Audio technology company Turtle Beach Corporation has announced that after nearly two years of development and preparation, its hearing healthcare device, HyperSound Clear, has officially launched and is now being sold to consumers through hearing healthcare providers.
Turtle Beach reports that it began fulfilling initial pre-orders for HyperSound Clear in October 2015, and the company is now executing a controlled rollout of the product to a small group of hearing healthcare providers through the end of the year. It will further expand HyperSound Clear availability in early 2016.
Additionally, Turtle Beach Corporation reports that it has broadened its network of providers via a new distribution partnership with Elite Hearing LLC, a network of independent hearing healthcare providers in the US. Elite Hearing is part of Amplifon USA, a subsidiary of Amplifon SpA, and currently supports more than 1,600 member locations across the US. Through this new partnership, consumers will be able to purchase HyperSound Clear through Elite Hearing’s provider network.
“With a completely new type of consumer technology like this, our priority for HyperSound Clear is to bring it into the market at the right pace versus attempting to maximize revenue early-on,” said Rodney Schutt, senior vice president and general manager for the HyperSound business at Turtle Beach Corporation. “We are deliberately introducing HyperSound Clear into the channel slowly, which allows us to better monitor and integrate feedback from our partners and focus on customer satisfaction. Our current production schedule through the end of the year is limited and already fully allocated, and we’re on-track to deliver product to a smaller subset of our hearing healthcare partners first, with the expectation that by the end of Q1 next year we’ll have increased our manufacturing output and the number of hearing healthcare partner locations that carry HyperSound Clear.”
According to Turtle Beach, HyperSound technology is a new approach to sound delivery that generates a highly directional, narrow beam of audio in the air. Similar to how a flashlight directs a beam of light, HyperSound Clear directs a beam of audio to targeted listeners, which has been shown to significantly improve sound clarity and speech intelligibility in individuals with hearing loss. HyperSound Clear works in parallel with the audio from a TV or home theater system, so a person with hearing loss can experience immersive, 3D audio when sitting in the HyperSound beam, while everyone else in the room hears audio from the TV speakers or home theater system at a normal volume level. This means that people with hearing loss, along with family members and friends, can enjoy the latest home entertainment together. Additionally, HyperSound Clear will be programmed by a hearing healthcare professional to a specific user’s hearing profile to deliver optimal results, and is customizable for up to two individuals.
Consumers interested in purchasing HyperSound Clear should speak with their hearing healthcare provider. Additionally, through its partnership with CaptionCall, Turtle Beach is offering complimentary white glove installation for a limited time for each HyperSound Clear unit sold in the US. Once purchased, programmed, and brought home, patients in the US will be contacted by a member from CaptionCall to schedule the complimentary in-home installation of HyperSound Clear.
To learn more about HyperSound technology, please see the article, “Patient Preferences for a Directed Audio Soution,” by Brian Taylor, AuD, which appeared in the October 2015 edition of The Hearing Review, or visit the HyperSound Clear website.
Source: HyperSound Clear; Turtle Beach Corporation
