HighEmotion® Audio

HighEmotion® Audio
The next step in the evolution of sound

If there's one thing that we understand at HighEmotion Audio, it is that music is one of the most powerful forms of communication on earth. We have all found ourselves inexplicably moved by the mere presence of music; it has the power to relax us, to energize us, to conjure long lost memories. At its most effective music has an instantly perceivable impact upon our minds, bodies and spirits in ways that language, touch and imagery rarely do. Charles Darwin wrote that man's abilities to produce and appreciate music "must be ranked among the most mysterious with which he is endowed" and until relatively recently that mystery remained one of the more confounding for neurologists, evolutionary theorists, and music lovers alike. Through advancements in brain imaging technology it has been discovered that the simple process of taking in music requires an astonishingly complex network of neural activity. So many areas of the brain fire automatically that the perceived response to most other stimuli will pale in comparison. Put quite simply, the brain utilizes these areas of activity to process music in two primary ways: some areas are involved in processing the information cognitively, recognizing and synthesizing structure, melody, harmony, etc. Conversely, our emotional (or Iimbic) systems react to music without the involvement of conscious thought. The Iimbic system (a possible holdover of our ancestors' invaluable fight or flight instincts) is what tells us that music is happy or sad, magical, potent, or moving.

At HEA we've spent years examining the effect of music on the Iimbic system, and have worked to incorporate our findings into new technologies that speak directly to the roots of human emotion. There is, after all, an important distinction to be made between understanding music and enjoying it. More...

There is certainly much to be said for the objectively measured performance of home audio equipment, and HighEmotion Audio's products routinely perform above and beyond all established criteria. All of our systems are the direct result of years of research and development by a veritable consortium of engineers, audio industry professionals, musicians, and music appreciators, as well as esteemed psychologists and physiologists. Each unit is designed and built with the understanding that even the smallest transistor holds the utmost importance to the overall sound; every component is attended to with unparalleled attention to detail and a global view of how each piece contributes to overall performance of the system. And many of our components are propri- etary, patented, or patent-pending, which means that-try as you might- you'|| never find another speaker like ours, let alone a speaker with so much raw science, craftsmanship, and care put behind it.

As intensive as our approach has been to achieving objectively flawless sound reproduction, it is HE/-Vs duality of focus-a serious consideration of both the technical, cognitive aspects of music perception as well as the subjective, emotional user experience- that has been previously absent from the high fidelity loudspeaker industry, and has set us apart from the rest of the pack. Critical and practical standards have long converged primarily to accommodate archaic measuring equipment, evaluating frequency response, distortion, etc, but have curiously ignored any consideration of the emotional, and subsequent physiological impact on the listener. Take for example our patented Leading Edge Transducer (LET) tweeter. Essentially emulating the crack of a whip, the LET is able to deliver staggeringly fast sound delivery with the exertion of relatively little power. All of our proprietary drivers and LETs are designed with speed and accuracy in mind, as the Iimbic systems responds markedly better to the beginning of a sound than to its decay. To us it's simple science, simple sense. Dr. Herbert Meltzer M.D. of Vanderbilt University observes that "it has, in fact, been suggested that perception and sound are not the defining features of music but rather it is the conveying of emotion that forms the essence of music... HighEmotion Audio has already succeeded in creating a line of speaker systems that is unrivaled in its capacity to enhance the experience of listening to recorded music."

As the eminent neurologist Oliver Sacks writes in his book Musicophilia, "technica| correctness alone is not enough; once this is achieved, emotion must return, or one may be left with nothing beyond an arid virtuosity. It is always a balance, a coming together, that is needed." While Sacks is referring to the production of music, this tenet can be just as well applied to the reproduction of music. At HighEmotion Audio we strive every day to achieve such a balance-to build an unprecedented speaker system that performs as well in any technical evaluation as it does in the heart, the soul, and yes, the mind of any music lover. We're extremely proud of our new Bella and Pyra Bella speakers, and we encourage you to experience them for yourself.

High Emotion Audio Store opens here June 1

Praise for HighEmotion Audio

"[HEA's] 'LET' (Leading Edge Transducer) prototype demonstration was a revelation. That's a word widely abused in audiophile circles, but not one I throw about lightly... The LET undressed the recordings to an almost frightening degree, exposing how the mastering engineer had layered all the component parts onto a unified whole. There was a nakedness to the performance that made other audio sound murky by comparison."

"[HEA's woofer technology] does for the low frequencies what the LET does for the upper ones. [HEA]'s onto something huge – perhaps even the turning point of audio in the 21st century."

Barry Willis in Hi-Fi News, November 2007

"[T]he LET's superfast transient response and other design factors have been clinically demonstrated to affect the human limbic system (which regulates emotion) more than conventional speakers, resulting in a more deeply moving experience. In fact, the company's ultimate goal is to approach the emotional impact of live performance, which has heretofore eluded virtually all electronic audio systems... I have every confidence that we'll be seeing – and hearing – much more from this innovative company in the future."

Scott Wilkinson in Electronic Musician, January 2008

"[T]he sound system in this place is incredible! It's called HighEmotion Audio... All that black decor? It's really yards and yards of speakers: 120 mid-range, 120 tweeters, and 24 sub-woofers. This means the music has a rich, ribbony quality; it travels above and below the buzz of conversation. But it never, somehow, interferes with the frequency our voices occupy... Give me the high emotion sound of 24 sub-woofers putting out music you can hear in your blood and your chest, along with easy, intimate conversation in a crowded room. Give me that any day."

Ann Bauer in Rake Magazine, October 2007
(from a story that began as a restaurant review)

"It's a pleasure to listen to this very exclusive audio, where the pin-sharp quality is something that's just not readily available... 'HighEmotion' is the right word for it, because it is an emotional experience... The audio is (if one is listening carefully) just as good as being at a live performance... My dreams have been realized."

Legendary Hollywood soundman David Crozier
(Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Finding Neverland, Mission: Impossible, The Mummy)

"HighEmotion Audio has made a long term commitment to contribute to the fulfillment of the potential of music to provide optimal listening experiences to the healthy and to heal the physically and emotionally troubled by providing a unique, moving, pleasurable listening experience that goes beyond ordinary sound reproduction provided by even the more expensive speaker systems that have not considered the neural basis of music appreciation in designing and building their speakers."

Dr. Herbert Meltzer, M.D.
Professor of psychiatry and pharmacology, Vanderbilt University

"The HighEmotion speaker is a two-way audio system that operates over the range... that approximates the capabilities of human hearing. Delivering CD quality music over the HighEmotion audio system delivers a substantial difference in physiologic response."

Scott D. McPhee, Dr
PH, OTR/L, FAOTA and Tim R. Johnson, DA

"If a speaker is to deceive the mind, to convince this wondrous device that a musical truth is occurring, and thereby elicit the associated visceral emotional response we all crave from our favorite works, it must attend carefully to pitch, timbre, timing, and very important, intensity. Although [HighEmotion Audio systems] represent state-of-the-art performance in all these musically important areas, it is in the latter that they are without peer.

Dr. Craig A. Clark, M.D.

Contact HighEmotion® Audio

For more information, email aaron@highemotionaudio.com.