One of the things that conferences like GDC and E3 aren't as well known for are the small start up companies who attend to show off their latest inventions. They are usually the ones without the massive EA and Activision budgets and shoved somewhere in a back room or given a 1m square area in a booth overtaken by many like minded individuals. This was the case with Psyko Audio Labs, a small Canadian headphone manufacturer. I hunted them down and spent a few moments with Head Psyko, James Hildebrandt.

Psyko Audio Labs have come up with one of the more unique methods of incorporating 5.1 sound into a set of headphones. Many 5.1 headphones have tried the method of putting more than one driver in each earpiece, however Psyko has gone with another approach. In fact Psyko only has one driver in each earpiece and this is a subwoofer. They've also used a unique method that resembles the audio in old planes. Air ducts go to the front and back of each earpiece, tunnelling to a set of five speakers placed on the top of the earphones. This allows each driver to be directed to either the back or front of each earpiece - so the audio doesn't only appear to be directional, but actually is coming from the front or back of each earpiece.

These earphones are still in development so I wasn't able to get any technical details about them, however I did play a quick game of Call of Duty, and you could hear distinct directional sounds, the subs added noticeable depth, and the audio didn't appear to be affected by the built-in wind tunnels. Saying this, if you have ever been on an expo floor you will know they are loud (very, very loud), so it made it quite difficult to actually tell the overall quality of the headphones. However they did do what they said they would, which is create a 3D sound in a pair of headphones. The were also relatively light and pretty comfortable.

The current pre-release version of the headphones come with a external power pack, providing both volume and sub controls, and it also comes with a microphone built in for those who like VOIP. The headphones will be coming out in the next couple of months and will be priced around $299US (plus international delivery, although Psyko are currently looking to get their product into international stores) - there will also be versions out later for the PS3 and Xbox 360.