Headphones, hearing aids – or a bit of both?

WEDEMARK-WENNEBOSTEL/STäFA. Two years ago, the sale of Sennheiser’s consumer goods division to the Swiss hearing aid manufacturer Sonova caused a stir in the tech industry. The division with headphones and speaker systems for home use went to the Swiss company, which is also known for the Hansaton brand, for a reported 200 million euros.

Nothing changed for customers, the devices would continue to be sold under the same brand, assured Sonova boss Arnd Kaldowski at the time. The idea: In future, Sennheiser headphones will form the “consumer goods focus” on the one hand, and Sonova hearing aids the “medical product focus” on the other. In between there should be a segment of small, mobile, wireless audio amplifiers. The Swiss want to contribute the technology of their hearing aids and implants.

In January, the two companies presented a joint product for the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas – which experts see as a kind of mixture of headphones and hearing aids.

The “Conversation Clear Plus” are available for a whopping 850 euros, the battery lasts up to nine hours. They look like standard in-ear headphones and are primarily intended for listening to music. However, Sennheiser justifies the price with better speech intelligibility in many situations. In noisy environments such as restaurants or on busy streets, wearers should be able to understand their conversation partner better. “Three years of development work went into the new headphones,” says Stephan Lietz, Vice President for Research and Development at Sonova.

Feedback from customers so far shows that the product is being accepted in the market. “Some people still find the filtered voice of the other person a bit tinny. That’s why we want to further develop the headphones,” says Lietz in an interview with OÖN.

Not a substitute for hearing aids

However, the headphones are not suitable as a replacement for hearing aids, says the expert. It is primarily about speech intelligibility and better technologies.

In general, however, Sennheiser and Sonova strived to emphasize the importance of hearing. Because ear and hearing problems are widespread. Around one in five people worldwide suffer from some form of hearing loss. The World Health Organization warns that by 2030 nearly 650 million people will have a hearing impairment. By 2050, that number could rise to 900 million.