Open Ears and the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds in Review

I tested the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds and I'm Keeping Them. They sound great and allow listening at safe levels while being aware of what other people say. These make a great case for Open Ears and that's the topic of this article where I have inserted my review of the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds and I provide examples of how the industry has been exploring alternative designs that avoid in-ear occlusion, from loose-fit earbud shapes to the recent air conduction craze.

Hyphen, an audio brand created by Rolling Square is pitching the Hyphen Aria true wireless earbuds, a new design intended to provide a more natural sound experience, avoiding the occlusion effect and leveraging air conduction to expand on the open-ear form-factor. While the Hyphen Aria earbuds resemble some of Bose's earlier TWS designs, the new product now being promoted on Kickstarter targets an audience that is more familiarized with the problems of current earbuds and is looking for more "healthier" alternatives.

Multiple perspectives to inspire you in the new year. A Market Update on Bone Conduction Transducers, an article on the development of the Taction Transporter haptic transducer, and a valuable article by Hans W. Gierlich explaining an effective approach for testing structure-borne sound applied to in-ear developments. Andrew Bellavia writes about why the FDA’s OTC hearing aid rule could be quickly obsolete, Adam Levenson introduces the new Audio Foundry automotive audio development platform, and René Christensen makes its debut with audioXpress, writing about simulation techniques

xMEMS Labs introduced Montara Pro, a MEMS microspeaker with an integrated solution that opens or closes the vent by sensor fusion input from the system DSP. This approach enables smart TWS earbuds and hearing aids that create best-of-both-worlds user experiences, combining the benefits of closed-fit (occluded) and open-fit earbuds. xMEMS is providing first demonstrations of Montara Pro this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas at Venetian Suite 29-325.

Bose announced the new Bose Sport Open Earbuds — truly wireless earbuds that are optimized for sports, fitness and wellness — with a unique design that the Massachusetts company says, feels like "Nothing In Your Ears, Nothing Covering Them." This new "not in-ear" truly wireless design challenges perceptions, in a crowded space mainly competing to be smaller, smarter, and more discreet. But after the Sleepbuds and the Bose Frames, its seems clear that Bose is not afraid of taking risks.