Ok, this is one of those times where an idea is so cool and at the same time so obvious, that you want to kick yourself for not thinking of it first. Because our sight is so important to us, the world has long come up with ways to protect the eyes, like sunglasses, and ways to help us see better, like prescription eyeglasses, which have been around for seemingly forever. But our poor ears have only gotten secondary attention, as if what we hear, and the quality of what we hear is not as important.
Oh there have been advances in hearing aids and such. But other than a few companies that focused on providing us quality headphones and earbuds, like Bose and more recently companies like Beats By Dre, there hasn’t been a leap forward like the one we have now, thanks to a company called Even. The amazingly brilliant concept that Even Headphones came up with, and it is absolutely amazingly smart, as in “why didn’t we think of this before?” smart, is that like our eyesight, every single person’s hearing is different, not just from other people, but even between ears. Our left and right ears do not hear the same. Before Even came along, even the highest quality headphones and earbuds, while delivering great sound, treated all ears equally. There was no accounting for differences between ears, of the single individual or between individuals. Even produces and sells headphones and earbuds that are uniquely designed for you, the way a prescription set of eyeglasses is unique for your eyesight.
So how do they do this?
According to Even Headphones, they use a process they’ve dubbed an “EarPrint.” They describe an EarPrint as a term for “this-is-the-way-you-hear-and-it’s-as-unique-as-your-fingerprint.” They go on to say an EarPrint is “our proprietary process for figuring out how you hear different frequencies of sound in each ear. It’s built into our earphones—we use it to tune sound to each of your ears.”
So simple and so obvious.
They continue. “Your hearing capability is measured by your ability to hear different sound frequencies, from very low ones to very high ones. Each one of, even with normal hearing, perceives or hears frequencies at different levels of volume. One person can easily hear very high notes, and another one needs them to be very loud to perceive them at all.”
Not stopping there, they get to the more interesting and not surprising point. “Not only does each and every one of us perceive these sounds differently, we also hear them differently in each ear. You can have excellent hearing of mid range frequencies in your right ear, and less ability to perceive them in your left ear.”
It shouldn’t be surprising that the people who would most care about getting optimal sound would be musicians and people who are audiophiles. And that is exactly the people behind Even. Their trademark slogan is actually, “Made by musicians for those who love music.” Danny Aronson, one of the co-founders is a classically trained composer with a degree in Music Composition from the University of Tel Aviv. Others on the executive team are sound designers, sound engineers and the like. It is a perfect combination with the technology focused side of the team, like the other co-founder, Ofer Raz, a seasoned entrepreneur with two decades of experience in founding and growing companies in the digital and technology spaces, including gaming and green-tech.
The combination of music lovers and technology geniuses created an unbeatable product that is moving the idea of what headphones should be and do, giant steps forward. The kudos have come from many corners. Mick Fleetwood of legendary band, Fleetwood Mac, said listening through Even headphones was “the best reproduction of my music I have ever heard.” Tony Black, Grammy-award-winning producer for Alicia Keyes, Jay-Z and Michael Jackson, among others, says “I use my Even headphones on a daily basis for mixing and critical listening. I trust what I am hearing.” David Palmer, drummer and producer for Duran Duran and Rod Stewart, said “Even’s EarPrint blew my mind. It’s simple, fast and absolutely brilliant. After listening to music with Even you can’t go back.”
Those are some serious endorsements. But it doesn’t even take those to make you realize what they are doing, what they invented, is revolutionary in its concept. A set of headphones tuned to the way my ears hear. I say it again, why didn’t anybody think of this before?