Hearing Health Summer 2015 Issue Summer 2015 | Page 24

N THE NOIS
OW

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In late 2014, Puro Sound Labs became a
member of HHF’s Partner for Hearing Health
Corporate Council, companies that support
our mission about the importance of
hearing health. Based in La Jolla,
California, Puro Sound shares a
strong interest with us in hearing
conservation, as demonstrated by
its reimagining—and reinventing—
hearing-safe headphones for kids and
teens. The Puro BT 2200 wireless headphones
have advanced background noise reduction,

studio-quality sound reproduction, and a
volume limit of 85 dBA (A-weighted decibels,
or dBA, measure how humans hear sound).
For its promotion of hearing protection,
Puro Sound Labs is part of our Safe
and Sound program, showcased by
the Safe and Sound Seal (at left). And
as a sign of its commitment, Puro
Sound Labs is generously donating a
portion of each sale to HHF to support its
programs in 2015. HHF is proud to have Puro
Sound Labs as a Partner for Hearing Health.

By Kathi Mestayer

T

he founders of Puro Sound Labs—Dave Russell,
the chief executive officer; Tom Grueskin, the chief
marketing officer; and Jason Wehner, the chief
technology officer—set out to create headphones for
children and teens that protect hearing and that young
people think are cool. As parents, they asked themselves
the following questions. Teasing out the answers was a
process that led to innovative solutions.
Question 1:
Why do people turn the volume up so loud
when wearing headphones or earbuds?

There are two reasons: to block out background noise,
and to be able to hear the vocals. The amount of noise
relative to what we want to hear (the “signal”) is termed
the “signal-to-noise ratio.” Blocking noise improves that
ratio, and makes it easier to hear what we are listening to.
Background noise is an eternal annoyance to anyone
trying to hear, pay attention, or do more than one
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thing at a time. When you think of noise as being “any
undesired sound” (as defined by the U.S. General Services
Administration), it’s a broad category.
Solving the background noise issue took rethinking
the traditional approach. The Puro Sound team found
that the kind of “active” noise cancellation used in most
headphones actually creates its own operating noise. So
they tried something completely different.
“We used a ‘passive’ approach,” Grueskin says. “The
multiple layers of foam, plastic, and aluminum make
Puro Sound’s ear pads marshmallow soft so they can form
a really effective noise barrier. And getting rid of the noise
makes the sound much