V-Moda is known for its trendy high-end personalized headphones, but the company is taking customization to a new level by offering headsets with 3D-printed panels.
The headphones themselves aren't printed, but customers can choose their own designs for 3D-printing on interchangeable shields that cover the ear pieces.
The panels come in a variety of materials, including fiber and stainless steel, as well as raw, plated and precious materials. They range from a reasonable $40 to an astounding $40,000 for the platinum-printed models.
All V-Moda headphones have plain shields screwed into the sides. Users remove the plain models and replace them with their customized 3D-printed panels. As well as a choice of color and material, customers can choose from designs based on five different selections, including monograms, laurel leaves, studs and more.
V-Moda will also emboss custom designs on your shields — with certain limitations. The designs have to comply with copyright laws, so you can't brand your earphones with your favorite sports team logo or a Nike swoosh. The new headsets come with lifetime warranty coverage.
The flagship M-100 bundles cost between $900 and $40,000 for the sterling silver, solid gold and platinum shields. Prices go down from there, depending on your preferred material. Bronze and brass cost between $180 to $500, stainless steel is $100 for on-ear and $150 for over-ear models, and the fiber models are priced at $40 for on-ear and $50 for over-ear. The headphones themselves start at $200 for the XS model with fiber shields.
V-Moda earphones are used by top DJs like Tiësto, Avicii, Nervo and Claude VonStroke — and you can expect them to be picking up the precious metal models. V-Moda CEO Val Kolton is no doubt hoping that celebs will be showing off their glitzy models on red carpets around the world.
"Additive manufacturing for wearable technology is not only a product, but a 360-degree service and paradigm-shift for design and manufacturing," he said.
Paradigm shift might be stretching things a little — but it's certainly an innovative trick to sell more products, and as with the Apple Watch Edition, the crazy price tags will generate plenty of publicity.
