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Monster goes upscale with $550 Genesis headphones

The new over-the-ear model with active noise cancellation is aimed at folks who want a more premium -- and exclusive headphone -- than a pair of $300 Beats.

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
Expertise Mobile accessories and portable audio, including headphones, earbuds and speakers Credentials
  • Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
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David Carnoy
The $550 Genesis headphones are due to ship in April in limited quantities (click image to enlarge). Monster

LAS VEGAS--The $300 headphone market is starting to get pretty crowded, so what's a company like Monster to do? Go even further upscale with a new pair of "ultra-premium" $550 Genesis headphones.

The company says the new model features a "sculpted, patented over-ear design and the most advanced active noise-cancellation technology Monster has ever introduced."

Monster's marketing the Genesis as a more exclusive set of headphones. When they ship in April, they'll be offered in extremely limited distribution, the company says, "with each product individually serialized and packaged with a hard shell case featuring finely woven ballistic nylon."

I'll let you know just how luxurious they are -- and how good they sound -- as soon as I get some hands-on time with them.

 
The Genesis is an active-noise-cancellation headphone model (click image to enlarge). Monster