Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR), the 40-year strong leading-edge audio technology company, continues to attract top talent and grow its executive leadership team with the appointment of three new positions under its HyperSound® directed audio business. Dr. Brian Taylor has joined Turtle Beach as HyperSound’s new Senior Director of Clinical Affairs. Further, the Company has appointed Don Rice to Western Regional Vice President and Chris Auty to Managing Director, EMEA and APAC. All three will report directly to Turtle Beach Corporation’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, Rodney Schutt, as the Company continues its preparations to launch the life-changing HyperSound Hearing Solutions product this summer.

“We believe HyperSound has the potential for a variety of groundbreaking real-world applications, and as we continue to develop this new audio technology in an effort to improve the quality of life for people that suffer from hearing loss, it’s imperative to have the right team leading the charge,” said Rodney Schutt, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Turtle Beach Corporation’s HyperSound business. “Brian, Don and Chris are experts in their respective fields and will be invaluable as we continue innovating new directed audio solutions for the hearing health market and beyond. We’re incredibly humbled and excited to welcome these latest additions to the team.”

Added Juergen Stark, Chief Executive Officer, Turtle Beach Corporation, “HyperSound is pure breakthrough audio technology. It’s a new approach to sound delivery and there’s nothing else like it in the market today. Our ability to draw-in top, industry-leading talent like Brian, Don and Chris just goes to show the potential of HyperSound, and this is just the beginning as we look at long-term growth opportunities for this technology.”

Dr. Brian Taylor is a thought leader in the hearing healthcare industry. Prior to joining the HyperSound team at Turtle Beach, he served as Director of Practice Development and Clinical Affairs for Unitron Hearing, and has held a variety of leadership and management positions within the healthcare industry in both the United States and Europe. Dr. Taylor spent the first 15 years of his career practicing clinical audiology in medical and retail settings. His current associations include A.T Still University- Arizona School of Health Sciences, Adjunct Professor; Fuel Medical Group, Audiology Advisor; Audiology Practices, quarterly journal of the Academy of Doctors of Audiology, Editor; and Audiology Online, Contributing Editor. Dr. Taylor has also published over 50 articles and book chapters on topics related to hearing aids, diagnostic audiology and business management, and authored four textbooks Fitting and Dispensing Hearing Aids, Consultative Selling Skills for Audiologists, Quality in an Audiology: Design & Implementation of the Patient Experience. His latest book, Marketing in an Audiology Practice, will be published this month. 

Also joining the Company’s UK-based team is Chris Auty, who takes the role of Managing Director, EMEA and APAC and will be responsible for HyperSound’s rollout into emerging markets across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Mr. Auty’s prior experience driving worldwide growth is extremely valuable as Turtle Beach Corporation looks to generate both consumer awareness and adoption of HyperSound from a global perspective. Before coming to HyperSound, Mr. Auty was Global Marketing Director (Customer Experience) at Sonova – the world’s leading manufacturer of innovative hearing care solutions, and additionally held a variety of senior management positions at Unitron Hearing over the past eight years where he led both global and local go-to-market strategy programs. Chris Auty studied Business Management and Leadership at St. Gallens Management School in Switzerland, as well as Sales and Marketing Management at Queens University in Canada and achieved a Certificate in Audiology from Nottingham University, UK.

HyperSound is Turtle Beach Corporation’s fundamentally new approach to sound delivery that uses thin panels to generate an ultrasound beam that carries audio through the air. The panels direct sound in a narrow, controlled beam; much the way a flashlight directs a beam of light. When an individual enters the beam's radius, they hear immersive 3D audio, similar to wearing a surround sound headset. The characteristics of the HyperSound audio beam have been shown to improve the clarity of audio and speech intelligibility in individuals with certain types of hearing loss.

In February 2014 Turtle Beach Corporation received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance to   market the HyperSound Audio System to improve clarity and comprehension of sound.  Researchers estimate that one in five Americans, and one in three people over age 65, suffer from hearing loss. Impacting over 48 million Americans, hearing loss is the third most common physical condition in the United States after arthritis and heart disease. An estimated 360 million people worldwide suffer from some form of hearing loss.