Patent ID: 8705787

Claim:
A custom in-ear headset comprising: a housing comprising a proximate housing portion and a distant housing portion, the distant housing portion being shaped and sized to fit inside an ear canal of a user, the housing having a generally irregular outer contour that is shaped and sized to fit the user's ear canal geometry, the proximate housing portion being terminated by an irregularly shaped closed shell face that points outwardly of the user's ear when the custom in-ear headset is mounted therein, a miniature speaker acoustically coupled to a sound outlet in the distant portion of the housing for conveying sound pressure to an ear canal of the user, at least one of a microphone with a sound inlet in the proximate housing portion, a bone conduction microphone arranged in the distant housing portion, or a microphone with a sound inlet in the distant housing portion, at least one ridge projecting from and circumscribing the distant housing portion, wherein said at least one ridge is generally ring-like and has a hardness being sufficient to displace an annular wall portion of a cartilaginous portion of an ear canal of a user when the in-ear headset is inserted into the ear canal of the user, wherein the at least one ridge has a Shore D hardness larger than 40, and wherein the distant housing portion is bent relative to the proximate housing portion so as to fit the at least one ridge in the cartilaginous portion to promote an acoustical seal around the circumference of the distant housing portion.