The external ear is super important to our hearing. It is the first place we gather, localize, and send sounds to the rest of the ear. The pinna is really useful to our hearing because it helps us localize and differentiate sounds. It also gathers the sound to send to the middle ear. The EAM is just as important, because this is where the sound captured by the pinna is transported to the middle ear and eardrum. The external ear is the first step and location in the hearing process, and without it we would never have sounds to process in the brain.