A Bespoke Fit for Off-the-Shelf Earphones

Posted: 11.09.2010, 5:24pm
Comments 4 Comments views 1,592 views
Rate this
Average rating:

Last Gadget Standing Nominee: Sonomax Soundcage

Price: $199

I have oddly-shaped ears. I’m not sure if they’re oddly large or oddly small–all I know is that most headphones either fall out or sting. Or sometimes both. So I’m interested in the idea, at least, of Sonomax’s Soundcage–a set of headphones you buy, then custom-fit yourself. The fitting process takes four minutes and involves a special headband, shown to the right.

The $199 price may sound stiff, but it’s a pittance compared to fully customized headphones such as Ultimate Ears’ $999-and-about models which are produced from molds of your ears. I wonder how close the quality comes–and whether these would stay in my ears without hurting?

Soundcage is scheduled to ship in February of next year.

4 Comments for this post:

Rolff says
November 12, 2010 at 6:30 am

Please, look at the gutter to the right telling about the various judges. The one about Joanna Stern is particularly interesting, because it reads;

"Joanna Stern is n editor at Engadget-—one of the top technology sites on the Internet—where she reviews…"

Don't you think an editor would appreciate having her profile edited? Brilliant. No one seems to give a damn about spelling or proper grammar anymore.

Gregg says
November 23, 2010 at 10:00 pm

You're not the only one who encounters the "can't fit standard earbuds syndrome." I was relieved when I read this article by David Pogue at NYT. Who knows, this may trigger support groups and a groundswell for the those of us who have odd ears.

dallas hawkings says
December 25, 2010 at 7:01 am

Finally an earphone that will actually fit, should be very comfortable, and sound great! I can hardly wait to get one for my teenage daughter.

Brad says
December 29, 2010 at 8:44 pm

Custom fit earphones in 4 minutes off the shelf thats great ! I hear that they reduce outside noise interference witch allow's you to listen to your music at a decent level so you don't end up over time with hearing loss issues. No need to crank up the volume you'll hear it just fine, thats awsome!

Write your comments:





Search

 

 

spacer

 

 

 

 

 

CES Gallery

last-gadget-9-xl last-gadget-8-xl last-gadget-6-xl last-gadget-5-xl last-gadget-4-xl_0 last-gadget-4-xl last-gadget-3-xl_0 last-gadget-3-xl last-gadget-2-xl_0 last-gadget-2-xl last-gadget-17-xl last-gadget-16-xl last-gadget-15-xl last-gadget-14-xl last-gadget-13-xl last-gadget-12-xl last-gadget-11-xl last-gadget-1-xl_0

 

About

Last Gadget Standing

 

The Last Gadget Standing looks for products that are more than just a flash in the pan. They are products that will endure and are pioneering the ways in which the digital world will change. Any exhibitor at CES can enter a product into the Last Gadget Standing – though it must be a , not a service or software. Products need to have shipped during 2011 or be available for shipping by the end of Q2 of 2012. We honor NDAs and we reserve two spaces for products that have winner potential but won’t be announced until the show.

 

Old timers, sorry, but we’ve had to include a small entrée fee this year to cover the costs of the production and space. There is a $500 entry fee.

 

 

How We Judge Your Products

 

Our panel of expert judges have multiple years of expertise in reviewing products. Judges include Michael Miller, Harry McCracken, Dan Costa, Mellissa Perenson, and Joanna Stern. Our experts review your applications and narrow the list down to 25 semi-finalists. Each product submitted gets a description on the website and readers are welcome to comment. The judges will write reviews of the 25 semifinalists and we’ll continue to solicit reader comments until we narrow the list down to the Top 10.

 

The Top Ten finalists are invited to the Vegas stage where we play to a full house. Entertainment and fun are just and important as educating the audience about your product. We encourage you to watch the videos from past years and get a feel for this very different type of event. At the same time that the audience is voting live in Las Vegas we will also be asking our online followers to vote among the same top ten and choose a "people's winner." A press release announcing the winners will go out the moment the show has ended.

 

Special Host

 

We’re extremely lucky this year to have Gary “Bababooey” Dell’Abate and Jon Hein, of the Howard Stern Wrap Up Show to emcee the Last Gadget Standing . They love products and they love the CES crowd.

Latest Tweets

Categories