$20 EAR UPGRADE! - Flare Calmer review

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION

So it's finally happened. I've got old and I've got a hearing aid. I haven't really. These are a new device called Calmer by Flare and they are to take distortion and all kinds of noises out of your ears. When you're listening on headphones, when you're in the general environment. Apparently, they're like really soothing and calming because there's loads of distortion going on that we don't realize a need to sort it out. So, let's unbox them and get them in.

So let's go unboxing. What does this say? Okay. It says Calmer is a unique in-ear device that removes distortion in our ears. One technology, two huge benefits. The tiny air wave guide that is worn under headphones whilst listening to home Hi-Fi and constants for cleaner sound. I'm so excited about this. So you playing music, nature, watching TV. So it's not a hearing aid. You can use it with speakers. So Sonarworks in your ears. If you know what Sonarworks is. What have we got inside is that's empty little manual stickers. This is showing us the distortion frequencies without Calmer, with calmer and not the spiritual Calmer, I don't think. And then this is the sound quality, how it goes into your log hole. Okay. And so let's see. We got a little carry bag. That's very nice. And then inside here are the goodies.

So these are the little gadgets that go in your ear. They're literally, they're like little trombones, like fluted. You see, they just go straight through, they sticking out. I don't know what they're going to look like, but let's get them in and have a look. So here they are in my hands. Let's get these on board. I mean, as a sound engineer, I hate putting things in my ears. Cause it kind of freaks you out because you have so panicky about your ears. These apparently helped people with Tinnitus as well. So if you've got the hearing issues, but it says you got to sit with them and have them in your ear, a kind of brain adapts to them. So they're like little quite comfy. I don't think you'd be able to tell I've got them in.

I can feel them that they quite comfy. They're kind of feel like they obviously feel like headphones. They don't actually sound any different at the moment. It feels like I've got a little bit of sort of, when you have any ears in and they're kind feels a little bit duller when you have things in. So that feels like top ends there and it feels like sound wise, top ends there, kind of duller, a little bit duller. I'm going to sit with these for a day, come back film and to give you my results. So, I'll do that thing that YouTube is do. So they're like pulls it back.

So we're back. 24 hours later after putting these air buds in. As you can see, I've got them in come in and out really super easy. So how did I get on with them after 24 hours? What do they do? Well before I hit into what they did, let's have a little look at the science behind why you put them in and the whole process of what is the point of them basically. So as you can see from the picture on the left-hand side, the normal way a sound wave comes into your ear. It hits your ear and bounces around a little bit and then it goes into the eardrum.

So what these do effectively is get rid of the reflections in your ear and they just funnel the sound straight in. So you don't get all that harshness. So why do we need to get rid of those reflections in our ears? Surely our hearing is fine. We haven't got any problem with our hearing. But what you've got to remember is, as we've evolved as human beings, we needed to hear every rustle, every little crack of word when we were hunter gatherer types for all those thousands of years before. Like the last hundred years, basically. And we were living in doors with electric and all this kind of noise going on. We needed to hear what was going on in the bushes because suddenly a lion comes at you. You need to know about that a long time before he's coming at you. So really it's a survival instinct that we have developed. This sort of picked up this area of the sort of high mids between 2K and 8K.

And that's what these are doing. They're soothing out that 2K to 8K. So you don't get all this noise and clutter around because there are things like fans, there's cars, there's just loads of noise going on around that area. So when you put these in, you do get this kind of softness going on. And it's quite mental that just this little bit of tubing in your ear, can actually do that to you. It is incredible when you sit and listen to your Hi-Fi speakers and you have these in, it's suddenly like a tube of sound, it's clear, suddenly, there's nothing in the mids that are edgy and nasty where you're used to that. Of course, you start in the same way. You walk out into the sunshine. You're used to bright sunshine, put your sunglasses on.

Lovely. I can handle that. If I take them off. There we go. Again, I've got to adjust again. It's exactly the same thing for these. They're sunglasses for your ears. You put them in. It takes a couple of seconds. It's a bit dull in the same way you put your sunglass on. It's a bit dark. So you put these in and then everything's kind of a little bit dull. Then you settle in after about 30 seconds a minute. Before you know it, everything sounds smooth. It's like having a new set. When you get a new set of headphones or a new set of speakers, and you're really excited about listening to all your old stuff again, that's what this is like. I was playing songs like guitar music. That's usually really harsh and edgy, suddenly smooth. I can hear everything going on.

The vocals really clear. It's a weird thing, obviously. As you can tell, I'm quite excited by them. But it is quite an exciting experience. It's something that's worth checking out. They're not expensive. They're 20 pounds for a pair. Yes, there are only a bit of plastic, but I think it's more to do with the research and development behind these. Because whoever built them is a genius. But would I wear them to work with? No, I wouldn't. As a mastering engineer, I am so used to my room. I'm used to how things are tuned. In the same way that I wouldn't do detailed Photoshop with a set of sunglasses on it. I want to be able to see it, how it is on the screen. I want to be able to hear it, how it is on the speakers.

But as a listening experience, walking around, I went and walked around yesterday with them in. And it was just so nice and peaceful. Hence why they're called Calmer. But they are. It gets rid of all of that edgy, horrible noise that's around. You can hear perfectly. It's not like you've got full stops in your ears like air blockers. It feels like that when you take them out, it's like, you've just gone “ting”. I've got fresh ears again, which is always nice when you've had like cotton bards or something in your ear, cotton wool. And it just sort of like makes everything fresh again. Well, it's like that, but you can hear everything still. It's quite weird, but I think they're really good from that point of view. Because if you are then going to listen to, speakers or something, that's gonna really hurt your ears or be quite painful, but you want to hear it in a kind of the open way, take them out.

And it's exactly the same after about 30 seconds, it kind of calls back in. So I'm loving them. I think they're brilliant. I don't want to lose this pair because I feel like I might because they're tiny. But I'm going to keep them in most of the time. And then as I work because I'm a professional mastering engineer and I need to be able to hear things exactly to the detail. But also as a mastering engineer, I can hear frequencies probably that people aren't really listening for. And to me, I can hear everything going on. It's just super smooth. So check them out. There is a link below for you to check out where to get them from. They are 20 pounds. They are excellent. They're called Calmer by Flare. So check them out. I think you're going to like them. I'd love to know if anyone's listened to them or had them in their ears.