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Naomi Roberts, Flare Audio Ltd | Enterprise Nation

&lt;p&gt;Flare&amp;rsquo;s mission is to develop new and advanced sound technologies that improve, protect and enhance our sonic experience.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Noise is Flare&amp;rsquo;s enemy and we are determined to understand distortion at a particle level. We want to minimise all types of distortion from all audio designs, believing that the less distortion the better the connection to the music and the audio world we live in.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;At Flare traditional approaches and theories are being replaced by simple and effective technologies that deliver precise, game changing sonic experiences.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;


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Naomi Roberts

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&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Education &amp;amp; Work&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I left school at the age of 15 with no exams or qualifications under my belt and having had an awful time. I did not fit into the framework that the school wanted to fit me into, because of that I felt abandoned and I lost faith in being taught anything by anyone. After I left school I went from job to job and eventually joined the Lifeboat service for 2 years and then joined the Fire Service, serving 13 years as a crew commander at Shoreham by Sea fire station. I loved working in the Fire Service, the trust and sense of belonging was amazing, it grounded me but I still felt that my brain was not being pushed hard enough.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Music &amp;amp; Flare Audio&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I have always had a huge passion for sound and music that has been with me since a child.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;They say life begins at 40 and at this time a series of fortuitous events led me to spending some time as a touring sound engineer, which in turn steered me to having a huge change in career and starting my own PA hire company.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;It wasn&amp;rsquo;t long before I was bitten by the audio bug and started re-designing the loudspeaker from my garage believing that great audio means a better connection between the artist and audience.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I became very aware of just how much distortion traditional speaker devices were damaging the sound and that speaker devices were responsible for a lot of confusion and frustration. &amp;nbsp;Sound is invisible and I soon realised that nobody could work out how to create mirror image audio in sound device designs, so I set myself the challenging of unlocking how to do it perfectly and I formed Flare in 2010. It took around 18 months to unlock the two major issues in loudspeakers (enclosure resonation and silencing the rear energy of drivers) and to achieve it I really had to push my brain. I pushed it so hard that without really recognising it I started to think at a particle level. Rather than looking at an overall design I thought experiment how particles vibrate, this allows me to design any sound device, putting its sound first.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I knew that if I was to have any chance of growing Flare I needed to protect the technology with patents. With 12 patents and counting to my name the cost of producing the technology was significant and for about 5 years we had to work under exceptional stress constantly at risk of losing our house in order to get us through. Stress is there for every start up but for us the pressure felt at times totally unbearable as I knew that I had unlocked 130 year old secrets but that the financial strain was a huge weight and stress for me and my wife, Naomi. Every night I would spend the night awake worrying with deep anxiety never knowing if we were going to make it through the next day. There was one day in particular that we had to lay everyone off and were about to close the doors when I found another way of holding on for just a little longer&amp;hellip; it was that close.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Stress at this level for a period of around 5 years takes its toll on anyone but I would do it again in order to save the integrity of sound. Sound is just as important as vision and I felt that the world did not really care about retaining every detail in music, I did and always will do. Artists and producers knew all too well that all traditional sound devices were failing and I feel that it&amp;rsquo;s my duty to help them hear their work as accurately as possible.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;From our experience in the live music industry we learned and understood flaws with the traditional approach used to create loudspeakers and developed patent pending technology to create pure audio in any sound-producing device. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Confident that our technologies could be miniaturised, in 2015 Flare launched our first consumer earphone via a crowdfunding campaign. The success of the campaign propelled them forward and soon after came the Isolate&amp;reg; ear protector raising over &amp;pound;2 million via crowdfunding campaigns.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Flare now have an armoury of audio products that have won commendations from highly respected audio professionals and artists: Tony Visconti (Grammy Award winning producer, David Bowie, T-Rex), Julian Lennon, James Rhodes (classical pianist), Fran Healy (Travis)...&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We now ship our ear protectors and earphones to over 170 countries and have gone from a small team of three working from a garage in a back garden to a strong company of&amp;nbsp;26 working from Flare HQ on the south coast.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What makes me happy&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;When a design or idea produces a prototype. I love to see my thought experiments come to life, it feels like Christmas to me every time.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What do I love most about my work?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Inventing and designing but also seeing other people&amp;rsquo;s faces when they hear Flare&amp;rsquo;s technology for the first time&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hobbies&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I love listening to music and going to gigs. I also enjoy doing particle thought experiments, the odd bit of DIY and I like to go on long walks to exercise and free my mind up, this helps me keep everything focused.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Influences&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Leonardo Da Vinci, Einstein and especially Nikola Tesla who I very much admire for his sheer brilliance enabling the modern world to exist due to his invention of AC (alternating current). &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ambition&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I am determined to see Flare grow into the global leader of sound technology and improving sound for everyone.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I hope that in time that all sound devices will feature Flare&amp;rsquo;s unique patented technology.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Long Live Ears.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;


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