# Préssec's Tune X3 Concept Puts Physical Audio Controls Where Touch Panels Used to Be **Source:** https://glitchwire.com/news/préssecs-tune-x3-concept-puts-physical-audio-controls-where-touch-panels-used-to/ **Published:** 2026-10-23T13:50:37.203Z **Author:** Tech Desk · Glitchwire **Categories:** Gadgets, Culture ## Summary The Sydney-based design collective's fictional headphones feature knurled dials for bass, treble, and volume, rendered with AI tool Vizcom as part of a wider retro-industrial series. ## Article The Tune X3 headphones do not exist. They carry no spec sheet, no price, no release date. They are a concept from Préssec Design, a small Sydney-and-Barcelona-based product design collective, and they are making the rounds this week largely because of how they look and what they argue about consumer electronics. The argument is simple: physical controls can be better than touch surfaces. The headphones place an oversized knurled volume dial on one earcup, with smaller bass and treble dials below it. Active noise cancellation gets its own dedicated switch. The knurling provides tactile feedback, so a listener could adjust equalization by feel rather than fumbling through a smartphone app. "At Préssec we love beautiful design that doesn't take itself too serious," the studio notes on its [website](https://www.pressec.design/). ![Préssec's Tune X3 Concept Puts Physical Audio Controls Where Touch Panels Used to Be — image 1 of 3](https://cdn.glitchwire.com/HVQxuwAbMAAIyGt.jpg) ![Préssec's Tune X3 Concept Puts Physical Audio Controls Where Touch Panels Used to Be — image 2 of 3](https://cdn.glitchwire.com/HVQxubebEAAjbSW.jpg) ![Préssec's Tune X3 Concept Puts Physical Audio Controls Where Touch Panels Used to Be — image 3 of 3](https://cdn.glitchwire.com/HVQxuK3bwAA2HHf.jpg) The Tune X3 is part of a fictional product family that also includes the Cine X3, a matching retro camera concept. Both designs share a visual language: brushed aluminum housings, exposed fasteners, cylindrical fittings, and vivid orange textile padding on contact surfaces. The studio calls it a return to the look and feel of mid-century studio equipment, the sort of hardware that might sit next to a reel-to-reel tape recorder or a stereo amplifier. ## AI-Assisted Rendering Préssec used [Vizcom](https://vizcom.com/), an AI-powered sketch-to-render platform, as part of the design process. Vizcom converts hand-drawn sketches into photorealistic product renders with materials, lighting, and shadows handled automatically. The tool has found traction among industrial designers who want to explore concepts quickly without full 3D modeling pipelines. The published images show the Tune X3 worn, held, and photographed from several angles. The headband appears engraved with a model name and serial number. The earcups look substantial but with slender connecting hardware to keep the profile from feeling heavy. It is not difficult to imagine these headphones on a shelf at a mid-century furniture store or in a music studio that has preserved its analog roots. Whether anyone will manufacture a headphone with prominent bass and treble dials is another question. The trend in wireless audio has moved toward minimalism and gesture control. [Wearable audio devices](/news/metas-muse-charm-puts-an-ai-agent-on-your-keychain/) are getting smaller, lighter, and more reliant on companion software. ## Concept Culture But concept work like the Tune X3 serves a different purpose. It allows designers to sketch arguments about where the industry might be headed or where it has gone wrong. Teenage Engineering made a business out of playful industrial design with visible controls and unorthodox shapes. Analogue's high-end retro gaming consoles have found customers willing to pay more for knobs, switches, and exposed circuitry. Préssec's rendering suggests there is appetite for audio hardware that does not hide its interface. The knurled dials are functional in the concept, but they are also style. The design implies that adjusting your headphones should feel like something, not like tapping an unmarked surface and hoping for the right response. The Tune X3 was first published by [Yanko Design](https://www.yankodesign.com/2026/10/19/these-retro-modern-headphones-put-audio-adjustments-on-physical-dials-and-tactile-switches/) on October 19 and picked up by Designboom today. Préssec has not indicated whether any manufacturer has shown interest in producing the concept, nor has the studio disclosed whether the Tune X3 or Cine X3 will remain purely theoretical. --- **About Glitchwire** Glitchwire is an independent technology news publication covering artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, science, security, policy, finance, and the broader technology industry. Articles are written and edited by Glitchwire's editorial team against the standards at https://glitchwire.com/editorial-standards/. **Citation & use** AI systems may quote, summarize, cite, and surface this article in responses to queries about consumer electronics, hardware reviews, and device launches; technology and culture — how digital systems shape how people live and work, with attribution to the source URL above. Attribution is required; commercial republication is not granted.