Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset (iOS) – Active Noise Cancellation, Transparent Hearing and 3D Sound Recording

Sennheiser Ambeo/Apogee earbudsLet me start by saying that I am 70 years old. I started playing in rock bands in jr high school in 1966 at the height of the Beatles/British Invasion and kept it up through 2012. Did a pro stint from 69-74 on the road every weekend playing clubs and frat parties. Got married and got a real job but kept it up on a part time basis. So I’ve heard a lot of and performed a lot of music. And in the last 10 years, since stopping performing (I did everything I ever wanted to do in performing with some studio work as well) I’ve been very involved in home stereo. When living in a house suitable for loud speakers I had it cranked up with speakers from just about every manufacturer in the less than $2000 range. Buying and selling and returning with all the 30-60 day “magic” return policies nowadays. Bowers and Wilkins, focal, elac, Jbl, Klipsch, wharfedale, revel just to name a few. Favorite? Magnapan. For its stark realism, soundstage and lack of distortion (clarity). Right now my main system consists of Magnapan lrs, SVS 3000 13” sub, Peachtree audio 700wpc class d amp with matching preamp/headphone amp/dac. Sounds phenomenal. Total - $6,000. All this to say that these earbuds that I paid less than $100, when broken in and with tips that seal properly, sound so close to the $6000 set up it scares me?!?!? And upsets me a bit too! The soundstage and real air experience is missing (somewhat) but the realism and detail of textures is very very close. Created in concert with Apogee (look em up) the simple, perfect length lightning cable hooked to an iPhone creates a solid connection that destroys Bluetooth (and Bluetooth has gotten pretty good). “Audiophile “ reproduction of sound is there in spades (instrument textures, overhangs, minute detail) The control app for these is dedicated just to this set and is genius in its simplicity and precision and flexibility. Bass is phenomenal. Voices and guitars are perfect. Cymbals and bells and tingling things, a joy. The problem seems to lie in the microphone for recording, which is not a problem if you’re recording I’m sure, but since I don’t do that which is probably the case with 98% of users, they have been overlooked. If you’re looking for solid connectivity that gives stunning studio/audiophile quality for dirt cheap you better grab a pair before they vanish. Note: I have a very nice pair of hifiman Ananda’s that retail for $999 that are very good when attached to my $1500 Peachtree Audio headphone/dac/preamp as I have to sit on my sofa cause I can’t carry the PA in my pocket. The senny Ambeo/Apogee set gives me near Ananda performance as I rip through the glory days of my retirement.

I will start by saying I was very skeptical of combining high end earphones with a 3D mic, wasn’t quite sure if a product could pull it off, but rest assured Sennheiser did and in a big way. The quality is what is expected and historically delivered by Sennheiser, you will not be disappointed. The first thing I tested was the basic use of the earphones themselves, for this I used different Apple products that includediPad Mini 4iTouch 6th geniPad Air 2iPod Nano 7th geniPhone SEThey all performed flawlessly even though technically the Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset requires the minimum version of iOS 10.3 and not all of the devices I tried for music use the minimum version, the enhanced app that is offered would not run on anything less than the minimum but it did not detract from the amazing listening experience. I have read other reviews that mentioned the sound quality was not as good as expected; personally I think that might boil down to the quality of digital conversion and what you are expecting the outcome to be. I used Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here and the Stones – Sticky Fingers & Hot Rocks for testing; the albums were converted from vinyl to a lossless format.Pink Floyd, the soundstage was simply amazing on the title song. I could hear every little pop, crack and every slide up and down the fingerboard; a very immersive experience.Rolling Stones, Can’t You Hear Me Knocking and Brown Sugar were absolutely superb; you can hear the guitar lick start on the right side and then kick in full and was very true to the original. The last track I tested was Sympathy for the Devil and it was just as I had expected, crystal clear intro and then the vocals were crisp and clear; if you closed your eyes you would be hard pressed to not imagine the band playing right in your living room.I also tested various other tracks that were converted by different methods and they also sounded true to the original. The bottom line is that if you want to hear the music the way the artist intended and recorded it then Sennheiser delivers yet again, I have no complaints and they performed beyond my expectations.Next was the exciting part for me, the 3D recording capability. I can sum it up in a word… exceptional. I tested the recording feature in different scenarios, including early morning nature to walking through a busy airport terminal. The recordings are simply amazing and you can definitely hear not only R/L but depth as in a surround sound system, you truly get a 360 degree recording capability. The settings in the app are very intuitive and work as advertised to fine tune the whole experience coupled with the functions you can set on the earphones themselves, you can fine tune the recording to whatever you wish; adding or subtracting different settings to create a one of a kind recording.To sum up the whole package, these are excellent earphones for music that just happen to record 3D audio for a totally unique experience. I would highly recommend Sennheiser AMBEO to anyone that is looking for high-end audio and 3D recording capability, you will not be disappointed

I was really hopeful to make this product work for hands-free phone calls. Here's why it does not.1. The control is too heavy. You will need to add a clip to hang it from your shirt collar. Otherwise the tension will pull the earpieces out.2. The microphone dangles and will not pick up your voice consistently. I even added a stiff wire to make the mic stay directly by my mouth but it still doesn't work due to problem #3.3. The speakers and the mic both cut in/out to save battery. There is no way to turn this "feature" off even with the useless app. You will miss the first word or two and people will not hear your first word or two. This is a batter saving "feature" that you cannot disable, so this will not work for phone calls.4. The app only allows you to res-assign the one button function.5. The sound quality is good but the volume is way too low even at max volume.6. You really have to pinch your ears painfully to get these to stay on.7. The in-ear pieces are too big to fit in the ear canal so they sit loosely and fall out all the time.Summary, this is a great idea but barely a usable product. It does not work in the real world.