Here’s the wrap up of the excellent audio from the 2015 iF Design Awards!
Sennheiser picked up three awards for its audio products at this year’s iF design Awards, including a coveted iF Gold Award for its Urbanite Series.
The jury said: “A ‘feast for the ears’ that has all eyes upon it: the optimal technical performance of Sennheiser’s Urbanite headphones is rounded off with a minimalistic, accentuated design. The high quality materials including textile elements, the individual colour scheme and the robust urban style combined with perfect craftsmanship as well as technical innovation constitute the special charm of this product.”
The gold award was presented to Sennheiser during the iF design award ceremony held at Munich’s BMW Welt on 27 February 2015.
“We are very proud to have received this accolade as the iF gold award is only presented to the very best submissions of the year. The expert jury’s recognition confirms our belief that our Urbanite is more than just a trend product,” said Oliver Berger, Sennheiser global design manager.
Sennheiser’s new wireless headphone models RS 175, RS 185 and RS 195 as well as specialist’s ear canal headphones CX1.00, CX 2.00, CX 3.00 and CX 5.00 received iF Label in the audio product design category.
Samsung also scored several Gold iF Awards in the audio/video category for its virtual reality headset Gear VR, Gear Circle bluetooth headset and Curved UHD TV HU9000. Since launch, Samsung have been talking up its curved TVs as providing an “immersive viewing experience,” and the iF jury are in agreement with the South Korean company’s marketers, although perhaps expressing the sentiment a little more poetically.
“This TV combines rigorous design and a high competence of manufacturing with a new technology that makes for a completely new TV experience. This combination creates a new quality of experience: it suggests that one could dive into the screen,” the jury declared.
Sticking with TVs and Sony’s Bravia X9500B Series 4K TV picked up an iF label, as did LG’s OLED TV (65EF9800), curved Ultra HD (105UC9), Curved OLED (EG9600), LG UHD (UF6700), UHD (UF8500). Two LG speakers (NP7550, LAS950M) were also recognised and as were four of Sony’s audio products.
Proving it’s just as savvy with software design as it is hardware, LG’s WebOS smart TV interface and Music Flow wireless hi-fi audio app won an iF Awards as well.
Distributor Convoy International has plenty of reasons to be proud with its brands Harman and JBL picking up multiple awards each. The winning products include: Harman Kardon Soho Wireless headphones, Harmon Kardon Omni Bar with subwoofer soundbar, Harman Kardon Esquire mini, AKG Y40 mini on-ear headphones and AKG Y50 on-ear headphones, JBL Go portable speaker, JBL Clip portable speaker and JBL Synchros Reflect BT II.
Four of Philips audio products picked up awards, Pioneer scored three and Yamaha two. Other iF Design Award winners include:
