Headphone startup Nura gets acqui-hired by Denon parent, MasimoEvery so often, a new startup crosses your radar and reminds you how exciting hardware can be. It’s a relative rarity in consumer electronics, a category dominated by corporations like Samsung, Apple and Sony, which are (perhaps understandably) somewhat risk averse.
Melbourne-based Nura was one such company. I distinctly remember the startup paying a visit to TechCrunch’s New York offices not long after I started here. The early prototype was a thing to behold — effectively a mess of wires and circuits in a large box. But the point was clear. Turned out wireless audio could be much better than what we’ve slowly grown accustom to over the years.
At the base of the firm’s various headphones was customizable audio profiles, created by mapping the unique architecture of the wearer’s ear. I beckoned a colleague over for a second opinion (and to make sure I wasn’t hearing things). They confirmed that there was, indeed, something next level — frequencies and elements in music that you miss altogether on a different pair.

Nura headphones are custom fit to the listener’s frequency

The startup was recently acquired by Southern California medical device firm Masimo Corporation for an undisclosed sum. Nura will join fellow consumer audio brands under that umbrella, including Bowers and Wilkins, Polk Audio and Denon, which entered its portfolio when it acquired Sound United in April of last year.
The news was announced quietly a couple of weeks back in a press release titled, “Nura Joins Forces With Denon.” What easily might have been mistaken as a partnership deal was actually effectively an acquiring of Nura talent and technology.
“It was important to put the consumer first,” Masimo COO Blair Tripodi tells TechCrunch, when asked about the new reveal. “We chose to highlight the longstanding heritage and sound acoustics of Denon, so that fans would be as excited as we are for the future of Masimo AAT and the possibilities it unlocks.”
Tripodi did, however, confirm the acqui-hire, stating, “Nura was a technology tuck-in and acquisition-hire of engineering talent to support the Masimo Adaptive Acoustic Technology (AAT) platform.”
The company is cagey on specifics here, but the short version is that Nura’s tech is being folded up into Denon’s competing offering. Employees previously involved in research and development Nura will be folded into the same team at Denon. The company didn’t explicitly confirm layoffs, instead offering the line, “Our goal is to retain critical talent and integrate their employees into our business with the goal of advancing our AAT platform.”
It’s simple enough to read between the lines on that one, unfortunately. As for the former startup’s executives, Tripodi says, Nura’s existing leadership team will stay intact and will report into a number of Masimo leaders, depending on department function.
Masimo says that the plans don’t currently effect Nura’s offices, nor is it asking the employees it’s retained to relocate. As for timeline, Nura co-founder and CEO Luke Campbell adds, “Nura’s integration into Masimo AAT is well underway with the goal of bringing personalized audio to more customers around the world.”
In past conversations, Nura has prided itself in remaining fiercely independent. I’ve previously discussed the topics of acquisition or technology licensing, but the startup has long been committed to building its own hardware products. The portfolio grew quickly, as the startup explored various monetization models, including a fairly early exploration of the hardware as a service model, which has been viewed as an increasingly viable strategy for the consumer electronics market.
“It was always our vision to share the award-winning technology with as many people as possible,” Campbells says, when asked about the change in direction. “Masimo and the Masimo AAT platform presented us a chance to improve our existing technology framework, and I couldn’t be more excited about the future. Masimo’s industry-leading signal processing capabilities paired with Denon’s commitment to quality sound, will unlock opportunities that can take the personalized audio space to new heights.”
No one ever said hardware was easy. And while Nura continued to offer a differentiator, the earbud market has grown more crowded with each passing year. It can also be a punishing category for hardware makers who don’t also produce their own handsets. For many — or even most consumers — there’s a benefit in the interoperability of those devices. Often times those who opt for a different option are looking for a less expensive product, and prices has subsequently dropped considerably. Nura’s products, meanwhile, largely sat between $150-200.
Add into that supply chain issues and seemingly endless economic headwinds, and it’s easy to see how the path forward suddenly gets a lot cloudier than it might have seemed three or four years back. Nura declined to comment on what circumstances ultimately led it to sell to Masimo. Co-founder and CEO Kyle Slater left Nura in 2017 and most recently served as the CPO of Melbourne-based medical technology company, Seer. Third co-founder Dragan Petrović left in December.
In the earlier release, the company outlines what the future looks like for existing Nura users, writing, in part:
All Nura products will continue to be supported throughout the warranty period. Existing Nura customers can feel confident that their Nura device will be supported through this transition, including customer support and warranty support. The Nura app will continue to function as it does today, so you will still be able to create personalized hearing profiles and use all app functions.
Masimo says it will sell through the remainder of its Nura inventory, at which point it appears the Nura brand will be fully sunset. The startup’s underlying technology will be a Denon exclusive, moving forward, with no plans to license to third parties. Details on the first Denon product to support the combined adaptive sound technologies will be announced at some point this summer.
Headphone startup Nura gets acqui-hired by Denon parent, Masimo by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

Noise Engineering Polydactyl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgp4tKFHXX4&t=1s&ab_channel=NoiseEngineering Polydactyl is a powerful multiband dynamics processor plugin that makes it easy to precisely... Read More

Noise Engineering Librae https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRxhOWD6YFw&ab_channel=NoiseEngineering Are you missing a little zest in your mix? Need some creative squishing and stretching with some... Read More

Snap, which now has 750m monthly users, expands augmented reality partnership with Live NationPlatform will offer custom-built, immersive AR tools at 16 festivals
Source

The Criticals Sign to FantasyFantasy Records has signed rising indie rock band, THE CRITICALS. Emerging out of Nashville’s vibrant underground rock scene, THE CRITICALS: lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Parker Forbes, and multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, Cole Shugart are generating major buzz for their prolific, inventive songwriting, and a growing reputation as one of indie rock’s most charismatic, must-see live performers.

By the time they formed THE CRITICALS in 2018, Forbes and Shugart had spent more than 10 years playing in various groups in and around Nashville. Barely into middle school, the longtime friends and occasional collaborators gained invaluable experience gigging in backyards, warehouses, and basements, basically wherever they could set up instruments and a PA.  

Inspired by the free-wheeling, indelible songs of David Bowie, The Stones, The Kinks, The 1975 and The Strokes among many others, the music obsessed pair slowly developed their own distinctive sound, a wild blend of melodic classicism and indie rock thrash.

With a burgeoning national presence, THE CRITICALS have been wowing audiences at every stop, playing sold-out clubs in NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, Knoxville, Washington D.C., L.A., and Nashville.  To date, the group has self-released two well-regarded EPs, 2019’s Mimosa Hygiene and 2020’s Sour Grapes. Release plans and new tour dates will be announced soon! Visit www.thecriticalsofficial.com for more info.

Photo Credit: Hannah Hall Hi-Res Download

Can Country Music enact Common Sense Gun Control? 60 top artists pledge to tryEmmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow, Amy Grant, Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Maren Morris, Margo Price, Kelsea Ballerini, and dozens of other top Nashville musicians have signed a letter and met with Tennesse lawmakers. Continue reading
The post Can Country Music enact Common Sense Gun Control? 60 top artists pledge to try appeared first on Hypebot.

NAMM 23: Trinnov Nova Trinnov Audio's latest room-correction system aims to deliver many of the benefits of their flagship systems at a lower price point.

7 Ways AI is changing Music Promotion & How to make it work for YouAI (Artificial intelligence) can do more than create Fake Drake cover songs and cover art. What about monitoring your social media or identifying potential powerful collabs? Kep reading to find. Continue reading
The post 7 Ways AI is changing Music Promotion & How to make it work for You appeared first on Hypebot.

QUICK HITS: Myxt opens w/ $2M • StageIt + Full Option • Public Pressure adds music • Qobuz to Canada • Promotions @ ASCAP, WCMMyxt has launched its audio file management platform alongside seed funding of $2 million led by Accel and Quiet Capital to support the development of its centralized audio workplace. •. Continue reading
The post QUICK HITS: Myxt opens w/ $2M • StageIt + Full Option • Public Pressure adds music • Qobuz to Canada • Promotions @ ASCAP, WCM appeared first on Hypebot.

