Rolling Square is a consumer electronics company based in Chiasso, in the Italian-speaking Ticino Canton in Switzerland - which is actually closer to Milan's Malpensa airport than the center of Milan. Founded in 2015, the company has been creating useful cables and chargers of good design, and more recently launched the Aircard RFID tracking and digital business card solution, compatible with Apple Find My. Rolling Square launches a new crowdfunding campaign every time they have a new idea and the company already completed 13 different projects, of which the Hyphen Aria is the 14th - now being pitched on Kickstarter.
Why are the Hyphen Aria different from what is on the market already? Although Rolling Square promotes the new design for its "theater-like experience for music and podcasts with its built-in surround sound system" - as its customary on any new audio-focused product these days - the real focus is the notion that "traditional in-ear earbuds can cause discomfort, trap moisture, and obstruct natural airflow, increasing the risk of ear infections."
In contrast, the Hyphen Aria earbuds sit outside the ear canal, ensuring improved air circulation and "facilitating self-cleaning through the production of earwax." The company also says that the Hyphen Aria's air conduction technology transmits sound in a more natural way, maintaining more consistent volume levels and reducing strain on the eardrums, not putting any pressure on the ear canal.
The design uses a custom 14.8mm driver with a composite membrane diaphragm and 20mW power, inside a relatively large earpiece that facilitates touch controls. Those allow the user to tweak the EQ settings and bass response depending on the noise levels on the environment, given that the Hyphen Aria earbuds don't provide much passive isolation. The focus for the design is precisely on being able to dynamically adjust the frequency response at different volumes - which is not easy to do with an air conduction, open-ear approach.
"Hyphen Aria combines the sound quality of in-ear earbuds with the comfort and natural auditory experience of open-ear headphones. The earbuds' compact design makes them convenient for everyday use, while the patented Gravity Hook provides stability and compatibility with different ear shapes," the company says.
The silicone Gravity Hook is one of the most interesting aspects of the Hyphen Aria design, which being a device that remains external to the ear, requires a good solution to stay in place as the user moves naturally. The ear hooks use an open circle design to hold the earbuds in the ear concha, which allows the air conduction principle to remain effective without requiring the around-the-ear hook that Bose used in its similar-shaped buds, including the more recent Sport Open Earbuds (and we can find in similar designs like the Oladance, or the recently announced Shokz OpenFit).
Additionally, the IPX4 certified Hyphen Aria design features updated technology, including noise cancelling and reduction to improve call quality, and a dual mic algorithm that cancels up to 90% of environmental noise, enabling communications without raising the volume. The earbuds offer up to 9 hours of playtime and the charging case offers up to 23 hours of extra battery life. The earbuds and case support fast charging via USB-C and the case is also Qi Wireless charging compatible.
The Hyphen Aria Kickstarter campaign is available here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rollingsquare/hyphen-aria-the-first-biological-earbuds
www.rollingsquare.com
