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Last night, a small block of Manhattan’s East Village hosted the launch of a new generation of headphones by Munitio. Munitio (pronounced muni-show) was inspired by the word ammunition. Although Munitio is a relatively new player to the scene, it quickly gained numerous awards and high praise for their product line. Their first product, the NINES, was a result of Daniel’s vision to produce a line of headphones that were focused on sound quality, rather than budgeting on brand marketing such as brand ambassadors and fancy advertising. The NINES were designed ‘from the inside out’, according to Daniel. As he was looking for a suitable housing to enclose the 9mm drivers that power the NINES’ sound, Daniel realized that the driver actually fit into a 9mm pistol shell – and that was exactly what he did. Munitio actually machines each earphone from a solid piece of high density copper alloy and then given a titanium-coated finish. This is what gives the NINES its premium feel and the ability to perform so well, providing unmatched sound purity and natural noise cancellation.
Moving forward, Daniel realized what he ultimately wanted for his company; to be truly audiophile-centric. The company’s next product was the PRO40, yet another product to be praised by many and known to be a pair of ‘studio-grade’ headphones. 40mm titanium-coated dynamic drivers are used in the production of the PRO40, which Daniel said provided the best performance. The PRO40 are well regarded for their balanced sound signature and ease of listening, even winning awards at the CES 2013 as TechRadar’s Best Audio Accessory.
PRO30 was the latest addition to the company’s lineup. The PRO30s employ 30mm drivers, but unlike its previous products, this will be Munitio’s first Bluetooth-capable product. The idea was to fully take advantage of the advancement in Bluetooth technology and to capture the home audio market share. Also, this will be the most portable pair of headphones the company has produced yet, as they will be collapsible for a small footprint. It comes with a military grade nylon pouch with a waterproof zipper and a carabineer to easily attach the pouch, belt, backpack or even purse! The PRO30s will not be available to public as of yet but it will be available through Kickstarter soon.
The Bluetooth version of the PRO30 will be priced at $299 MSRP and the non-Bluetooth PRO30 at $249 MSRP. They are expected to be available come Fall 2015, with the first units rolling out to Kickstarter pledgers. The company’s other products, the NINES retail for $179 MSRP and the PRO40 currently retails for $349 MSRP. A Bluetooth version of the PRO40 is also in the works, according to Daniel. However, there was no word on pricing nor availability as of yet.
Click here to listen to an exclusive interview with Munitio founder and CEO Daniel Massaro during the event.
Highlights from the interview are as follows:-
- Munitio started as a work of passion
- Core of the brand: “Trueness in Sound” & “Trueness in Audio”
- Daniel hopes to attract customers that graduated from headphones that are marketed more heavily (and subsequently pays very little attention to their manufacturing process)
- Daniel does not want to put a celebrity before the product
- Wants Munitio to be in the premium market to be a premium product, just as his vision when he created the brand
- PRO40 – 40mm drivers, studio-grade headphone, larger
- PRO30 – 30mm drivers, “compact” version, collapsible, “mobile tactical headphone”
- Daniel finds “price-matching quality” products lacking in today’s personal audio equipment
- Munitio NINES, Pro30 and Pro40’s to be tied up as one future line
Also check out the gallery from last night’s event here:
