My name is Matt Murphy and I am the founder/inventor and CEO of the earHero earphones. I have been an Audiologist in private practice for over 10 years and developed the earHero earphone to met a specific need. It has come to my attention from various media outlets that Consumer Reports has reviewed the earHero earphones and has given them a poor review. I was able to Google one of the reports that showed the testing of the product and I'm disappointed that no one from Consumer Reports contacted me regarding their findings. I wanted to explain why the earHero earphones have reduced sound quality as apposed to other in-ear earphones.
1. As an audiologist I can attest to the fact that when the ear canal is left open sound waves "bleed" out. This being said, the "base" sound waves are the first to go and that leaves a "tinny" type of sound. If the ear was completely plugged the speakers used in the earHero earphones would measure up to any other type of speaker. So, to make it simple, the speaker is not the issue. The issue is that the ear canal is left open.
2. Why is the ear canal left open? This is the whole premise around the patented earHero design. There is no other product like earHero which holds a patent covering 21 individual claims. Comparing earHero to another earphone is like comparing apples and oranges. The purpose for the design is safety. It's not for listening to music. It's not Beats, it's not Skullcandy, it's not Bose and it's not for everybody. It's a compromise. If you want to ski down a slope, bike a highway or walk in a city you are still able to hear your music (granted, it is a different quality of sound) and hear the car approaching, the barking dog, someone yelling at you and the honking horn (as if you weren't wearing ear buds at all). So, to make it simple, no, we don't expect the music to sound like Bose or Apple or any other ear buds that close off the ear.
3. This product was not intended for the general public but was released to the public due to high demand. earHero earphones were intended for security personal that have to wear the uncomfortable coiled earpiece in one ear all day long. We have thousands of happy users including Secret Service, law enforcement and security personnel that LOVE the earHero product because it is comfortable to wear all day long. Additionally, they are able to hear their radio in both ears which allows them to be able to localize sound from outside sources while still monitoring their radio.
Thank you for listening to the positive points about earHero. I hope that someone will contact me so that the "record" can be set straight on the reasons to use earHero instead of lumping the unique product into the "headphone market".
Best,
Matt Murphy, MS, CCC-A
Clinical Audiologist
Founder/CEO
Ear Hero Sales Inc.
