Ultimate Ears is an American custom in-ear monitor (IEM), speaker, and earphone manufacturer based in Irvine and Newark, California, United States. The custom in-ear monitor company was founded by Mindy and Jerry Harvey in 1995 and it created a new market for custom IEMs which are now used by most of the world's top musicians. In August 2008, Ultimate Ears was acquired by Logitech and operates as a subsidiary. In 1995, Jerry Harvey was Van Halen's touring monitor engineer, mixing their stage sound through stage wedges—powerful loudspeakers aiming at each of the musicians. Drummer Alex Van Halen had great difficulty hearing the other band members over all the noise of the stage; louder monitors did not help. Harvey created a custom molded earpiece for the drummer to block some of the stage noise and focus on the desired sound: a prototype earpiece that contained two tiny speaker drivers, one for low frequencies and one for high frequencies, the frequencies split by a passive audio crossover. The high frequency driver was a stock Japanese component but a suitable low frequency driver was difficult to find. The only driver which survived strong kick drum signals was a Knowles-made pacemaker part, a balanced armature transducer intended to warn the pacemaker wearer of internal problems. Other Van Halen band members became interested and Harvey crafted further sets. The musicians touring with Van Halen—Skid Row—wanted some in-ear monitors and Harvey sold them six pairs for $3,000. Pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck wanted a set and at that point Harvey determined to start a company to supply the demand. More information...
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