Sennheiser has a reputation of crafting exquisite products delivering audio experience like no other. They are always two steps ahead in terms of future technology and now with its “transparent hearing” and “binaural audio technology” it might even reshape the future of sound and even virtual reality gaming! Let me elaborate.
I need to admit something first; I’m an over-ear headphones kind of guy and I rarely use in ear-models apart for reviewing. One thing is for sure, I’ve never experienced this level of clarity in over-ear headphones! When listening to podcasts or streams it is as if the host is standing right next to me. When listening to music there’s not just one big lump of sound coming at you, the sound is so crisp I can divide the orchestra back to its core; percussion, lead, vocals and all the other effects. They all gently and individually caress my ears. All my prejudice about in-ear headphones melts to the silky crispness and it suddenly turns me into an audiophile. I found myself comparing songs and discovering secrets in all-time favourite tracks. I only just now noticed a guitar fill in my right ear in one of my favourite tracks!
There is only thing that I am missing and that’s “bass depth”. This doesn’t mean that the bass is absent, it is still there and very noticeable but doesn’t fill like an over-ear headphone would. I have to say that the bass is still more pronounced in the Sennheiser than in other in-ear headphones I tested against it. The Sennheiser just doesn’t have a large enough surface for bass sound creation like an over-ear headphone has. But the quality of sound you get in return is worth it!
Now it is time to discuss the slim corded remote with all the buttons for you to play around with. There’s even a magical fairy telling you which mode you’re using, so convenient! You can use the accompanying app but you can also use every feature without holding or even looking at your phone, straight from the remote! Let’s start with the obvious and name the two volume buttons and play button which control the volume but also double as shortcuts (when pressed multiple times) to a bunch of music and calling functions. And then there is the mysterious button you can click left or right to activate part of the magic. Every mode we will discuss now is part of a bigger whole called “situational awareness”.
Click the button all the way to the left and you will enter noise cancellation. It works brilliantly excluding continuous sounds such as car or train engine noise, your cooking stove and other noises you can come across and see as a nuisance. Sudden loud noises are dampened but won’t of course be isolated completely. Those sounds are the ones you are more likely to want to hear anyway to avoid danger. Click the button to the right and you will turn the active noise cancellation off so you end up with a “normal” sound experience. Click it one more time to the right and you will enter the future Sennheiser calls “Transparent Hearing: Amplify level”.
This is where the fun starts; you’ll still be able to listen to your music but on top of that you will also hear the world around you in 3-D. Both the left and right earpiece are fitted with a microphone sending ambient sound through your ears simultaneously accompanied by your music. (or you can turn the music off and use it as an active binaural monitor!)
This is especially brilliant if you want to hear your power song while riding your bike but still want to hear the cars and people around you. Or you’re at the gym and want to hear your personal trainer without compromising on your music. Or maybe you’re a drummer/guitarist and you need to monitor a song in your ears but you need to hear your instrument crisp and clear to play along with it. I don’t even think Sennheiser knows how much potential this “transparent hearing” actually has!
The first time I use this mode I said “wow” twice: once when I turned it on, and the second time when I heard myself say “wow” because even my own voice was being monitored. You can even use this mode to have your private karaoke session since you can sing along with the track if you want to! Whether you use it for professional use, your commute to work or just to have fun you will be amazed by this piece of technology Sennheiser has brought to the market.
By now of course you will have realised that I haven’t talked about the slider on the right of the remote yet. This might even be more exciting to you, especially if you like “iPhone filmmaking” which is a growing market since the phone cameras are a loved feature for a lot of indie moviemakers. You can already record movies in 4K quality but you need a lot of equipment to record ambient sound let alone film in 3D-surround. Well not anymore! The Slider will activate 2 modes (reduced or natural level) of 3D sound recording. And yes thanks to Apogee support it blends seamlessly with your iPhone without going through menus! Just check for the red indicator LED which tells you you are recording sound in 3D. A lot of 3rd party apps will also function in 3D sound recording mode. Check Sennheiser’s website to see wether your favorite app is already supported. Whether you’re filming a short movie or filming your band at Tomorrowland or Coachella, this smart headset has you covered to record in crisp and 3D binaural quality straight from your phone! This way you can enjoy your band’s performance as many times as you want!
The Sennheiser AMBEO SMART HEADSET is crammed to the brim with future-proof technology and with the 3D sound it could even be applied to virtual reality! Whatever road Sennheiser decides to take with this new technology, I’m sure it will reshape the use of sound as we know it. This is just the beginning! A brilliant piece of technology incorporating safety, quality and another benchmark by Sennheiser! We love it!
9/10
