Subtle releases headphones with its noise-cancelling models

Getting Started with Voice AI Subtlewhich creates voice isolation models to allow computers to better understand you in noisy environments, today launched a new pair of wireless earbuds that help users sound clear on calls and get a clear transcription of notes.

The company revealed these headphones ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and announced plans to ship them to the United States in the coming months. The headphones cost $199 and will come with a one-year subscription to the iOS and Mac apps. The app will allow users to take voice notes or chat with AI without pressing any keys. The company said it uses a chip that allows it to wake the iPhone when it’s locked.

The startup is also trying to compete with AI-powered voice dictation apps such as Wispr Flow, Willow, Monolouge and Superwhisper by allowing users to dictate in any application using the voice headphones. The company claimed the earbuds would produce five times fewer errors than the AirPods Pro 3 combined with OpenAI’s transcription model.

In a demo seen by TechCrunch, the voice headphones were able to capture audio in a noisy background. The headphones also managed to capture the text of a voice note when Subtle co-founder and CEO Tyler Chen spoke in a whispering tone.

“We see that there is a huge movement towards voice as a new interface that many people are adopting. You can do a lot more with voice in a natural way than with a keyboard. However, we have seen that voice is rarely an interface that people use when others are around. So, using our noise isolation model, we will give consumers a way to experience a voice interface in the form of our headphones,” Chen told TechCrunch on a call.

Last year, companies like Sandbank And Pebble threw rings for note taking. Chen said that with his headphones combined with the app, he wanted to provide the functionality of different tools such as dictation, AI chat and voice notes in one package.

Users can pre-order these headphones using the startup’s website. The Voicebuds are available in black and white colors.

Subtle raised $6 million in funding to dateand has worked with consumer companies like Qualcomm and Nothing to roll out their sound insulation models.