Whoomp! Up Your iPod Experience
Created by: Joel Swanson on Dec 21 2007
Super-soft foam tip earphones and accessories stay in the ear & improve sound quality
OAKDALE, Minn. — Whoomp!™ Earbud Enhancers convert ordinary iPod/iPhone earbuds into a high-end stereo experience. It is the latest product by Minnesota-based Hearing Components with patented Comply™ foam technology. Whoomp! Earbud Enhancers and other Comply™ foam products are available at a new Web site: www.complyfoam.com
“I can finally use my iPod earbuds while exercising!” said Sarah Ryder, a senior communications student at the University of Minnesota. “Whoomp!™ Earbud Enhancers are so soft. They keep my earbuds from falling out, and they block outside noise,” she said, adding that the new product started a buzz in the dorms before finals.
The fit and sound quality is a common problem. In a recent Facebook survey of iPod users, two-thirds of respondents said they either don’t use the earbuds that came with their iPod or don’t like them because of the fit, comfort or sound quality.
“Our foam tips provide a unique experience because they mold to your ear and change shape as your ear canal changes shape, said Robert Oliveira, Ph.D., the biochemist who invented the Comply™ foam products, along with Marty Babcock, lead engineer. “Therefore, they continue to fit snugly, block unwanted noise, and deliver pure music into the ear canal — even while you move about,” Oliveira added.
Whoomp!™ Earbud Enhancers and Comply™ foam tips are made from patented, high-tech, viscoelastic polyurethane foam, which allows the ear piece to rest in the ear canal, not over the ear. This passive noise reduction technology sends the pure music to the smaller space of the ear canal — without leaking bass and while sealing out unwanted noise. The foam tips are 30 times softer than the silicone used on ordinary, factory-supplied earbuds.
About Hearing Components
Whoomp!™ Earbud Enhancers and Comply™ foam devices are manufactured and sold by Hearing Components, a 3M spin-off founded in 1990 by Oliveira. Visit
www.complyfoam.com. The technology was developed through several grants by the National Institutes of Health to improve and protect hearing.
In addition to applications in consumer electronics, the technology is currently used in hearing aids, military communications, commercial aviation, and earsets where communication is critical in industrial high noise environments. Hearing Components is located in the Twin Cities suburb of Oakdale, Minn.
