Brunswick based Nuraphone is the headphone company that tailors sound to the user

BASED in a historic Sydney Rd building, this headphone company listens to their users and changes sound for them. Find out how it works.

Nuraphone co-founder Luke Campbell loves sound. Picture: Ellen Smith

A MODERN office on top of an iconic Brunswick bridal building is attempting to change the way the world listens to music.

Based at the Mariana Hardwick building on Sydney Rd, Nuraphone contains an open plan office with a couple dogs ready to greet visitors.

The headphone company is literally bouncing ideas off the ears of its users in an attempt to create a better sound.

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Luke Campbell was studying to become an ear, nose and throat surgeon when he and a couple mates were bandying around the idea of immersive hearing tests when they came upon the idea of tailoring headphones to the user.

“Everybody hears a little bit differently, we think it’s as unique as your fingerprint. Two people sitting side-by-side at a concert will hear a different performance,” he said.

A pair of the Nuraphone headphones. Picture: Ellen Smith

Thanks to a grant from the Melbourne Accelerator Program and a Kickstarter fund that exploded past its target of $100,000 to raise more than $1.8 million, the company now has 40 employees — 30 based in Brunswick and 10 others worldwide.

Mr Campbell said the company plans to increase its online presence across the world while the company takes over the loft of its current home.

HOW IT WORKS

Inner ear buds within each headphone contain a tiny microphone, which picks up noise that echoes out of the ear as part of hearing.

A mobile app conducts a frequency test, picking up what each ear hears well and not so well before tailoring sound settings to the user’s hearing.

When listening to a different profile, or the neutral sound, it is like the sound is just off and not quite right.

“Everyone universally agrees that there is something missing when you listen outside your own profile, but it is hard to put your finger on what it actually is,” Mr Campbell said.

“It’s like when you’re looking into a bright light and you can’t quite see the whole picture.”

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