The problem
Earplugs make everything quieter, including what you came to hear.
Foam plugs dull voices and music along with the noise. Active earbuds are built for listening to music, not for protecting your hearing at a concert or on a job site.
Front-of-house levels often pass 100 dB. You want the band clear and the harsh peaks gone.
Shops, kitchens and stages mix tools with conversation. Blocking everything means missing the person next to you.
Some people find particular pitches uncomfortable. A flat earplug can't single them out.
How it works
Seal, listen, soften, play back.
Everything below happens inside an earbud about the size of a sugar cube. Turn the model, pull it apart, or step through the sound path. Open it full screen.
- SealA foam tip blocks most outside sound, even with the power off.
- ListenA tiny outward mic picks up the room.
- SoftenThe audio chip turns down up to five frequency bands you choose and caps the output level.
- Play backA small speaker plays the result into the sealed ear, fast enough not to echo.
Concept model, not a finished product. The v2 shape concepts at true scale, built from real part sizes and each seated in a real scanned ear where the fit simulation placed it. The circuit board layout and charging case are still being designed. The canal beyond its entrance is illustrative.
The app
Calm controls, one job per screen.
The app is where you decide what Haven softens. It talks to the earbud over Bluetooth and never lets the sound go past a fixed ceiling.
One glance tells you if you're protected or paused. A slow amber light, nothing to configure.
Pick up to five frequency bands and how much to soften each, from a gentle dip to fully removed.
Tones rise slowly from quiet so you can mark what feels uncomfortable. A large stop button is always in reach, and both the app and the earbud enforce an 85 dB ceiling.
Note how a day felt in a few taps, and see over weeks which settings worked for you.
Live demo: the real app running against a simulated earbud with example data. Open it full screen.
Hardware
Small enough to forget, built on proven parts.
The v2 design packs a Bluetooth chip, an audio chip with its own signal processor, a mic, a speaker and a rechargeable cell into a body about 17 × 19 × 18 mm. These are design targets, not measured results yet.
- Body
- 16.7 × 18.9 × 17.5 mmSealed nozzle for standard 4.5 mm-bore ear tips
- Battery
- 6+ hours targetRechargeable coin cell, topped up in the case
- Charging case
- Two-pin contactsMagnets hold the buds in place, USB-C on the case
- Bluetooth
- nRF5340 moduleControls settings from the app, stays asleep most of the time
- Audio
- ADAU1860 codecFive filters, a limiter and an output ceiling, on-chip
- Latency budget
- About 3 msModeled for a well-sealed fit, where the delay isn't heard as an echo
Status · October 2026
Where Haven is right now
Haven is a prototype in development. Nothing is for sale. Here's the honest picture.
Written and covered by automated tests. Bluetooth control and the safety limits run on a development kit. You can try the app above.
Laid out, checked and quoted. Waiting for two parts to come back in stock before ordering.
Circuit drawn and checked, and the firmware builds for it. The shell is being reshaped to sit securely in real ears.
No audio has passed through a Haven board yet, and output levels haven't been measured. That comes with the first built boards.
Built in the open
Every file is public.
Haven builds on OpenEarable, an open-source research earbud. The app, firmware, circuit boards and enclosure are all on GitHub.
Follow along
Hear about the first working earbud.
We'll share when Haven makes its first sound, and when there's something to try.