When we started Knops we came to the conclusion that people need to be able to control their volume. At music concerts, at work, or just during everyday life. We soon realised that sound is dynamic and people in fact would love to control their volume.

Lack of volume adaptabilit

The lack of adaptability struck us while looking at current noise reduction and hearing protection solutions. Our environment is dynamic and not static. This is the same with sound and noise. Sometimes we are exposed to loud and dangerous sounds, other times there is a lot of irritating noise. For example, at a festival, while the music plays you want to lower the sound to protect your hearing. But when the music has a brake and you want to talk to your friends, you want to be able to communicate.

Sometimes you want to lower the noise while still being able to hear others and other times we need to isolate ourselves. For example when you are working in an office and want to focus on your work. You want to reduce environmental noise. But when you need to ask some details from a co-worker, you still want to be able to communicate.

Creating A New Solution

We believe it’s time for a new solution. A hearing solution that is adaptable invites people to use it. How much sound you want to expose yourself to depends on the environment you’re in. Current products only provide a constant sound or noise reduction, while in reality the amount of sound and noise reduction which is needed changes all the time. We believe that the users should be in control of their own volume.

With this in mind, the concept of a volume button was created. In the design process, the idea of controlling volume by twisting a knob stuck out. This way we literally created a volume button for your ears in form, function, and use.

Written by Richard de Jong.