Valco's Great Headphone Odyssey 2019!

Does that sound like a grandiose title? Well, that's exactly what we've gotten ourselves into.

But let's start right from the beginning of the year, when I jumped onto this steering-less and brake-less sled. 

Oh, who's "me"? Don't worry, the name-dropping will come later, enough to make the faint-hearted tremble and Finns blush.

At the beginning of the year, I realized I needed some decent noise-cancelling headphones for my travels, and lo and behold, the Facebook algorithm read my alpha waves and popped up a Valco ad at that very second, trying to sell me (or maybe just mocking me, I'm still not sure) some "Pulasorsia" and "Sorsia" or whatever weird headphones.

So I immediately shot an email to the guys, politely introduced myself, and asked for a chance to test their headphones and write my enlightened feedback on the gadgets.

(Just a little side note and context before we move on: I have a bit of a passion for headphones and my understanding of them is pretty deep)

I listened and abused them for a while, took them apart and examined what they had really "eaten," and then kind of praised them by trash-talking the current models, saying they're pretty good for the price, but a shocking amount of potential is wasted.

The feedback in Valco's style was that: 

”"Well, design some f*cking better ones yourself, and we'll sell them..."

Well, it didn't take much convincing. Soon I found myself at the guys' office, drinking beer and doodling a church boat on the whiteboard. Gradually, with a couple of engineer buddies, the recipe for excellent headphones started to take shape. 

Now's probably a good time to introduce myself and drop some names

My name is Jasse "Jazmanaut" Kesti and I'm an audiophile.

I've been doing audio work professionally for a good twenty years now, both in the studio and live gigs. 

The internet will find over a hundred records with my name on them, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a music genre I haven't poked my nose into, from Tehosekoitin to Jorma Hynninen. From Texas Faggot to the National Ballet.

In live gigs, I've mixed for the likes of Tuure Kilpeläinen, Elastinen, Laura Närhi, Jukka Poika, Emma Salokoski, Soul Captain Band, and countless other front and back row artists. Not to mention system designs and sound mastering.

Nowadays, I also run my own Kesthouse mastering studio, which you can find at www.kesthouse.com

So, from this perspective, uncompromising sound quality is of utmost importance to me, and I've been chasing it my entire adult life. And it's no small topic. Just tinkering like an engineer and having a comprehensive understanding of the physics of sound isn't enough on its own; you also have to factor in psychophysics. After all, humans are ultimately the biggest variable to whom the final product must be tailored, whether it's the music itself or the device used to enjoy that music.

In other words, if I designed a microscopically precise and extremely neutral headphone for myself, most consumers would find it boring and lifeless. 

On the other hand, if you're just looking for a vibe from your headphones and forget about precision and the so-called science side of things, you end up with Beats and similar monstrosities. They sound impressive with their mega turbo bass for the first few minutes, but soon become tiresome with their mushiness and lack of clarity. 

But we didn't set out to make decorations, we aimed to create damn good and practical headphones. At this point, we focused on what really matters—the listening experience—and we fine-tune it not just by ear, but with precise measurements to perfection.

Of course, it doesn't hurt if the headphones look good too.

Since none of us are ridiculously rich, the headphones had to be something people could actually afford. We skipped the gold-plated wiring and ostrich leather cushions and focused on making the headphones simply damn good to use and listen to.

Our first headphones designed in Finland are almost ready for sale.Feedback from beta testers around the world has been so glowing that I strongly feel we've outdone ourselves. Of course, next year and beyond, we'll outdo ourselves again and even better.

It's an awkward feeling, you know, when you put headphones on someone and they start crying after a moment, toss their iPhone earbuds into the trash, and refuse to give the headphones back. And those were just the beta versions at that point. I kid you not!

The first small batch will soon be up for pre-sale, but judging by the interest, it'll be gone in a day. As our headphone project progresses, we'll keep you updated with more info.