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

Date:
Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:00:00 +0000

Description:
A popular Kickstarter campaign promises in-ear monitors that protect your hearing, and they're also remarkably light and good-looking

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Brand called Saccater lists 'ara' IEMs on Kickstarter... ... and very quickly jumps past funding targets Designed to protect your hearing (and they look good too) 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 ara. 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 ara 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 ara have hit their goal nearly seven times over, proving there's a big appetite for hearing-friendly earbuds.
Hear, hear(ing health) (Image credit: Saccater) 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 ara use a "zero-pressure fit" and are incredibly light, at just 4g per bud. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: 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 ara 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 ara 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 ara will be. But the early success of the buds goes to show that hearing health is something we're all waking up to. The best wireless earbuds for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

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 Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. You may like These are the first
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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/what-you-need-to-know-about-your-hearing-healt h-and-wired-earbuds-and-why-this-kickstarter-campaign-emphatically-gets-my-bac king


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