- 10mm rosewood and pulp hybrid drivers
- Self-healing paint can remove small scratches
- Roughly $270 / £205 / AU$410, Japan only for now
JVC Kenwood has launched its new Victor WOOD Master wireless earbuds in Japan, and they’re a bit different from the average earbuds: their drivers are made from African rosewood and they’re finished with self-healing paint. And you might recognize an old pal printed on the outside of each bud: it’s Nipper the dog, of “his master’s voice” fame.
The WOOD Master feature hybrid drivers with diaphragms made from a mix of pulp and rosewood, and according to the brand they deliver clear vocals and accurate sound in the best-sounding Victor earbuds yet.
Wooden it be good to have these headphones?
So what’s the deal with the dog? Victor takes its name from the Victor Talking Machine Company, founded in 1901 and the creator of the His Master’s Voice slogan and doggy logo.
Victor was an early manufacturer of record players and amplifiers, and in the late 1920s it set up an operation in Japan. That operation would become JVC, and after it split from RCA Victor in the 1940s it kept the Victor and His Master’s Voice trademarks – but only in Japan, which is why for UK-based people like me, Nipper the dog is synonymous with the HMV chain of record shops rather than the Japanese hardware firm.
That’s all very interesting, I hear you say, but what about these wooden earbuds? The drivers are 10mm, and the earbuds support SBC, AAC and LDAC, with Victor’s “Personalized Sound” to measure the shape of your ears and adjust them accordingly. There’s spatial audio too, and battery life is up to 10.5 hours for the earbuds and 31.5 via the charging case. Bluetooth is 6.0 with multi-point connectivity and a low-latency mode for video and games.
The WOOD Master are apparently the first true wireless earbuds to be treated with self-repairing paint that makes small scratches disappear over time. They’re rated IP55 for dust and water and weigh 6.5g per earbud.
The WOOD Master earbuds will go on sale in Japan in late November 2025 with a price tag of ¥41,800. That’s roughly $270 / £205 / AU$410. As yet there’s no indication that these particular earbuds will be launched in other markets. Here’s hoping: I for one wood like to try them out.
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