How It Works
Ultimate Ears UE 11 Pro custom earphones pack in four separate speakers—including a subwoofer—to create sound as realistic as if you were hearing it live

In-Ear Concert An x-ray of the Ultimate Ears UE 11 Pro earbuds reveals their intricate components David Arky

Sacrificing sound quality for size was clearly not on the agenda when Ultimate Ears set out to create these top-of-the-line buds.

How to Deliver Pristine Sound

1. Separate the Signal
A circuit called a crossover divides the audio signal into different frequency ranges and routes each batch to one of four speakers in the earphone.

2. Activate the Speaker
The signal from the crossover enters a speaker and flows into a tiny copper coil, which responds with faint electromagnetic vibrations. Nearby, a small strip of metal, or armature, balances between the fields created by two magnets. The vibrations disrupt this magnetic field, causing the magnetized armature to pivot.

3. Move the Air
When the armature moves, it pushes a small rod connected to a diaphragm, which in turn pushes the surrounding air and generates sound waves.

4. Deliver the Sound
One sound tube carries the high frequencies while another handles the mids and the lows. Mixing treble and bass in your ear instead of in the headphones, as other earbuds do, makes music sound less like you’re hearing it inside a phone booth and more as it would in the hall where it was recorded. Acoustic filters prevent interference between the high and low frequencies inside the sound tubes.

  • Size: Custom-fit
  • Frequency Range: 10 Hz–16,500 Hz
  • Price: $1,150
  • Info: ultimateears.com

More How It Works:

0 Comments



Download Our iPhone App

Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone with full articles, images and offline viewing



Follow Us On Twitter

Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed



Become a Fan On Facebook

Share links with friends, comment on stories and more


December 2009: Best of What's New

In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.

Check out the best of what's new here.

Popular Science Photo Pool


Share your photos in the Pop Sci pool at www.flickr.com!
tags_sprite.png
POP_embeddedForm_cover_May09.jpg