Sonomax and Virgin Entertainment Group
The Sonomax and Virgin Entertainment Group initiative responds to a marketplace where global sales of entertainment and communications devices with intra-ear applications, such as MP3s and Bluetooth™ headsets for telephony, will soon break the 500 million units per year mark, and sales are projected to surpass a billion units annually by 2010. With earphone sales currently tracking at 40% of MP3 device sales, the market is enormous.
The introductory program will showcase Soundcage, Sonomax's revolutionary custom-fit earphones. Using its patented SonoCustom® and SonoPass® technologies, Sonomax will fit retail customers in a matter of minutes with custom-fit earphones that provide a verified total acoustic seal, the single most important element of industry professional grade sound quality. The acoustic seal provides isolation from competing environmental noise and prevents leakage of sound out of the ear, especially the low frequencies responsible for music lovers' treasured bass. This results in superb audio clarity and performance.
"In line with our mission to bring Virgin Megastore customers the best in entertainment technology, we are delighted to partner with Sonomax on this exciting initiative as we believe we are leading MP3 users into a new era of audio entertainment," said Dee Mc Laughlin, vice president of marketing, Virgin Entertainment. "The sixty day program will tell us a great deal about the receptiveness of consumers to a device that provides them with high quality sound, as well as long-wearing comfort due to the precision of Sonomax's expansion technology."
"Virgin Megastores represents one of the world's premiere brands, and we are extremely proud to work with such a key influencer in the consumer entertainment marketplace," said Mr. Nick Laperle, president of Sonomax. "Our project aims to accelerate a shift in the area of personal audio, and we are very confident that our program in Los Angeles and New York will convincingly demonstrate our technology's new benchmarks in performance, comfort and safety (PCS) and will lead to a bright future for Sonomax with Virgin Entertainment."
Sonomax and the GRAMMY Awards Gift Lounge
Sonomax will be included in the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards Gift Lounge in Los Angeles February 7-9 to offer GRAMMY Presenters and Performers an exclusive inside look at its patented, custom-fit high fidelity earphones. The GRAMMY Awards is scheduled to be broadcast live from the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on the CBS Television Network (8 p.m. ET/PT).
"Participating in the GRAMMY Gift Lounge was a natural fit for Sonomax," says Laperle. "The GRAMMY Awards are known for celebrating the best in music and when it comes to enjoying that music, custom-fit earphones are absolutely the way to go - because ears are more distinctive than fingerprints. There is no such thing as 'one-size-fits-all' or even multiple ear tips when it comes to obtaining a true fit."
Sonomax and Hearing Health
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 250 million people suffer from a disabling degree of hearing impairment. Sonomax PCS products address what has become a serious societal health problem -- hearing loss that derives from "turning up the volume" on audio devices. When entering noisy environments while listening to music or talking on their cell phones, people wearing generic earpieces characteristically turn up the volume of their devices to counteract and override ambient noise. At that moment they endanger their hearing. At that moment, the decibel level of sound reaching their eardrums often rises to a toxic level. Thus, they often begin to do irreparable harm to their ears.
"Ear canals are more distinctive than fingerprints," stresses Laperle. "Thus, it isn't possible to fully protect the ear without a custom fit." The Sonomax technology platform was conceived to ensure an exact custom fit, and it has since formed the basis for an entire family of product solutions dedicated to hearing -- among them Soundcage, the company's revolutionary earphones.
Sonomax and Enhanced Listening Enjoyment
Sonomax earpieces fit perfectly, and they continuously conform to the changing shape of the ear canal. They virtually eliminate environmental noise, and permit people to enjoy their music and cell phone conversations at dramatically lower volume levels with absolutely no compromise to sound clarity. For audiophiles particularly, the Sonomax total acoustic seal in earphones promises a major advance in satisfaction. The acoustic seal prevents external sound from leaking in and allows for pure undistorted and undistracted enjoyment of crystal- clear sound quality.
Sonomax Soundcage Custom Fittings
- Thursday, February 7 - Saturday, February 9, 2008: GRAMMY® Awards Gift Lounge (exclusively for GRAMMY Presenters and Performers)
- Feb. 7, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Feb. 8, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Feb. 9, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
STAPLES Center (VIP tented area next to SW VIP entrance)
1111 S. Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
- 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Virgin Megastore Hollywood & Highland
6801 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 105
Hollywood, CA 90028
Sonomax Soundcage custom fittings available to the public through April 27.
(open to the public)
- 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Virgin Megastore Union Square
52 East 14 Street (at Broadway) New York, NY 10003
Sonomax Soundcage custom fittings available to the public through May 9.
"raw" model (single driver) and $249.99 for the PCS 500 aka "symphony" model (dual driver).
About Virgin Entertainment Group
Virgin Entertainment Group is the world's leading multi-channel music and entertainment retailer, providing customers with a range of entertainment experiences through a family of integrated Virgin-branded businesses. Virgin Megastores and Virgin Megastore Online at www.virginmega.com are integral parts of a strategy to provide entertainment customers with what they want, how they want it, and when they want it.
About Sonomax
Sonomax Hearing Healthcare Inc (TSX Venture Exchange: SHH) is a leader in the development and manufacture of intra-ear technologies. Its products include revolutionary hearing protection devices, affordable hearing aids, active and passive multi-purpose earphones for consumer entertainment and communications, and communications units for
the industrial and military markets. The company's patented custom-fit, instant-fit expansion earpieces deliver a perfect acoustic seal every time and can be validated by SonoPass®, the company's proprietary proof-of-performance software. Building on its technological leadership in hearing protection, Sonomax is expanding the applications for its technologies into high growth consumer markets such as MP3 audio, multi-media, gaming earphones, and Bluetooth® headsets for telephony, through its subsidiary VitaSound Audio Inc, based in Ontario.
For more information, visit www.sonomax.com.