Function Loops x BandLab Launch Music Contest With $5,000 In Prizes
Function Loops recently partnered with BandLab to launch the #FunctionLoopsVocalPack music production contest with $5,000 in prizes. The four best-placed winners of the #FunctionLoopsVocalPack competition will receive a Premium Bundle pack by Function Loops, including more than $1000 worth of sample content. Additionally, the first-place winner will walk away with a cash prize of $500, and [...]
View post: Function Loops x BandLab Launch Music Contest With $5,000 In Prizes

ModeAudio VHS Beats Review + GIVEAWAY (One FREE Copy Inside)
Read our ModeAudio VHS Beats review and enter the giveaway to win a free copy of this retro-inspired drum library. ModeAudio’s VHS Beats – Drum Machine Samples is a collection for those who want to step back in time to the glory days of magnetic tape. It’s a sample pack that delivers the perfectly imperfect [...]
View post: ModeAudio VHS Beats Review + GIVEAWAY (One FREE Copy Inside)

Dolby Atmos Composer from Fiedler Audio The latest plug-ins from Fiedler Audio allow any DAW to be used to create Dolby Atmos content, even those that lack native multi-channel support.

Crypto financial services provider Januar receives full Danish payments licenseThe Danish startup founded by former Chainalysis staff helps crypto companies find banking services by connecting them to IBAN infrastructure.

Soundiron Orrville Pipe Organ Orrville Pipe Organ is a classic pneumatic pipe organ with 1,224 pipes, 21 ranks, 3 divisions, 2 manuals, 18 stops and 31 registers. It was built for the First Presbyterian Church of Orrville,... Read More

Pinterest brings on Google Pixel VP to fill chief product officer positionPinterest announced today its newest hire, Sabrina Ellis, to take on the role of chief product offer. Ellis spent the last 12 years at Google, where she led the work on Google Pixel. Previously, she spent eight years at Yahoo (the parent company of TechCrunch) in numerous leadership roles.
Sabrina will join Pinterest on May 15. She will replace Pinterest’s current senior vice president of product, Naveen Gavini, who will remain at the company until the end of September.
In her new role, Ellis will lead the product management and design teams, reporting directly to Pinterest CEO Bill Ready.
The overarching goal for the company is to make everything on Pinterest shoppable. For instance, in July 2022, Pinterest launched an API for Shopping, so merchants can create engaging shopping experiences for users (aka Pinners). It also rolled out a Shop tab for businesses to show off all their shoppable products.
During its latest earnings call, Ready mentioned that Pinterest is also working on making videos shoppable. Additionally, the company is currently testing shopping capabilities for Shuffles, its collage-making app.
Ellis will be responsible for helping accelerate this goal by further integrating Pinterest’s shopping experience into the home feed and the search function. In today’s announcement, the company reiterated plans to make pins shoppable.

Pinterest is testing new ways to shop in Shuffles collages

“I’m thrilled to join the incredible team at Pinterest. In a world where finding inspiration is more important than ever, I’ve long admired how Pinterest stands out as the platform helping people turn real-life dreams into real-world action,” Ellis said in a statement. “I’ve been passionate throughout my career about offering users experiences that enhance their lives and foster positivity. Pinterest is a natural fit for me to pursue this passion, and I’m excited to create a world where inspiration and emotional well-being go so authentically hand-in-hand.”
“I’m excited for Sabrina to steer the next phase of innovation at Pinterest while leading the most talented and hardworking individuals I’ve ever had the privilege to work with and learn from,” Gavini said.
After 10 years, Gavini is stepping down in order to pursue the next chapter in his career, the company wrote.
Gavini has worked on almost every major new product at Pinterest, including his time as an engineer for Guided Search, its search engine that launched in 2014 to give users an in-depth discovery experience with the use of descriptive guides.
“When I joined Pinterest, I was motivated by the idea of building a first-of-its kind platform for people to discover inspiration for all aspects of their lives,” Gavini added. “More than a decade later, I’m grateful for the opportunity to have helped scale Pinterest to a place that inspires hundreds of millions of users around the world.”
As of February, Pinterest has 450 million monthly active users worldwide.

Pinterest reaches 450 million monthly users, will focus on making videos ‘shoppable’

Pinterest brings on Google Pixel VP to fill chief product officer position by Lauren Forristal originally published on TechCrunch