

http://www.basshead.club/taction-kannon-prototype-review/

You can also hear them at CanJam this weekend.

P.S. These aren't just for bassheads. You can tune the tactile feedback or even turn it off if you want (why would you?!).

 

Don't quite understand how they are producing the bass. It's from an external factor & not from the drivers themselves.

 

The physical vibration is from an external source but you still hear bass from the driver.

Bass is interesting, though. The physical sensation can be perceived as hearing and vice versa.

 

This tech would seem perfect for a electrostatic headphone.

 

the cup of water in the video demo is pretty impressive. VelvetX you gonna hear these and tell us if they are good?
edit: ok I backed these. Would they be good to be powered by a schiit wyrd?

 

Some useful info from Jim of Taction Technology (was on the HF thread):

Hi everyone,

It's great to see so much discussion on the thread. I might be able to help with a few of the questions:

Balanced inputs? No, not on on this first release. The ability to go mobile is valuable to a lot of people, and so we are working to keep the size of our connectors down. We want to make sure that you aren't locked into your desktop or home theater set up. It can be nice to watch movies on the plane or in bed, or to listen to music off your handset while you're walking. Balanced input may be something we take on in a later product.

Good with VR? Yes. I've tried VR demos with our prototypes. It's a good thing. The "Sisters" demo is scarier. Janunt's 3D Jack White concert is definitely more immersive. The Kick drum becomes far more real and directional.

Sound Signature? Hawaii Badboy called it "very middle of the road..." and I think that's a good description of the acoustics. We're starting with something that has broad acoustic appeal, and then we are trying to improve the expressiveness and fidelity by adding Taction. Here is the acoustic frequency response of one of our prototypes (figure below). Acoustically, we are tilted warm, but nothing too out-of-hand.



Tactile signature -- that's what's revolutionary. What I'm showing you (figure below) is the taction frequency response. It's a measurement of the lateral ear cup motion that's stimulating your skin through the pads. You can see it's flat over 30-100 Hz, and you can feel it all the way down to 10 Hz. There has never been anything before that can even remotely approach this performance. If I were to put up data from some prior commercial attempts to do this (I won't name them) there would be a smallish spike at 50-70 Hz, and nothing perceivable at any of the other bass frequencies. It's the flatness and power of the taction frquency response that makes the Kannon's different from anything that's come before.



Funding and delivery -- The deal with Kickstarter is that credit cards only get charged if enough people sign up for us to make our $75k goal by 4/24. If we don't make our goal, nobody gets charged anything. So there is no risk there. In terms of delivery, both Mike and I have done hardware before. Also, we already have an experienced audio contract manufacturer working with us. So, we feel good about taking things forward for November delivery, provided we get enough orders to make our goal. We understand that $299 is a lot for cans you may not have gotten to try yet, so we are offering a 15-day money back guarantee. If you don't like them, at worst you're just out the cost of return shipping. So that's the story on funding and delivery. If you are thinking of getting behind this, please do it now, because...

There are now fewer than 100 units left at $299. If you are thinking of getting in on this, it's time. I believe that folks elsewhere on this thread have posted pointers to the kickstarter page. Something is going to come of this, because we're now over 40% funded. By the statistics of Kickstarter, that means our chances of going to completion are already over 80% (figure below is from a few days ago).




Trying the hardware -- There are a couple of chances coming up to try Kannons in person:

• April 7-10: Disposable Film Festival, San Francisco. Taction is sponsoring a master class on sound and vision, and we will have a table in the VIP lounge. If you're going to be there, message me, I'll find a way to get you into the lounge for a demo.
• April 15-17: Axpona in Chicago. Taction will be there. You can try Kannon prototypes at our booth.

Thank you to everyone who has gone to Kickstarter and backed this project already!

FightinJim

Founder and CTO, Taction Technology​

 

Nice! I've backed this as well! Heard it at canjam and OMG da basssss. lol. I must have these.

 

Oh wow, I found myself on the Taction Kannon reaction youtube channel, how embarrassing!

But seriously, these were a real eye opener when I tried them at CanJam. Can't wait to see them in full production. These are especially great for movie watching.

 

Heck yeah! All it takes is a few seconds to want to back them. People assume they're a gimmick but they really aren't.

 

I thought they were pretty cool. I enjoy tactile feel so much that I attached a bass shaker to my computer chair while listening to headphones. I get more of a body impact that way.

When I listened to the Kannons at CanJam, I immediately thought of a few friends that would love them. However, I couldn't help but think they would get annoying after 15 minutes. After only about 10 minutes of demo, I was already thinking, "stop shaking my face! "

I guess I just prefer the body impact. Nevertheless, very cool set of cans that are going to bring many smiles to the basshead community.

 

Did you try dialing the Taction down? For extended sessions, it's probably best to have them shaking minimally anyway.

 

Yeah, I played with it quite a bit until I found what would probably be my average listening session level for music.
I also dialed it up for some eyeball shaking fun.

It's pretty cool. I might consider one down the road if I can find it used for 200.

I showed it to a few of my gaming friends and they went ape

 

I tried the Kannons at Axpona this weekend. They were unlike anything I've ever tried to be honest. No other headphone there matched the bass extension and impact these things gave out. They sound good with pretty much every genre depending on what level you have the driver at. Lowest level on jazz legit feels like what you'd feel if you were playing the bass next to your amp.

Wrote a review on head-fi if anyone is interested. Wasn't sure if I should post the whole thing here or just a link so here is a link: http://www.head-fi.org/products/taction-kannon/reviews/15789

They have a "mid-fi" sound but I personally think the bass makes up for it. They're very polite cans if you want them to be.

 

They're getting close to the goal: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2053327139/kannon-headphones-accurate-bass-you-can-feel/

Awesome note that I discovered recently:

To try these headphones in person is to understand a new level of musical realism, immersion, and audio depth. But not everyone can try them during the short span of a Kickstarter campaign. Accordingly, we offer a 15-day unconditional money-back guarantee (buyer pays return shipping). If you don't like them, send them back and we will refund your money, no questions asked. ​

 

I tried these at Canjam and while they are cool, I'm not enough of a basshead to consider spending $300+ on them. Good luck to them though, apparently they are looking at alternative business models if the Kickstarter doesn't meet its goal.

 

Woohoo they're funded!

 

niiiice~~! can't wait to have these babies & listen to EDM / Hiphop / Movies / Games with it

 

I just cancelled my purple TH-X00 drop and ordered this instead .

 

the funding just jumped really quick, didnt expect it to pass .

I had joined the KS for both these and the ossics, but decided there was a much higher chance I wouldn't enjoy the ossic compared to the taction drivers. If that 3d thing actually turns out decent, I guess I could just go for the full price then

 

You made a good choice. The Ossics were really disappointing at Canjam. Get the Out of Your Head software instead and use that with any headphone you want.