When Nuheara unveiled their first true wireless earbuds in 2016 - following in the footsteps of hearable pioneers such as Bragi or Doppler Labs - success in this product segment was elusive. At least until the major players jumped on board and paved the way for the now thriving concept. Key to any true wireless design was the ability to differentiate with some key features that somehow appealed to the early-adopters, long before active noise cancellation was even discussed for earbuds, and while voice assistants remained a futuristic concept.
Throughout its development path, Nuheara consistently advertised the same goals of pursuing enhanced hearing as a key differentiator, and since the launch of its IQbuds in 2017 and IQbuds Boost and IQbuds MAX in 2018, the company explored multiple available technology platforms, including state-of-the-art audio sensors and active noise cancellation (ANC) solutions from ams AG.
At CES 2018, the Austrian company proudly displayed the IQLive and IQbuds Boost (Nuheara did play around a lot with different iterations and product names) in its booth to highlight the use of its ANC, SINC and Ear ID Personalization technologies. The IQbuds MAX earbuds, launched in 2019 seemed to succesfully culminate Nuheara's R&D efforts, by adding 5x the DSP capacity needed to implement its intelligent wireless hearing with personalization and hybrid ANC - it's most advanced version ever.
Finally, in January 2020, Nuheara unveiled the new IQbuds2 MAX model, replacing the previously announced IQbuds MAX, and offering superior performance, using a triple-core DSP system and even more noise control options. We now learn that these developments benefited from broadband noise attenuation performed by ams ANC technology, finally delivering on the company's vision to enable hearing earbuds that allow users to "hear what they want to hear".
As ams discloses, its Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) chip technology provides the personalized noise attenuation delivered in the new IQbuds2 MAX, marketed by Nuheara as "the world’s most advanced hearing bud."
The unique appeal of the IQbuds2 MAX earbuds is that they combine excellent playback sound quality with personalized augmented hearing features to enhance the hearing of users with mild hearing challenges. The earbuds, retailing online at $399/€379, deliver an option for consumers who are not ready for hearing aids, but who are looking for improved listening, and looking to enjoy a music listening experience as good as that of conventional earphones.
"Nuheara is blazing a trail for a new type of smart hearing device that enhances the hearing experience of those consumers who up until now have been underserved by traditional hearing solutions," says Christian Feierl, Head of Segment Audio Sensing at ams. "For this type of product, broadband ANC from ams is a must-have feature to enable the hearing buds to block out acoustic distractions from the ambient environment."
The IQbuds2 MAX received praise from around the globe, and recently were included in a TIME 100 Best Inventions of 2020 list, after winning three CES Innovation Awards in 2020. Many reviewers are particularly impressed by Nuheara’s EAR ID personalization system. This enables users to assess their own hearing thresholds in each ear and calibrate the buds to their own hearing profile.
The combination of sound reproduction quality and hearing enhancement depend strongly on the excellent noise attenuation – typically more than 30dB over a broad frequency range – provided by ams’ class-leading ANC chip technology. The ams ANC solution provides the near-silent acoustic background on which Nuheara’s IQbuds2 MAX project the user’s chosen types of sound, delivering on the company's promise.
The recent Comfortable, Smart, High-Performing Earbuds survey by ams found that alongside performance, comfort and secure fit, digital ANC is a major differentiator for earbud manufacturers.
"ams' ANC technology is at the heart of the hearing enhancement features provided by the IQ-buds2 MAX," says David Cannington, co-founder and CMO of Nuheara. "That’s in part because of the attenuation provided by the ams ANC chip, but it’s also thanks to the excellent support for tuning and design implementation which the audio experts at ams provided to our design engineering team."
The ams Platform
The introduction of technologies that enable digital augmented hearing is consistent with ams’ history of making breakthroughs in audio product development. Manufacturers of noise-cancelling headphones have been using ams’ analog ANC speaker driver ICs for more than a decade, benefiting from their high, broadband noise attenuation and low power consumption. ams’ strong market position also owes much to the expertise that it provides to headphone manufacturers, helping them to optimize the acoustic, mechanical, and electrical aspects of their product designs.
With the acquisition of Incus Laboratories in 2016, ams gained new digital audio technology to supplement its analog know-how. This move is bearing fruit with the development of the Augmented Hearing Engine platform, which enables the introduction of features such as Adaptive Leakage Compensation (ALC), Automatic Preset Selection (APS), and ‘hear what you want to hear’ capabilities for both tight- and loose-fit earbuds. The innovation pipeline is expected to include sealed ALC, which will be able to compensate for earbud misfit, and raising ANC performance to 50dB+.
www.nuheara.com
www.ams.com/audio-sensing
