Knowles Introduces New Balanced Armature Receiver for Over-The-Counter Hearing Aid Market

March 15, 2022

Press Release

Knowles Corporation, a market leader and global provider of advanced micro-acoustic microphones, speakers, audio solutions, high performance capacitors and RF products, announced the RAQ, a new medium-power balanced armature receiver developed for high volume hearing health and TWS products.

This full-range balanced armature receiver's small size and high output delivers up to 116dB Sound Pressure Level (SPL) at 500Hz, making it optimally positioned to meet the performance requirements for both hearing health and True Wireless Sound (TWS) products.

Following a recently proposed ruling from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the over-the-counter (OTC) hearing devices are intended to broaden access to hearing aid technology for millions of Americans. Knowles' RAQ receiver is well-positioned to serve this expanding market opportunity. RAQ balanced armatures leverage Knowles' state-of-the-art manufacturing automation technology to bring increased reliability, tightened performance tolerances, and improved supply chain traceability in a high throughput operation specifically optimized for high volume balanced armature production. 

The RAQ brings a new level of performance and consistency along with high output, low distortion and small size to bring clear, premium sound with the high levels of sensitivity needed for hearing health applications. 

"Knowles is the world's largest producer of transducers for the hearing health market. We continue to drive the industry with new technology and solutions that improve performance and increase access to quality audio solutions for hearing health and consumer electronics markets," said Jon Kiachian, Vice President and GM of Knowles Hearing Health Technologies. "Now as the market is on the precipice of expanding with OTC hearing aids and the rapid growth that we see in the TWS ecosystem, we are leveraging our legacy of balanced armature leadership to provide early-market proven solutions that will help expand access to hearing aids for the tens of millions of people who experience mild to moderate hearing loss." 

For additional information about Knowles' Balanced Armature solutions, visit www.knowles.com/raq-balanced-armature.