New startup is music to your ears

Montreal entrepreneurs aim at launching world’s first truly wireless earbuds

Prepare to change the way you listen to music.

Changing the world of sound is Montreal’s own Ken Richards and Christian Houle, founders of Phazon, a revolutionary new wireless bluetooth earbud.

The idea for Phazon came from the desire to improve on the current athletic headphones on the market. “I really wanted a pair of headphones that I could use at the gym that wouldn’t tangle while I was working out,” said founder Christian Houle, who graduated from HEC with a degree in accounting. It was from that need that Phazon was born.

In working on the design of their product the founders,  have worked diligently to streamline its design. This attention to detail is reflected in the name, giving the product a futuristic almost sci-fi-esque feel.

“Our main target is active people,” said Chief Engineer Ken Richards, a Concordia graduate. “But we have focused heavily on creating a sleek product that is both visually appealing and very easy to use.” As well, Phazon says its earbuds will be completely waterproof, expanding its applications to a wide variety of sports and activities.

A technological edge that Phazon has is its use of an independent Bluetooth channel. In layman’s terms, a signal is sent from a source to one headphone and communicated by Bluetooth to the other one. Thanks to Bluetooth, a person is able to lend one of the headphones out, allowing both people to listen to their own music. One person listen to a song in one and the other person can use the other one independently.

Currently at, there are still room for improvements. For one thing, being able to provide the longest possible battery life considering the size of the ear buds will be a hurdle.

For any startup, guidance and investment can be two major factors that decide if a company will survive or fail. Phazon is currently working with an investment firm in Cleveland called Launch House, dedicated to helping get new ideas produced. They plan to launch a Kickstarter campaign in coming months to fund their first production run.

While it still only in the development phase, Phazon expects to produce a fully-functioning prototype by the end of this year. They estimate that the price will be in the range of $150, making it a bit more expensive than an average pair of headphones, but not a budget breaker.

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