Conversation Clear Plus: Sennheiser presents voice-amplifying in-ears

Livia Gamper

5.1.2023

Translation: machine translated

The Conversation Clear Plus headphones from Sennheiser focus on speech intelligibility. The in-ears are designed to amplify conversations in noisy environments. The new wearable is therefore somewhere between headphones and a hearing aid - and is a little expensive.

Sennheiser is presenting the Conversation Clear Plus at CES 2023 in Las Vegas. The in-ears are designed to ensure that the wearer can hear conversations clearly and distinctly in noisy environments. Among other things, this is made possible by automatic environment recognition. It analyses these and adjusts the speech amplification accordingly for personal conversations or on the phone - in other words, they are essentially a hearing aid for conversations.

Like many conventional headphones, the in-ears have built-in active noise cancellation (ANC), which also helps to improve call quality. There is also the reverse option: with ambient noise cancellation, all sounds come through.

Sennheiser's move towards hearing aids was to be expected after the partial takeover by the Swiss company Sonova. The company manufactures medical hearing systems, and a Sonova chip forms the centrepiece of the Conversation Clear Plus.

With the design and functions of normal headphones

If you didn't know the special functions of the Conversation Clear Plus, you'd think they were conventional Bluetooth headphones. They are; with different modes (Communication, Streaming and Relax), you can also listen to music with the in-ears.

Sennheiser's latest earphones are therefore two in one: hearing amplification and headphones. In contrast to conventional hearing aids, which can quickly cost several thousand francs and require individual adjustments and prescriptions, these earphones are more affordable at 889 francs and are a simple and elegant entry-level solution for hearing support.

The specifications at a glance

The most important specifications of the new Conversation Clear Plus summarised:

• Active noise cancelling and ambient mode
• 9 hours of battery life, additional runtime with the case: 27 hours
• 5 hours charging time
• Weight: 6.3 grams per earbud
• Configurable with app
• Speaker sensitivity: 100 dBSPL (1 kHz / 2 mW)

With these new earphones, it remains to be seen whether Sennheiser can dispel the social perception that it is impolite to wear headphones during a conversation. In the case of the Conversation Clear Plus, the conversation partners would certainly be helped and less "Huh" and "Excuse me?" would be the desirable result.

The Conversation Clear Plus can be pre-ordered soon and will be available from 20 January.

Livia Gamper

Editor

livia.gamper@digitecgalaxus.ch

Testing devices and gadgets is my thing. Some experiments lead to interesting insights, others to demolished phones. I’m hooked on series and can’t imagine life without Netflix. In summer, you’ll find me soaking up the sun by the lake or at a music festival.