Disclaimer: The Flare Isolate Pro were sent to us free of charge in return for our honest opinion. We can give one pair away to a lucky reader as well. EDIT: THE GIVEAWAY IS OVER
Flare Audio
It’s not the first time we talk about Flare Audio on Headfonia, as a matter of fact we have reviewed their full sized R1 and their R2A & R2PRO earphones. While the R1 – the first fully open headphone according to Flare – received mixed feedback, the IEMs were quite successful. Now Flare is back with something new, this time not to listen to music, but to block sound. Although “block” isn’t the good word for it. Keep reading.
Flare Audio originally is a British loudspeaker technology company who believe that artists and engineers, not loudspeakers, should create sound.
This is how Flare describes their selves on Kickstarter: “Flare was born to unlock the issues surrounding sound by developing new patent-pending technologies and products that truly revolutionize our experience of sound.We don’t follow rule books, we look at everything we do with a blank page so that we can unlock new understanding. We use suppliers who focus on achieving the highest quality components, whilst ensuring their efficiency enables a cost effective product.”
The Isolate Pro
The what what? The Isolate Pro doesn’t make sound, it simply is a hearing protector using the latest technology to protect your ears while sleeping, travelling, going to concerts and clubs, doing or visiting motorsport and working.
Flare’s founder and inventor, Davies Roberts, could not understand why traditional ear plugs were so bad at doing their job (we’ll get back to that later). When he looked into it, he realized that ear protection was taking the wrong path in using plastics, silicone and foams to absorb sound. Solid metal is a good conductor and so had been discounted as unsuitable for use in ear protectors. Until now. What Davies has discovered is that, in order to conduct sound, metals need a direct connection. Without a direct connection solid metals block sound perfectly! (according to Flare)
“When you isolate a small piece of metal or dense material in soft foam inside your ear, sound waves can’t penetrate from the flexible medium of air and it becomes the perfect isolator”. Understanding this principle is what inspired them to develop the perfect ear plug. Flare continues: “Traditional earplugs, particularly the standard foam ones, rely on absorption principles to attenuate sound. Trying to absorb sound in this way requires a large amount of material to work well: examining anechoic chambers demonstrates this with their foot-long spikes of foam. Traditional ear plugs and defenders cannot block low frequencies from entering your ears very well. As well as being unpleasant to listen to, they make sound muffled, leaving you feeling disconnected, or as if you are underwater. Low frequencies produce the most energy, and this is not absorbed properly by the plastic or foam used in traditional ear protectors”.
Kickstarter
Flare likes Kickstarter and all of their before mentioned products were launched via the group funding platform. The Isolate Kickstarter project was extremely successful. It finished with Flare achieving a final total of £462,171, which is a tad over the £25,000 target! The campaign finished rated number 1 popular project in the world out of 4174 live projects, and a staggering £73,850 was pledged on the final day. It seems a lot of people are looking for good and affordable hearing protection.
I believe the Kickstarter Isolate units will be sent out to the backers in September. For those who didn’t find the Kickstarter project in time, the Isolate now is available for pre-order on Indiegogo. These buyers will receive their Isolates in October.
The Flare Isolate is available in several colors and prices start from £24/€28/$32 for the aluminum version and £48/€56/$63 for the titanium version. The story (My experience + using the Isolate) continues on Page two, right after the click HERE or below
Joe Liew
Feeling lucky!!
Joshua Loke
Always looking forward to Flare Audio products. Own an R2pro – great uiem!
remy
Feeling even more lucky !
aditya mada prahasta
I yeeeeaaaarrrnnnn to have this headfonia. fingers cross!
Zoltan K.
Comment left 🙂
Lieven
Very original as well 😉
José Núñez
Nice giveaway!
Thom van Oijen
Fingers crossed.
I wonder how they compare to the Etymotic Research ER-20 Earplugs. These were pretty cheap on mass drop and they pleasantly surprised me in terms of sound quality. Much better than the alpine music pro’s. They don’t block a lot of sound though. So it doesn’t offer the best protection in loud concerts.
You didn’t say anything about how much sound was blocked. Is it a good amount?
Lieven
It’s a pretty good amount yes, but I bet it depends on how your ear canals are shaped to put the Isolate in. I could barely get them in but the reduction in level was quite a bit, which is normal with a tight fit.
Edward Swann
What a fantastic idea. wonder why its taken this long to discover such an invention.
Alexandru Trutiu
❤️ Great giveaway! ❤️
Pinki M
Great going HFN.
Gareth Hailes
Interesting
Michael Parfenov
Really want to try in on a plane.
Anderson Yamamoto
Here we go!
Jesper Mikkelsen
My ear needs a pair these – urgently????
Anindito Hindarum
i am a lucky person :))))
Brent S
I’ve been intrigued by these ever since I saw them – it would be great to try them
Kenny Lim
already kickstarted a titanium one. hope I will win another pair for the missus
Kevin Tabata
Could really use these!
astvihhad jahid
Great!
Phuc Nguyen
Thanks for the giveaway ^^
Phillip Houseknecht
I could sure use something to save what little hearing I have left!
Thuan T.
Thank you for your generosity !
david b.
i’m in!
Idham Yuandi
I’m in
Jonathan Kurniawan
Nice giveaway!
Kenneth Z.
Nice giveaway guys
Agung Haskara
I have Flareon on Pokemon GO, then I shall have Flare-IN ear isolator
Tim
Nice giveaways
Harrison Paul
This is a great opportunity. I am a musician who has seen the effect of hearing loss on individuals and how it profoundly effects their ability to enjoy and make music.
Davi Dias de Souza
This one is mine!
Hristijan
Exelent giveaway !
Keegan Lin
Lemme have it!
Ade Suhendra
THIS IS FLAREE R2PROO
Dickson Chan
Lemme have it!
Ross Denton
Excellent comp – in it to win it! 😉
Edder Vega
Waiting to win one day
Kei
Fingers crossed!!! ????????????????????????????????
Aleksandar
Excellent!
Gideon Lim
Nice IEM, hope can get it 😀
Duy Khanh Tran
Way to go Headfonia!
Denny
This needs an unicorn tears audiophile version :p
Dan
Thanks for the contest!
WEIX
Thanks for the contest 🙂
Mariano Garcia
Very nice.
John Banerjee
These look amazing. I’d love to win a pair of Flare Isolate Pro’s
iani martinez
goodluck!
John Vincent Romero
I use public transport a lot for work and have tried using regular hard foam to block out the noise; bad idea, really dangerous as it muffles everything. Hopefully the Flare does the trick for 😀
Marc filip hora
My 1st iem on this brand
Tim
feeling lucky!
James Bashkin
Lucky is what I am feeling.
David E. S.
My little brother will like them a lot.
jeff
feeling lucky 🙂
Luigi
i am not gonna win haha
Olav Geurts
Love ‘m, they ‘ve got flair!
Ilkin Jafarli
Woud love to win one
Ilkin Jafarli
Would love to win one. I hope I am the lucky one.
Justin
Great review. Hope I win.