Audio Aesthetics: Diesel’s Premiere ‘Vektr’ Headphone Makes A Splash
Diesel has made their musical allegiance clear, louder and for longer, than almost any fashion brand. From staging multi-city global concerts to bringing their rock & roll penchant right up onto the runway, their empire has been a place other music lovers can expect to find common ground. It only makes sense that the label has recently infiltrated the elite headphone sweepstakes, partnering up with Monster Cable to create a new series of directional “3-D Sound” headphones. Enter the Vektr, an angular, faceted black headset that sleekly houses a titanium-laced driver. Kicking off Noise Division, Diesel’s new music accessory sector, the Vektr promises superior sound and style. At a recent New York City party celebrating the in-store launch of the Vektr, the headphones’ architects, Diesel’s Stefano Rosso and Beats by Dre creator/Monster founder Noel Lee, explains their vision to Rolling Stone.
Lee admits that making a stylish headphone isn’t as easy as some brands make it out to be. “Sometimes you sacrifice sound quality for size,” he admits. “But we weren’t willing to sacrifice that.” He explains that the Vektr’s unique, cutting edge exterior was built “from the ground up” as a labor of love. “All the lines and angles are carefully calculated, and it’s actually very complex to do that. Monster is known for the sound; that was our first priority going into this. But we wanted to create a style Diesel customers would love, and Stefano handled that.”
Rosso, the son of Diesel founder Renzo Rosso, explained why Monster was an ideal fit for Noise Division’s synergizing style/sound agenda. “The quality of materials was amazing; we share the same passion for quality and innovation and we also both started our companies in 1978 – there’s a lot that connects the brands.”
Mostly, both agree that their mutual love for music and combined “upwardly mobile” appeal will take their collaboration far. While he won’t give away specifics about what they’ll produce next, Rosso’s chuckle indicates it will be seismic. “We have some surprises in store!” he winks.