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It's no secret I'm a massive Dyson fan. (No pun intended)

As I've often discussed, Dyson's function-before-design approach has always appealed to me. Over the years I've met actual Dyson engineers and it's obvious they all have a shared passion for producing the best performance possible. Things like how the device ends up looking come later, although that philosophy itself has resulted in some of the most unique designs in home cleaning appliances, hair care devices, heating and cooling.

That "Performance First" mindset doesn't always pay off.

A lot of time and money went into developing a Dyson EV that never ended up going anywhere. Both metaphorically and quite literally.

Meanwhile, the Dyson Zone actually made it into stores. This was the combination of noise-cancelling headphones with a detachable, air-purifying face mask. I'm not making this up. The Zone sucked air through its filtered earcups and blew cleaned-up air into your face, keeping out nasties (and noise) while travelling or just out and about in the city.

I don't have any information on how well this device sold (it's still available on the New Zealand website but no longer in some other markets) and you'd have to think wearing a headset that makes you look kind of like Boba Fett wearing his beskar helmet isn't for everyone.

But what if we forgot about the weird face-fan and just focused on the headphones?

Like most Dyson products, the OnTrac headphones are priced at a premium; NZ$849.00 - this puts them squarely at the upper end of the consumer headphone market. At that price they have to deliver in every aspect; comfort, aesthetics, battery life and above all, sound quality.

That's a tall order for a brand best known for making vacuum cleaners.

Well, right off the bat, I can tell you the Dyson OnTrac definitely has all those bases covered. In fact, Dyson even goes one unique step further. But we'll get to that.

Unboxing the OnTrac is unique in itself. The headset comes bundled inside a kind of flattened cardboard egg, which I assume is more environmentally friendly than foam or plastic. Unusually, for a set of cans in this price bracket, there's no zip-up hard travel case. Instead, you get a kind of elasticised sandwich to slide the headset into. This is a more compact way to protect your headphones when stashed in your bag or briefcase and it has a little stretchy storage pocket for accessories like the braided USB-C charging cable.

Any space saved by the Slimline Case is a welcome benefit because these might be the largest headphones I've ever worn. I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing - oversized over-ears have been their own fashion statement for a while now.

However, the OnTrac is also heavy; 451grams. This means a comfy headband and ear cushions are essential and the device must be perfectly balanced to keep fatigue to a minimum over long listening sessions. Somehow, Dyson has got it right. The microfibre ear cushions and small, central pad on the headband are snuggly soft yet still breathe well.

Dyson's engineers have done a lot of research on the right amount of "clamp force," that's how hard the headband squeezes the OnTrac together. I have a massive head and while this headset sits firmly on it, there's nothing claustrophobic or uncomfortable going on. I've been wearing these headphones at work for five or six hours every morning and I've experienced no fatigue at all.

In order to monitor the breakfast radio show I work on, I need a headset with a wired connection. Although the OnTrac has no dedicated AUX-in port, you can use an AUX cable with a USB-C plug on one end. Dyson sells an In-Flight Adaptor Kit for NZ$49 that will work but when you hand over $849 for a set of cans, you'd think they could throw in the cable other manufacturers include for free.

The Dyson tradition of redesigning existing devices from scratch is also evident with the onboard controls. There aren't many - only three in fact - a power/bluetooth pairing button on the left ear cup, double-tapping the left cup cycles through your ANC settings and then there's a little joystick on the back of the right cup.

Why wouldn't you go with a joystick? Press to play/pause, toggle up or down for volume, and forward or back to go, well, forward or back. It's intuitive. It's genius.

Navigating the MyDyson app is also slightly unusual - and no, I don't necessarily mean bad. If you own other Dyson products, this is the same app you use to change the settings on your desklight or update the firmware on your hot and cold fan. To Dyson, the OnTrac is just another connected device, so why would you need a different app?

Here you can choose from preset EQs or create your own, adjust the Active Noise Cancellation settings - even find out how long you've been listening and whether you've exceeded recommended decibel limits.

Dyson also takes a unique approach to multi-point connectivity. Rather than seamlessly switching between two or three paired gadgets automatically, once you pair with a device it's added to a list in the app. Then you can just choose any device on that list when you want to switch. This is a bit more hands-on but it means more devices without having to re-pair every time.

Two new modes have just been added to the ANC options too; Reduced Isolation and Reduced Transparency. I'm an all-or-nothing kind of a guy, so I prefer complete silence or a feed of all external sounds. Still, it's nice that Dyson is catering to consumers who like a mix of both.

But it's the exquisite sound quality that has impressed me most. Dyson created it's own purpose-built sound testing facilities when developing the Zone headset and that work hasn't gone to waste here.

Ray LaMontagne sings a driving wee track called "How Come?" Acoustic rhythm guitar is mixed to the right while electric lead and bongos appear out to the left. LaMontagne's husky vocal track floats through the middle while every other element - drums, bass, occasional tambourine - all find their own space in my mind. That space, the space created by the OnTrac headset, is big but not hollow at all.

"GLT" by Kimbra and Erik the Architect is a sonic work of art, as most Kimbra tracks are. The pulsing, monotonous bass hit that features throughout has to be big and proud or the song doesn't work. When heard through the Dyson OnTrac, this song definitely works.

Neil Finn's writing and production genius shine through on Crowded House's "Walked Her Way Down." This is another track where different guitars are mixed to one side or another and Finn makes use of dramatic changes in dynamics to pull the aural rug from under you just when you think you know where the song is going. Sometimes it sounds upbeat and hopeful, the next minute there's a more menacing undertone forcing its way through. Again, the OnTrac finds space for each of these elements.

I have a suspicion Dyson is underselling the OnTrac's battery life. The claim is up to 55 hours on a single charge. As I said earlier, I've been using the headset - with ANC on - for 5-6 hours every morning at ¾ÅÒ»ÐÇ¿ÕÎÞÏÞtalk ZB, then running it for at least an hour once I get home. It's been a week and the MyDyson app tells me I'm still on 62%. I've only charged it once. The fact you can set Head Detection to pause your music every time you take the headphones off probably helps but still... I guess all those years refining stick vacuum batteries has really paid off.

Finally, perhaps the OnTrac's most ingenious trick yet; a range of mix-and-match ear cushions and cup covers are available for you to customise your headset in dozens of possible combinations. Both the caps and cushions twist off and on with a single easy click. The OnTrac already comes in four different colour combinations, while there's a choice of seven different colours for the caps and cushions.

Whatever colour combination you go with, everything feels durable and extremely well manufactured - just like every other Dyson product I've ever used.

A greater frequency range, superior battery life, impressive and tweakable ANC, a comfy, beautifully balanced fit and a colour combo to match your mood, your outfit or maybe just your eyes... I'm starting to think Dyson hasn't just shaken up the headphone market, it's created a whole new category. Again.