Sensaphonics Namm 2016 Interview With Michael Santucci

Every year I attend at least the winter Namm show if not winter and summer. And every year I leave with something that has me talking, something that on the trip back I keep going back to how cool that product was. And it’s generally not an amp or guitar I see tons of those and in general I think that we have those types of things pretty much figured out. Small things here and there will change your experience but we pretty much know what we’re getting into from instrument to instrument. And obviously not to discount any instrument manufacturer but the improvements from piece to piece are generally small modifications. Such as different woods or no woods, different type of pickups or change in drums heads.

In Ear Monitor (IEM) technology however, while great still has a lot of things that could be done to improve the experience for the user. In my conversation with Dr. Michael Santucci of Sensaphonics a few things became clear in short order. First, not only does he really know his stuff but also knows exactly what struggles you’re having with monitors. He has a great understanding of using IEM’s and all the downsides of them. And after doing some research you will find that not only is he a well-respected audiologist but also genuinely interested in musicians and creating a product to help make their lives better and safer. Part of what piqued my interest was they are set on solving problems associated with using IEM’s not just kicking out another ear hole filling sound device. It’s great to see a company that looks at a problem and really sets out to find a way to fix it. Think like anti lock breaks. Breaks worked pretty good before ABS for a lot of years. Cars stopped but ABS made breaks way better and has probably saved countless lives. The things Sensaphonics are doing in short looks at all the things we dislike about using IEM’s and tries to make them better.

I personally use a competitor’s product and I must start with a disclaimer. I love my in ears and I would buy from them again. My vendor has been great and helpful to me but I still have various issues with my molds and fit. In talking with the company I use they are more than willing to help me make things better but I have yet to take those steps. Mostly because I haven’t wanted to be without my molds for an extended period and I wasn’t certain if the steps taken were going to really fix my problems. In short I have a fit issue, once I get them inserted and comfortable they will only stay sealed as long as I really don’t move my mouth. The minute I smile the seal breaks and then disappears the bottom end and a chunk of my volume. My vendor discussed building up my molds and working on a solution but after talking to many that also use hard acrylic molds I found that for many this is just the way it goes. Enter my bass player…

What got me interested in talking with Sensaphonics was my giddy bass player who attended a presentation at Namm 2016 titled “In Ear Monitor (IEM) Fundamentals and Hearing Conservation. The speaker was Michael Santucci. After the presentation my bass player meets back up with us and says “I think I’m gonna buy these” after he talked about what was discussed I decided I wanted to see for myself as well as see if they would be kind enough to discuss with us on camera. In short he did order a set from them. He did not order the 3D active ambient which actually have mics built into them allowing you to blend ambient sound with your monitor mix. He just order a set of IEM’s in hopes that it would take care of his current issues he has with several pairs of IEM’s. I myself love the idea of the full package but the price tag is high, around 2k if you want the 3D’s with a single full range driver. $2500 should you want dual drivers. I’m by no means knocking the price they are great pieces of equipment and their list of artists speaks for itself. But I gotta get a few more pennies rattling around in my jar before I can pull the trigger on these. So for now I will just deal with problematic molds 🙁

Below is my video with Michael where he is covers everything from materials used in their product to how the brain perceives sound. As well as their 3D Active Ambient technology option. He covers a lot of information in this video but they have even more details on their site. For further info check out www.sensaphonics.com