The hidden hearing health concern in your audiophile-grade IEMs, and how a novel Kickstarter campaign is looking to fix it
About one third of adults in the UK, and a similar number in the US, have some kind of hearing loss (according to RNID and Hearing Health Foundation respectively).
It stands to reason that those little music-playing speakers we place into our ear canals, really rather close to our ear drums (with their ever increasing driver sizes and/or driver counts nestled into the headshells) don't exactly help. But one company is offering something of an alternative.
On Kickstarter, a brand called Saccater has unveiled some new in-ear monitors called aéra. These are audiophile-friendly buds with 9.6mm planar magnetic drivers, silver-plated copper wire and dual-sided concentric coils, but with some added extra considerations to protect your hearing.
That fits with Saccater's other Kickstarter projects; a series of earplugs designed for various everyday tasks. The aéra have already been fully funded on Kickstarter, with HK$210,000 (about $26,000, £19,000, AU$38,000) already pledged out of the modest HK$30,000 (roughly $4,000, £3,000, AU$6,000) goal. Each pair of buds cost HK$860 (about $110, £74, AU$150), and are due to ship in October 2026.
That means the Saccater aéra have hit their goal nearly seven times over, proving there's a big appetite for hearing-friendly earbuds.
You're probably wondering, what does 'hearing-friendly' actually mean in IEMs such as these — because they look just like the IEMs I know and love?
One of the key considerations is weight and design; according to Saccater, you perceive sound worse when your ear is uncomfortable, often prompting people turn turn up the volume higher than they need to. So the aéra use a "zero-pressure fit" and are incredibly light, at just 4g per bud.
Whether or not they actually protect your hearing health, then, they'll be pretty comfortable to wear.
The earbuds also come with a hearing manual to guide you through best practice to avoid damaging your ears, as well as the brand's other earplugs in the box, so you don't use the aéra just to block out noise. This latter is, according to Saccater, another way people unintentionally damage their hearing.
Despite the focus on hearing health, the aéra seem suitable for audiophiles too. They support 24 bit / 96kHz playback, a 20Hz-20kHz frequency response, and come with a range of ear tips to choose between.
They also look pretty simple and beautiful, ditching the shiny or textured designs of most modern IEMs for something understated.
Now, all of these specs and pledges are from Saccater itself, so it's hard to know just how effective the aéra will be. But the early success of the buds goes to show that hearing health is something we're all waking up to.
➡️ Read our full guide to the best earbuds
1. Best overall:
Technics EAH-AZ100
2. Best mid-range:
Cambridge Audio A100
3. Best budget:
Nothing Ear (a)
4. Best for noise-cancelling:
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Ultra 2nd Gen
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Tom Bedford is a freelance contributor covering tech, entertainment and gaming. Beyond TechRadar, he has bylines on sites including GamesRadar, Digital Trends, Android Police, TechAdvisor, WhattoWatch and BGR. From 2019 to 2022 he was on the TechRadar team as the staff writer and then deputy editor for the mobile team.
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