Review · Hearing and ear comfort

Sonus Complete review: an ear-ringing pitch on a familiar label

Sonus Complete is marketed to people bothered by ringing or buzzing in the ears. When we transcribed its label, we recognized it: the panel is the same one we had already read on a memory supplement. Here is what is in the capsule, what the hearing research says about it, and what a man over 50 should weigh before buying.

By Grant Whitaker, Editor · Updated October 23, 2026 · 18 studies checked on PubMed

What Sonus Complete is

Sonus Complete is a capsule supplement sold on sonuscomplete.com, with checkout run by the BuyGoods retail platform. The label names the distributor as Sonus of Englewood, Colorado, and the refund page gives a return address in Aurora, Colorado. A bottle holds 60 capsules and the directions say one capsule twice a day, so a bottle lasts a month.

The sales material is a long video with a text version, narrated by a presenter whose name the site's footer calls a pen name. Its story: ear ringing starts in the brain rather than the ear, and a "secret formula" repairs the brain networks involved.

The same label as MemoDefend

The Supplement Facts panel is not on the sales page; it sits at the bottom of the site's references page. We read it there and compared it with every product in our library. It is identical, line for line, to the panel of MemoDefend, a supplement sold for memory: the same five vitamins at the same amounts, the same 620 mg proprietary blend with the same eight herbs in the same order, the same other ingredients and the same warning text. Both list a distributor at the same Englewood, Colorado ZIP code, and both sell through BuyGoods at the same three prices. Only the brand artwork and the small batch code differ.

One formula sold under two names, one for memory and one for ear ringing, tells you the marketing story is doing more work than the formula. This review looks at the hearing side of the evidence.

Per capsule, the label lists:

• Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) 60 mg
• Niacin 2.5 mg
• Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxal-5-phosphate) 5 mg
• Folate (folic acid) 100 mcg DFE
• Vitamin B12 (as cyanocobalamin) 100 mcg
• A 620 mg proprietary blend of hawthorn leaf and flower, garlic bulb, olive leaf, hibiscus flower, buchu leaf, uva ursi leaf, juniper berry and green tea leaf

At two capsules a day that doubles: 1,240 mg of herbs, with no amount given for any single one. The label warns people with "cardiovascular disorders or hypotension (low blood pressure)" and mentions medication "for high blood pressure"; the batch code begins with "BP". Nothing on the label mentions the ears. Two smaller mismatches: the sales page says hawthorn berry while the label says leaf and flower, and the sales page never mentions folic acid.

The site's terms say its content may not be copied without permission, so we do not reproduce the label image here. You can view it on the references page of the official site.

The formula next to the hearing research

For each ingredient we searched PubMed for human trials on hearing or ear ringing and compared the trial amount with a daily serving of Sonus Complete (two capsules).

Folate: the one real signal, from a different setting

The strongest hearing trial for any ingredient on this label is the Dutch FACIT study. It enrolled 728 men and women aged 50 to 70 with raised homocysteine and gave them 800 mcg of folic acid or placebo every day for three years. Hearing at the low speech frequencies declined slightly less with folic acid (1.0 dB versus 1.7 dB), and high-frequency hearing, where age-related loss usually starts, did not differ ^[1]. The authors pointed out that Dutch food was not fortified with folic acid at the time, so participants started with about half the folate levels typical in the US, and they called for confirmation in fortified countries.

Observational data are weaker still. Among 26,273 American men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, vitamin C, E, beta carotene and B12 intake showed no link with hearing loss; only in men 60 and older was the highest folate intake linked with a 21% lower risk ^[2]. In 2,956 Australian adults over 50, low folate and high homocysteine went with more hearing loss at one point in time, but not with new hearing loss over five years ^[3].

Sonus Complete supplies about one seventh of the FACIT dose, in a country where flour and cereals are already fortified.

Vitamin B12: helpful when you are low, neutral when you are not

B12 is the vitamin most often linked to ear ringing online. In a small Indian pilot trial, 40 patients with long-standing ringing received weekly injections of 2,500 mcg of B12 or saltwater for six weeks. Among the patients who were B12 deficient, severity scores improved ^[4]. A larger double-blind trial in Iran gave 140 patients B12 or placebo for a month and found no difference in ringing severity at one or three months ^[5].

Low B12 is common after 50, especially with long-term metformin or acid-reducing drugs. A blood test tells you more than a capsule.

Vitamin C and antioxidants: tested and negative

Two Brazilian placebo-controlled trials in people aged 60 and older tested ginkgo, alpha-lipoic acid with 600 mg of vitamin C, or papaverine with vitamin E for six months. Ringing scores did not change in 58 people with ear ringing ^[6], and hearing tests did not change in 120 people with age-related hearing loss ^[7]. Sonus Complete has one fifth of that vitamin C.

The herbs: blood pressure, heart and urinary research

The herbs that make up most of each capsule have been studied, just for other purposes. A meta-analysis of five hibiscus trials with 390 people found systolic blood pressure about 7.6 mmHg lower than in control groups ^[11]. In an eight-week trial in Indonesia, 500 mg of olive leaf extract twice a day lowered blood pressure in people with stage-1 hypertension about as much as a low dose of captopril ^[12]. Hawthorn leaf and flower extract has a Cochrane review as an add-on in chronic heart failure ^[13]. Buchu, juniper and uva ursi are traditional urinary herbs; bearberry leaf (uva ursi) is used for lower urinary tract complaints ^[14]. We found no hearing or ear-ringing trial for any of them, or for garlic or green tea.

