Since Sonova acquired Sennheiser's consumer division and started releasing new Sennheiser products under license, the company launched the Sennheiser TV Clear solution for this application category. The first product to marry Sonova’s hearing aid technology with Sennheiser’s CE portfolio, the Sennheiser TV Clear was announced in July 2022 and used an existing TWS earbud design (unfortunately still using only Bluetooth 4.2!) and limited in quality to the 120Hz – 7.3kHz range, since it was designed for users with hearing loss. Although this was a Bluetooth solution, the TV transmitter was basically the existing Sonova TV transmitter, a technology that the Swiss company sold for over five years using an Airstream dedicated 2.4GHz wireless transmitter which worked perfectly for the intended application - just not as a mainstream consumer design.
Short after, the company introduced the Sennheiser RS 120-W TV Sound solution, combining over-ear headphones with a transmitter charging "docking" station that connected to the TV output and had the merit of being the first product ever in the market to use Bluetooth LE Audio and leverage the new high-quality LC3 audio codec.
Now, Sennheiser revised the original true wireless TV Clear Set with the launch a version 2, updating the transmitter with USB-C and all its specifications, including the bandwidth for the earbuds, which can now be used by anyone.
The product sequel continues popular features such as convenient Qi wireless charging, multipoint connectivity to multiple devices, and up to 15 hours of listening per charge with another 1.5 charges in the case. For some reason, the earbuds are still specified as Bluetooth 4.2 compliant, class 1, 10mW (max) devices, which is either a mistake, or probably because Sennheiser assumes that users will just use the dedicated transmitter and will always stay directly in front of the TV.
"We listened to feedback from our passionate customers and went right to work. Our TV Clear Set 2 sounds better, sets up easier, and even fits better for a listening experience that builds on the success of the original. For TV and movie watchers who want to listen at a personal volume level while improving speech intelligibility, it’s our best true wireless big-screen companion yet," says Michael Eckardt, Senior Product Manager.
Without sacrificing the dialogue enhancement and true-wireless freedom of the original set, the updated TV Clear Set 2 improve the personalized volume level experience. The earbud buttons have been re-engineered for simplicity when adjusting volume and setting the Speech Clarity level. Better sound arrives with a better fit, too, thanks to revised acoustic apertures and ear adapters that make finding the perfect fit an easy task — especially in smaller ears. The Ambient Awareness feature, allows users to hear what’s happening around them while using the earbuds thanks to the built-in MEMS microphone. Calls are supported via 2 additional beamforming microphones.
The updated TV Clear Set 2 will be available for $399.95 USD in North America starting June 12. The TV Clear app is a free download and can be installed from the App Store (iOS and iPad OS) or Google Play Store (Android).
www.sennheiser-hearing.com
