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

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'm writing this review coming from the perspective of a professional Audio/Video Engineer. I've made a career out of using tech, specifically around the audio and video aspects of broadcast and corporate broadcasting. Sennheiser is known throughout the industry as one of (if not the first) flagship maker of microphones, so it stands to reason, they know quite a lot about sound.Let me start with some basics about the packaging, and then I'll go from there. The box is pretty simple, nothing special, it has a magnetic closure flap that you can open and see the headset nestled in the box. Opening the box was actually a challenge, I don't know what kind of glue they use, but I ended up ripping the box trying to get it open. Not really a problem, but if you wanted to keep it for storage, just be a little more careful than I was. The packaging inside is nice, but for a $300 pair of headphones, I honestly expected more. But, I'm paying for the headphones, not the packaging, so I didn't mark these down for that.The package contents are pretty straight forward. The Instruction manual (very simple pictures and descriptions) was nice. The headphones, as mentioned previously were nestled into a foam block, protecting them from bouncing around, etc in shipping. Flipping over the packaging, you will find the manual, a carrying pouch, and looking VERY carefully, some additional sizes of ear cushions.Now to the headphones themselves. One word AMAZING! The sound quality lives up to the Sennheiser name, without a doubt. Deep bass, clean, crisp highs, and vocals sounded perfectly balanced. The recording function worked great, the 3D spacial recording was, to say the least, remarkable. I did a simple test, recording a video on my iPhone, and walking around someone while they recorded. While I walked around, I whispered, very quietly in their right ear, and also snapped my fingers as I circled them. I proceeded to walk to the left side, and again whispered in their ear (keep in mind, they are wearing the headphones where the 3d microphones are located) and then finally, walked behind them and whispered again. Upon playback, the audio was so clean, I honestly thought someone was whispering in my ear...it gave me chills.Cons:I don't really have any, but if I had to pick something, it would be the lightning connector. It's a bit bulky so if you have a phone case, and the opening is a little small, you might have some trouble getting this connector into the phone. I didn't have any problems, but some people might.Final thoughts:If you can afford them, BUY THESE HEADPHONES. You won't be disappointed, even if you are not using them for recording, these sound so much better than some of the "apple" brands like Beats.

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.