The professional view is clear. The 2014 clinical practice guideline on ear ringing from the American Academy of Otolaryngology recommends against ginkgo, melatonin, zinc or other dietary supplements for persistent, bothersome ringing, and recommends a hearing evaluation, hearing aids when there is hearing loss, and cognitive behavioral therapy ^[8].

What the marketing claims vs. what we could verify

• "Brain scans" show ear ringing starts in the brain. The two studies the presenter describes are real. A University of Konstanz team used brain recordings in 23 people with chronic ringing and 24 controls and found differences in long-range brain network activity ^[9]. A University of Iowa and Newcastle team recorded activity from electrodes inside the brain of a single awake patient with ear ringing ^[10]. Neither study tested any supplement or nutrient, and neither suggests that vitamins or herbs repair these networks.
• Ringing that fades within days, and results within a week. We found no published study of Sonus Complete. The video describes an informal test among the presenter's acquaintances, with no design, numbers or publication. The trials of the vitamins on this label ran for months to years, and the relevant ones found no effect on ringing.
• "47,000" users, "MENSA scientists" and "100% effective" ingredients. We could not verify any of these, and the label's own blood pressure warnings sit poorly with the claim that the formula is safe for everyone.
• The site's reference list cites the two brain studies, B vitamin and memory reviews, and web articles on stress and skin. None tests this formula on hearing.

Price, packages and refund policy

One bottle is a 30-day supply. Prices on the official site when we checked:

• 6 bottles: $49 each ($294 total), free US shipping. About $1.63 a day.
• 3 bottles: $59 each ($177 total), free US shipping.
• 1 bottle: $69, free US shipping.

The site shows one-time payments. After checkout, an upgrade page offers more bottles at $29 each, including a 12-bottle option, so decide beforehand how much you want.

The refund terms are where the pitch and the paperwork part ways. The sales page says you can simply email for a refund, no questions asked. The separate refund policy says the 60 days run from the shipping date, you must mail all bottles back to the Aurora, Colorado address with a return form, and you pay the postage. Plan on those stricter terms.

Safety

• Blood pressure medication. Hibiscus and olive leaf both lowered blood pressure in trials ^{[11] [12]}. On top of prescription treatment, that could push pressure lower than your doctor intends. Lightheadedness when you stand up is a reason to stop and call your doctor.
• Beta-blockers. In ten healthy volunteers, two weeks of green tea cut blood levels of the beta-blocker nadolol by about 85% ^[15]. The amount of green tea here is unknown; if you take nadolol, ask your doctor.
• Heart medication. Hawthorn is studied as an add-on in heart failure ^[13]. A small crossover study in eight healthy volunteers found no significant change in digoxin levels ^[18], but no one with a heart condition should add a hawthorn product without medical advice.
• Blood thinners. A pilot trial of one aged garlic extract in closely monitored warfarin patients found no serious bleeding risk ^[17]; that says little about an unknown garlic amount in a mixed blend.
• Uva ursi. Its arbutin becomes hydroquinone in the body. A safety assessment judged it acceptable at recommended doses for urinary complaints ^[14]; we found no data on daily use for months alongside other herbs.
• Green tea and the liver. A US Pharmacopeia review linked rare liver injury cases to concentrated green tea extracts, more often taken on an empty stomach ^[16]. Take capsules with food.

Talk to your doctor before starting Sonus Complete if you take any prescription medication, and especially blood pressure, heart, diuretic or blood-thinning drugs. Results vary from person to person. And if ringing or hearing changes are new, one-sided, pulsing or getting worse, have them checked by a doctor or audiologist rather than trying a supplement first.

What we liked and what gave us pause

Frequently asked questions

Is Sonus Complete the same as MemoDefend?

The published Supplement Facts panels are identical, and so are the prices and refund terms. We do not know whether they come from the same production run, but the formula on both labels is the same. Our MemoDefend review covers the memory research.

How long before I notice anything?

Results vary, and the evidence for this formula on hearing is thin. The one positive hearing trial for a label ingredient ran for three years at a much higher dose.

Can it replace a hearing test or hearing aids?

No. Sonus Complete is a dietary supplement. A hearing evaluation is the recommended first step for persistent ringing, and hearing aids help many people who have both ringing and hearing loss ^[8]. Do not stop or change any prescription without talking to your doctor.

How we reviewed Sonus Complete

We read the official sales page, its text version, the references, refund, shipping, terms and affiliate pages, and the Supplement Facts label posted on the site, and compared that label with every product in our library. We searched PubMed for human trials of each ingredient on hearing and ear ringing in adults, compared the amounts with the label, and checked interaction research for the actual ingredients. We did not test the product on people, and nobody at Stark Verve is a medical professional. Read our editorial policy to learn how we choose and update reviews. Stark Verve earns a commission if you buy through our links; that never changes what we write about the evidence.