V-Moda's new earbuds can be bought with 3D-printed lion heads made from solid gold

V-Moda announced a new “Forza” line of headphones this week. The three Forza headphones are all in-ear models designed for fitness and sport use, which represents a bit of a departure from the over-ear style that the company is typically known for.

There’s the base model, the $100 Forza, which is a fairly standard pair of sports headphones with a sweat-proof plastic casing. Next, for a bit more money, there’s the $130 Forza Metallo, which are essentially the same headphones as the cheaper Forza but upgrade the casing from plastic to metal and the cable to a reinforced cord. Internally, both sets use 5.8mm drivers, support high-resolution audio, and connect via a standard 3.5mm jack. Lastly, there’s the top-tier model, the $170 Forza Metallo Wireless neckbuds, which takes the same metal earbuds as the standard Metallo and adds a titanium neckband for a claimed 10-plus hours of battery life over a Bluetooth connection.

The only headphones in the world that come in the form of solid gold lion heads

But that’s not the important part. All of the Forza models are built to be customized by a variety of interchangeable decorative 3D-printed caps. V-Moda currently offers three different cap options for purchase — although more designs are shown on the site and may be offered at some point as well.

For now, there’s the gear-covered “Steampunk,” a “V-Design” option that features the V-Moda logo, and the obviously correct choice, “Lion,” which as the name may suggest is a miniature 3D-printed lion’s head. To take it one step further, V-Moda offers a choice of materials that you can select to 3D print your chosen caps out of, from the relatively cheap $20 acrylic to 10 different precious metals, including brass, 14K gold (both plated and solid), and, for those with a cool $7,500 to spare, pure platinum.

It’s hard to know if the Forza models are good headphones without listening to them. V-Moda has a good reputation in the audio world, and early word from my colleague Chris Welch is that the entry-level Forza earbuds sound good, for the price. But I do know this: these are the only headphones in the world that can come in the form of extravagantly expensive solid gold lion heads. And if that’s not worth something, I don’t know what is.