The Wall Street Journal recently posted an article written by Courtney Banks, who shares her experience with using a pair of custom-fit, noise-isolating earphones by Etymotic, Inc. Listening to any music device can be frustrated in the presence of background noise. There have been published studies that show the effects of listening to mp3 players at very loud volumes for extended periods of time. This type of exposure can lead to noise-induced hearing loss. Since standard earpieces do not block excessive noise in the environment, people tend to crank up the volume on their mp3 players to hear over the noise. According to Etymotic, the custom-fit earphones can reduce ambient noise by 26 decibels.
Good news is that noise-isolating earphones are becoming increasingly more popular. For a more comfortable fit in the ear canal and for a better seal, custom earpieces can be added to Etymotic's Hf2 noise-isolating earphones ($179). The article describes how an audiologist can take impressions of the ear canal to create the custom piece, which fits on the earphones. These cost an additional $100, but according to Ms. Banks, they are well worth it!
Check out a video of the custom earpieces - Wall Street Journal
To reach a wider audience, Etimoytic is selling the earpieces through Perfectearphones.com and plans to sell them in Apple stores by summertime. The standard earphones are purchased with a voucher. Simply take the voucher to an audiologist's office to have impressions taken of your ear canal. These impressions are used to create the custom earpiece. Check out the full WSJ article here.
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