A Bluetooth Headset That Helps You Hear Better

"Whadya say?"

"Call me back when you have a better connection."

"I can't understand a word you're saying!"

Do you spend more time uttering any of these three sentences into your cell phone than you do having the conversation? Sound ID has been focusing on the notion of enhancing the sound and increasing the clarity of cell phone calls using Bluetooth headsets.

Whether your hearing is getting a little fuzzy (be it a function of age or earbuds), or whether you're simply spending a lot of time in noisy places like busy streets or airports, Sound ID's Bluetooth devices rely on proprietary technologies—Adaptive Noise Compensation (ANC), Voice Capture, and Wind Noise Managements—to let you select your optimal choices. Think of it as the equivalent of "reading glasses" for the ear—available over the counter and you pick the magnification/amplification you need.

Not an inexpensive solution, though. The $650 PSS-SoundFlavors offers three different audio profiles: 1) mild enhancement, 2) mild to moderate enhancement, and 3) moderate enhancement. You determine which is the best for you.

A lower cost entry-level solution, the $250 PSS-SoundMate, seems a bit less newsworthy. It doesn't offer all the sound enhancements of its big brother, but it has a Bluetooth-to-Bluetooth connection (something like an intercom), which allows two people to have in-room conversations. The company also makes a top-tier professional model that is tuned by audiologists.

None of the products work to enhance music, as they don't support the new Bluetooth specification for audio, so it's all about the words. To listen to a simulation of what the sound is like before and after Sound ID check out the demo; it's compelling.