The CES 2003 show ran from Jan. 8 to Jan. 13, officially opening at 6:30 pm on Jan. 8 with a keynote presentation from Bill Gates (Microsoft). The exhibits did not open until the following day, however. The panoramic shot above shows the entrance to the Grand Lobby of the Las Vegas Convention Center. It was taken in the late afternoon on January 11, 2003. The scene was far busier than the photo indicates. I waited for the crowds to disperse before taking each section of the picture.

Once the show opened, the Grand Lobby was always packed with people. Immediately inside, three television shows had set up stages in the Grand Lobby and were broadcasting live: CNet, TechTV and Home Shopping Network (HSN). Nearby were the CES logo store and internet access terminals.

Although I arrived in Las Vegas on the evening of Jan. 7, and stayed until the morning of Jan. 12, I still did not see everything I had planned to see. One difference compared to my trip to the CES 2001 is that I completely avoided the keynotes with the exception of the keynote by Bill Gates, and then only because he opened the show. The keynotes are usually for corporate CEOs to outline a vision of the future of consumer electronics and to explain how their companies' present and future products fit into that vision. This year, I decided to let the products speak for themselves. HeadWizers interested in the contents of the keynotes can read the transcripts online at CESWeb.org.

Each day, from the show's opening to closing, I roamed the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) with my monopod-mounted digital camera. I focused only on headphone and portable audio products, which I felt were most relevant to the HeadWize membership. Some product trends of particular interest to HeadWizers include: multi-purpose headphones (e.g., stereo headphones that work with audio players and cell phones), surround sound headphones, growing interest in canal-type headphones (as typified by Etymotic and Shure in-ear monitors), portable multimedia players, portable players that support multiple compression formats, a merging of portable players with other form factors (e.g., watches that play music), more wearable audio devices (e.g., audio players as pendants or armbands) and mini wireless audio transmitter/receiver sets.

Dashing from exhibit to exhibit to get as many photos as possible before the show closed for the day, I was unable to have detailed conversations with exhibitors. There were a few exhibitors that I had planned to visit, but in the end, I missed due to lack of time, such as Memorex, SonicBlue and First International Digital (which makes the iRock brand of portable audio devices - check out their 730i multimedia portable which plays MP3i files). In exchange, I was able to document products from many lesser-known vendors. All together, this highly pictorial report should give readers a sense of the shape of things to come in headphone audio.

I put in very little time to reporting the high-end audio products showing at the Alexis Park Hotel. In the past, high-end audio had generally ignored headphone-philes and the portable audio category; this year was no exception. I arrived at the Alexis to photograph products about two hours before closing on my last day at the CES. While I did discover some headphone products there, my efforts at the LVCC had been much more fruitful. I did miss at least one important vendor at the Alexis Park: Divergent Technologies. Since the CES 2001, DiverTech has introduced a slew of headphone amp products. When I arrived at their room, the sun had long set, their door was locked and the lights inside were out.

The CES is huge and is spread out over more locations than is depicted in the map above. Nevertheless, the main audio/video showcases were in the LVCC and the Alexis Park. The LVCC North Hall was designated for mobile electronics (car audio). The LVCC Central Hall housed the general audio/video exhibits. The LVCC South Hall was home to Home Theater, Satellite and "Break-Through" technologies. These designations were not strictly adhered to, and all of the LVCC halls had at least a few headphone/portable audio-related vendors.

This CES report contains some pictures of exhibits that have nothing to do with headphones or portable audio. They may be appearing because the exhibits were very eye-catching (vendors are known to devote great care in the design of and spend lots of money to assemble these trade show booths) or because they had some other industry significance. With so many products on display, I have not taken care to record the model numbers, features and specifications. Where available, the exhibitor's URL is listed, so that readers can get more information about the products online. To begin viewing this report, click on one of LVCC exhibit halls in the map above.

Go to the 2001 CES Report