Scrutable

Flare Audio have been buying a lot of my eye time recently. Here’s an ad on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/flareaudio/status/1 ... Xuq8RcWTaA

And similar on Facebook: Always supported by lots of “testimonials” Maybe they’re legit, and there is a plausible mode of action I suppose, but basing a healthcare adjacent business on testimonials seems a bit red-flaggy to me. What does everyone think?

Is that just a sort of ear plug which doesn't completely plug?

They help.

Possibly via placebo effect.

Might get these for my wife so I can eat soup without her complaining about the sound of the spoon on my teeth

I could see them working for some people, but not everyone. You could design an earplug that filters out certain frequencies, which seems to be what these do. That might take the edge off certain noises, but the frequencies that are filtered might not be the right ones, cos that might be very subjective.

I know that my friend swears by the noise canceling headphones she got for her son (he puts them on when things get a bit much), but they do all noise. I supose they could be modified to only do certain frequencies, which could be tailored to the user, which might be a better, but more expensive way of doing it.

A possibility of working doesn't change the fact that they shouldn't be making claims that they help with things like autism without properly testing them first, mind.

And PTSD!

PTSD is a strange beast, these things could plausibly help.

I wonder if you could have an effect on a particular triggering sound just by making it sound a bit different. On the other hand, I have no idea how much difference these would make to the way things sound.

The 1-star reviews are interesting

Grumble wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:57 am

The 1-star reviews are interesting

For example:

Didn't notice any difference
I bought these to help deal with harsh noises, particularly a barking dog. After several days extended use, I can say I can't notice any difference, they don't appear to do anything. I'll be requesting a refund. Really disappointed that they didn't help.

Makes you wonder how many of the 5-star reviews are wishful thinking

Why aren't you trusting people? If they think it helps, what's the problem?

lpm wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:19 am

Why aren't you trusting people? If they think it helps, what's the problem?

£20 (currently £15) is a lot of money to spend on slightly fancy earplugs. Why worry about anything that’s marketed as helping problems with little to no rigorous evidence that it actually helps?

I’m not jumping to conclusions, I’m actually interested in trying these for my daughter who sometimes goes into noisy situations (E.g. school Christmas fairs) with ear defenders on. However, I’d like something more than customer reviews, ideally.

It's obvious that if people don't find them helpful, they'll not bother with the faff of putting them in. After a couple of weeks of novelty they'd gradually do the usual migration from use to occasional use to sitting in a drawer to being chucked away.

The fact that people still use them after months and buy replacements when lost is proof they work.

Whether they work by placebo or wishful thinking or ritual or SCIENCE is irrelevant.

Whether they only work for 10% or 90% of purchasers is also irrelevant. These issues are so individual that it has to be done by trying them out.

lpm wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:39 am

It's obvious that if people don't find them helpful, they'll not bother with the faff of putting them in. After a couple of weeks of novelty they'd gradually do the usual migration from use to occasional use to sitting in a drawer to being chucked away.

The fact that people still use them after months and buy replacements when lost is proof they work.

Whether they work by placebo or wishful thinking or ritual or SCIENCE is irrelevant.

Whether they only work for 10% or 90% of purchasers is also irrelevant. These issues are so individual that it has to be done by trying them out.

That’s the same level of “proof” as chiropractors use. I realise the stakes are lower here, and it’s not as obviously b.llsh.t, but still.

There are rigorous ways of testing what people can hear, it wouldn’t be that hard to have proper testing done to see if they have any real effect, although you do need access to the right kit. I would have thought Flare Audio would have access to the right kit and so it wouldn’t be hard for them to give a bit more rigour.

Grumble wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:07 am

Grumble wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 31, 2023 8:57 am

The 1-star reviews are interesting

For example:

Didn't notice any difference
I bought these to help deal with harsh noises, particularly a barking dog. After several days extended use, I can say I can't notice any difference, they don't appear to do anything. I'll be requesting a refund. Really disappointed that they didn't help.

I bet it was hard to even get them in the dog.