
What you need to know about your hearing health and wired earbuds, and why this Kickstarter campaign emphatically gets my backing as someone who tests IEMs
THE SO WHAT
A hearing-health-focused IEM Kickstarter gaining traction shows there’s real consumer demand for safety and ergonomics baked into audio hardware, not just sound quality. Audio and wearable vendors should treat hearing protection and comfort as primary product levers, not compliance afterthoughts.
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