The British manufacturer has installed audio systems in venues including the iconic Olympic Studios (London) and The Leadmill, (Sheffield), as well as providing live audio to a wide range of artists, venues and festivals. The company is now using global crowd-funding platform Kickstarter to bring attention to its new distortion free Reference series of in-ear and over-ear headphones - dubbed "a revolution in listening" - and make them available for wider retail. The new R2s give the listener pure, distortion free, pressure-balanced sound with no ear fatigue, the company says.
The Kickstarter campaign enables investors to purchase one of three in-ear R2 models, and the R1 Mk2 over ear model, all at an introductory campaign price that will revert to full RRP following the end of the campaign.
"The Reference R2 in-ear phones provide listeners with an 'in the room' experience, and takes Flare's innovation in distortion-free sound to the micro level. The R2's innovative design offers unrivalled purity of sound in a small, lightweight package, while its enclosures are precision-milled so that the pressures on both sides of the driver are balanced. The sound is channelled to minimise internal reflections as it travels into the ear. Turned on a robotic precision lathe, the R2 is incredibly compact and has a far higher degree of sound isolation than other earphones due to its solid metal construction. Each R2 driver enclosure measures just 12mm x 7mm."
The R2 earphones will be available in three versions - R2A in natural aluminium, black anodised aluminium or Olympic Studios Limited Edition anodised in Olympic Red; R2S (stainless steel); and R2PRO Titanium: Each R2PRO enclosure is manufactured from a solid bar of titanium grade 5. This material is 12x stronger than aluminium 6082 and is the only element to feature a close packed hexagonal structure. It's this atomic symmetry coupled with R2's cylindrical design (the strongest possible shape) and Flare's patent-pending pressure-balancing technology that results in the R2PRO's enclosure being the most rigid possible, creating the highest possible quality of sound.
Flare's ground-breaking work in professional audio has already been wowing some of the world's most respected musicians and producers. Jimmy Page recently introduced the 40th anniversary playback of Led Zeppelin's seminal album Physical Graffiti on the Olympic Studios Flare system, telling audience members that this would be the best that they, or he, had ever heard the album sound.
Among those who have tried the R2s is Chris Kimsey, producer for bands including The Rolling Stones and INXS. He says: "I'm rediscovering recorded music on a truly epic scale. The sound of R2 is out of this world . . . quite simply staggering big sound in an unbelievably small earphone."
"We're using Kickstarter to raise awareness of this new technology that delivers not only a totally unique listening experience but with it a new approach to earphone design," says Flare CEO Davies Roberts. "Our work providing quality sound to the professional audio industry, supported by independent testing, has proven Flare products really deliver what they promise. This campaign will enable us to launch a range of products to the consumer market and bring this technological advancement to the general public."
(Lee Baldock)
