Crowdfunding in both China and the US, these headphones sync wirelessly so people can listen together

Before anyone could access all the world’s recorded music from a smartphone, listening to music was a much more social activity than it is today. Inspired by silent discos and raves, in which a group of people wear wireless headphones all synced to a single transmitter, Richie Zeng and Nelson Zhang have set out to combine social music listening with a high-quality headphone experience.

Name-brand headphones have become as much a fashion statement as they are a way to consume audio. And as Apple gets ready to buy the Beats by Dre brand for US$3.2 billion, the duo spotted a potentially lucrative opportunity to revive social music listening.

Enter Wearhaus, Zeng and Zhang’s Berkeley-based startup that’s currently crowdfunding their first pair of cutting-edge headphones. Dubbed “Arc”, the headphones can sync up with other nearby Arc users’ headphones to play the same music in real time, without lag or loss of quality. The headphones sync up to each other and a smartphone app using Bluetooth.

The Arc app works independently of the music source, so users can still listen via their preferred music app – iTunes, Spotify, etc. They can even discretely play video games and watch movies together. When the headphones ship sometime in December, the app will be available for Android and iOS, but browser, desktop, and other platform clients will also be made available.

Arc owners can use the app to search for nearby users who have the sharing function enabled, see what they’re listening to, and click on their username to tune in. The main broadcaster can control playback using a touch panel on the side of the headphones.

The color of Arc’s neon glow can also be changed with the touch of a button. Zhang says the headphones play for 16 hours of continuous listening time over Bluetooth. With all the sharing and lighting features on, the battery life is 10 hours. They come with a built-in microphone and a 3.5mm jack for wired listening.

At US$200 per pair ($150 for early birds), the Arcs are definitely aimed at higher-end users. “We think the group of early adopters will include friends, students, families, and companies that want to foster a shared sense of culture,” Zhang explains.

Crowdfunding in stereo

Zhang dropped out of University of Berkeley in California to accept a Thiel fellowship where he was tasked with building a 3D printer for building electronics at home. Zhang grew up in Shanghai, and wants to make Wearhaus a household name in China as well as the West.

He and Zeng joined the Highway1 incubator program in California to start the project. The program is funded by PCH International, a company that has worked with Beats by Dre in the past.

See: KKBox did Spotify in Asia before Spotify even existed

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