HelloEar’s Wonderland custom in-ear monitors look like something that might have fallen off the T-1000 in Terminator 2. The custom in-ear monitors are designed for musicians who prefer earphone monitoring as opposed to stage-level foldback.
Each monitor is made from 92.5 percent pure silver that is electroplated with either platinum or rose gold. The entirely metal ear pieces only weigh 15 grams and are custom designed to fit the ear perfectly.
HelloEar’s fitting process involves first taking a 3D scan of the ear and then building a model from that. To shape the metal, they use laser-sintering (using a laser to bond powdered metal into a solid object) similar to techniques used in jewelry manufacturing. The final result is a glob of metal that looks like it flew straight off a liquid-metal Terminator after blasting it with a shotgun.
Unlike the globs in the movie, the Wonderland collection earbuds will not liquefy and rejoin your body. However, they will just as comfortably join your body at the ear with a fit that was tailor-made for you. That’s close to the same thing, right?
The phones do provide 26 dB worth of noise reduction thanks to their tight custom fit. However, it is uncertain how the metal casings react with sound waves as opposed to the traditional plastic housings, but at $2,500 for the six-driver set (Monet) and $3,700 for the 12-driver version (Gauguin), one should hope the sound is impeccable.
