Yamaha launched eight wireless headphones Thursday, some with noise-canceling technology that’s said to intelligently adapt and respond to listeners and their environment. Advanced ANC improves on standard noise canceling, which Yamaha says can color or degrade sound, by analyzing and removing background noise. Yamaha’s Listening Care technology allows listeners to hear full-range sound even at low volume settings, it said. Controls are available to make a phone call, summon a voice assistant and manage music functions; advanced versions also have apps. Models include the YH-E700A wireless over-ear headphones ($349, December) and YH-E500A on-ears ($179, December); EP-E70A ($269, October) earphones, EP-E50A earphones ($159, November) and EP-E30A earphones ($59, September); and three true wireless models: the TW-E7A ($229, October), TW-E5A ($159, December) and TW-E3A ($129, this month). The company plans a webinar, open to the public, on its adaptive sound technologies Monday at 5 p.m. EDT.

SnapAV is distributing 41 models of Parasound audio products, it said Thursday. Custom integrators have access to Parasound’s Halo, NewClassic and ZoneMaster amplifiers and its Z Custom components, said SnapAV, highlighting Parasound’s two-channel and home theater products.

Audio-Technica updated its AT-LP120XBT-USB direct-drive turntable with Bluetooth aptX capability, allowing users to listen directly via wireless headphones, it said Monday. The $299 turntable, with a built-in phono preamplifier, can be used with audio systems and powered speakers without a dedicated phono input. The turntable can be connected to a computer via USB to convert records to digital audio files, said the company.

Until the Wireless Speaker & Audio Association reached “critical mass” at retail with certified products in the U.S., Europe and Asia, it wasn’t “cost-effective” to do “more aggressive” marketing to sow broader WiSA consumer awareness and generate business leads, said Brett Moyer, CEO of WiSA backer Summit Wireless Technologies, on a quarterly call Thursday. “We are at critical mass,” he said. “This now lets us run” WiSA consumer campaigns to divert the leads it develops to individual stores or e-commerce sites, he said. WiSA expects the 100,000 visitors to its website in Q3 (see 2008030055) will be “high-value consumers for somebody that’s marketing a WiSA product,” said Moyer. This will be a “continuous project” for WiSA, one that “we will be talking about” for years, he said.

Helm Audio bowed neckband triple-driver in-ear headphones with AptX HD and AAC. Features include 25-hour play time; magnetic, lighted earpieces; and Bluetooth 5 connectivity. The Sportsband HD ($129) headphones have an IPX5 rating to withstand moisture.

A 1More firmware update for the ColorBuds allows users to customize tap controls from a list of preset options for pause/play and for control of tracks, volume and voice commands, emailed the vendor Thursday.

Voxx expanded its alliance with Onkyo and Pioneer to distribute the Onkyo, Pioneer, Pioneer Elite and Integra brands in the Americas, it said Thursday. Onkyo became the distributor of Klipsch audio products in Japan last year and will continue to do so, said Voxx. Distribution will run through a newly created subsidiary, 11 Trading Co., and will include AV receivers, hi-fi equipment, mini systems, smart speakers, turntables, sound bars, home theater systems and optical disc players. Klipsch will become an “innovative and complete audio solutions provider in consumer technology and better equipped to address consumer demand with state-of-the-art AV solutions,” said CEO Paul Jacobs. Klipsch will continue to look for ways to expand the business, he said. Jason Sausto, CEO of Onkyo USA, will become a senior adviser for the Americas partnership, said the companies. Consumer electronics sales were down $9.1 million in Voxx’s fiscal Q1 ended May 31 (see 2007130035). The Voxx consumer segment was “essentially break-even” in Q1, despite the sales decline, said Voxx CEO Pat Lavelle on a mid-July call, saying consumers are expected to be “our higher profit generator this year,” assuming a “more normalized environment.” Klipsch-branded products were "doing very well,” he said then, despite the COVID-19 impact.

Origin Acoustics is “fully stocked” and shipping its new line of Performance subwoofers, said the company Thursday. The line includes the 8-inch, 180-watt SUBV8P ($500); 10-inch, 200-watt SUBV10P ($700); and 12-inch, 300-watt SUBV12P ($900).

Leon Speakers introduced a sound bar designed to go with Samsung’s Frame TV. The FrameBar, designed for sets 43 inches and larger, has 2.5-inch bass drivers and 0.86-inch cloth-dome tweeters. White, black, brown and beige finishes match Samsung’s Frame finishes, said Leon.

Meridian audio technology and a bacteria-snuffing charging case are differentiators in LG’s Tone Free true wireless earbuds ($149), announced Thursday. The UVnano charging case is said to kill 99.9% of bacteria on the earbuds’ speaker mesh during the powered charging cycle using an ultraviolet light test protocol developed at UL. Meridian’s headphone spatial processing technology creates a soundstage that simulates the experience of listening to loudspeakers, said the company.