Ken Wright, the creator and designer of AirDrives, had a general concern - like most parents - about his young daughter's hearing after seeing her walking round with earphones firmly wedged in place and MP3 volume cranked to the max. So he decided to design a set of earphones that that could still supply high listening pleasure whilst majoring on health and safety; limiting the decibel level without compromising sound quality.

The conventional earbud design is so invasive that it ultimately damages the delicate hair cells in your inner ear. At the same time, all external noises such as traffic, alarms, phones, cooking, mother yelling up the stairs, etc., are blocked, which could lead to genuine safety hazards.

So the AirDrives solution was to create a set of earphones that hook over the top of your ear (just like, say, a hands-free kit in the car), the earbuds resting on the outside by the entrance to your ear and the transducers (which are encased in a magnesium housing) sending the sound via the cartilage. This way you can supposedly stay aware of all that is happening around you while still enjoying your music.

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Styled in chic black and silver, the main section that grips your ear can be slightly adjusted as it's reasonably flexible. There's a handy volume adjustment slider near the top of the 1.2m cable (which itself can be tightened so the earphones won't come loose when jogging) but a word of warning for any adult who has quite small ears: you may have some problems getting these earphones to feel comfortable.

A possible alternative which might help this problem is the AirDrives for Kids version (£39.99) which is designed specifically for smaller ears but doesn't have the same music quality. Owners of iPhones may be pleased to hear that there's even a separate AirDrives for iPhone model (£59.99) just for them.

As for the technical specifications, the frequency range is 20-20,000Hz while the sensitivity level is 95 dB at source and 80 dB SPL at the inner ear. The speakers use neodymium rare earth magnets and the maximum power input is 15mW.

The crunch question, though, is this: despite all the apparent health and safety advantages, how well do they perform? They certainly feel comfortable in place, with the moulding adapting easily to the ear. However, while the middle and higher frequencies are excellent, the bass response is perfunctory, so heavy metal fans and the drum ‘n' bass brigade will be mightily disappointed.

To make the most of the sound you'll also have to shunt the controls to the top, at which point the people closest to you will be joining in the experience. So they're probably not ideal for buses, trains and the back of class...

Highly praiseworthy safety design protects your ears and allows you to be aware simultaneously of your surroundings, yet the weak bass response and low volume output means that younger listeners will probably benefit the most.