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Sennheiser’s headphone business has been bought by hearing aid manufacturer Sonova

Phorize

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i hope they start releasing audiophile hearing aids under the sennheiser brand.
That prospect leaves me with mixed feelings. I’ve tried informal comparison of 4 different hearing aids (listening through each pair in quick succession). I was genuinely surprised at the poor sound quality of one of them-voices sounded quite ‘un-human’. My wife is an audiologist and had been doing the same exercise the day before. Apparently the one I rated as poor was consistent with her undisclosed same choice. The rest were very good though-not sure that an ‘audiophile’ brand would add much. Not a controlled test but I found it interesting.

There’s a down side to audio companies getting on audiology. Prescribing and fitting a hearing device is about clinical practice, putting a high performing device in the ear of a human without a thorough, well executed diagnostic test battery with expert interpretation and robust rehabilitative input post fitting is like sticking a high performing speaker driver into any old cabinet with any old crossover. That’s not how the public see it though who mostly think that it’s like buying an iPhone-with some encouragement of course from the significant minority of practitioners in the industry that just want to shift a device and get rid of the patient as quickly as possible. Apple/Sennheiser or whoever won’t bring anything in terms of improved clinical practice to audiology-it will be shifting units and getting rid of the patient, who will doubtless be happy with their well marketed purchase, despite falling short of their potential in terms of their audiological rehabilitation.
 

Jimbob54

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Was Neumann, a company owned by Sennheiser, part of that sale?
I doubt it. Guessing that falls under the "Pro" half of the business.
 

buz

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M&A is a pretty complicated thing. what exactly did they sell? did tooling and production, employees in the division come with it? is it just the brand an acqui-hire informal agreement? very curious.
Swiss media claimed people and relevant sites are part of the sale.

Interestingly, Phonak (one of the Sonova companies, really the original one) sold well reviewed IEM for a while about a decade ago but seemed to have stopped after a while...
 

mkawa

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That prospect leaves me with mixed feelings. I’ve tried informal comparison of 4 different hearing aids (listening through each pair in quick succession). I was genuinely surprised at the poor sound quality of one of them-voices sounded quite ‘un-human’. My wife is an audiologist and had been doing the same exercise the day before. Apparently the one I rated as poor was consistent with her undisclosed same choice. The rest were very good though-not sure that an ‘audiophile’ brand would add much. Not a controlled test but I found it interesting.

There’s a down side to audio companies getting on audiology. Prescribing and fitting a hearing device is about clinical practice, putting a high performing device in the ear of a human without a thorough, well executed diagnostic test battery with expert interpretation and robust rehabilitative input post fitting is like sticking a high performing speaker driver into any old cabinet with any old crossover. That’s not how the public see it though who mostly think that it’s like buying an iPhone-with some encouragement of course from the significant minority of practitioners in the industry that just want to shift a device and get rid of the patient as quickly as possible. Apple/Sennheiser or whoever won’t bring anything in terms of improved clinical practice to audiology-it will be shifting units and getting rid of the patient, who will doubtless be happy with their well marketed purchase, despite falling short of their potential in terms of their audiological rehabilitation.

sorry, that comment was meant to be a bit of a joke. thanks for the extremely elucidating discussion regarding hearing devices. what's your and opr your wife's opinion of etymotic's (now owned by Lucid) hearing aid offerings? they have extensive (30+ years) in both the consumer headphone and hearing aid businesses. are you able to comment on that?
 

Phorize

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sorry, that comment was meant to be a bit of a joke. thanks for the extremely elucidating discussion regarding hearing devices. what's your and opr your wife's opinion of etymotic's (now owned by Lucid) hearing aid offerings? they have extensive (30+ years) in both the consumer headphone and hearing aid businesses. are you able to comment on that?
Beyond my experience I’m afraid:)
 

mkawa

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too bad. hopefully the sonova acquisition follows the lucid model and doesn't change the stuff that works, injecting capital into new useful products (ety's new bluetooth adapter) using the acquired tech instead.

a low latency bluetooth gaming headset actually made by sennheiser (gsp currently makes them). think a bluetooth HD600 with a boom mic. that would be pretty sweet and i bet would sell like hotcakes.

i can see them reducing investment in new product in the audiophile product line though. it is likely a small percentage of sales and doesn't represent a lot of growth. note that the hd8xx is an OEM product. massdrop is sennheiser's customer, paying for development and the right to be the exclusive reseller. this is why it's not just an hd800s. same is true of the hd58x etc.

bluetooth, soundbars and mass market consumer products are where the money is.
 

markanini

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Seeing as how how Etymotic stays afloat, maybe Sennheiser should have entered the hearing aid business.
 
D

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There’s a down side to audio companies getting on audiology. Prescribing and fitting a hearing device is about clinical practice, putting a high performing device in the ear of a human without a thorough, well executed diagnostic test battery with expert interpretation and robust rehabilitative input post fitting is like sticking a high performing speaker driver into any old cabinet with any old crossover. That’s not how the public see it though who mostly think that it’s like buying an iPhone-with some encouragement of course from the significant minority of practitioners in the industry that just want to shift a device and get rid of the patient as quickly as possible. Apple/Sennheiser or whoever won’t bring anything in terms of improved clinical practice to audiology-it will be shifting units and getting rid of the patient, who will doubtless be happy with their well marketed purchase, despite falling short of their potential in terms of their audiological rehabilitation.

This gives me flashbacks to taking my partners grandmother to the audiologist, though I question that business' credibility after witnessing the tuning procedure, and the fact that they closed down just a year after opening. Seems like they were a pop up and go sort of thing.

Anyway, poor grandmother must have had some intense loss, because we were sitting there just listening to it feedback like crazy and she didn't seem bothered at all. I've always wondered if her hearing was just so bad that the tech could only do so much, but she also seemed to have a really no patience for someone hard of hearing, which is really stupid if you plan on working in that field lol.

Learned a lot about hearing aids that day, didn't know they had to be tuned.
 

URS

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from this communiqué +++
https://de-de.sennheiser.com/newsroom/sonova-ubernimmt-sennheiser-consumer-geschaft
=========
Mit der Partnerschaft im Consumer-Bereich wird Sennheiser die eigenen Kräfte und Ressourcen auf die Geschäftsfelder Pro Audio, Business Communications und Neumann konzentrieren. In diesen drei Business Units plant das Unternehmen weiterhin aus eigener Kraft überdurchschnittlich zu wachsen und die bereits bestehende, starke Position im Weltmarkt auszubauen.Außerdem wird Sennheiser seine Geschäftsfelder sukzessive erweitern.
===
"google-translated"
With the partnership in the consumer sector, Sennheiser will concentrate its own forces and resources on the business segments Pro Audio, Business Communications and Neumann. In these three business units, the company plans to continue to grow above average on its own and to expand its already existing strong position in the global market. In addition, Sennheiser will gradually expand its business areas.
=====
++++ Neumann will remain with the "old "Sennheiser Group

BTW: For "Headphone Freaks" this new business combination MAY bear some advantages:
You can - without changing the brand- move from an “Orpheus” :cool: or Senny HD800:), directly to a yet to be developed audiophile hearing aid ;)

Regards
Urs

PS: Some long time ago, SONOVA sold some In-Ear- Monitors; but without great success.
 

garbulky

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Seriously?! Wow. Well the HD800S is on my upgrade list but I wasn't planning on buying it till next year. Are they going to discontinue the audiophile stuff? Should I reconsider and just buy now? What about the spare parts? I loved the fact that my HD600 had replacement parts that can still be purchased.
 

bobbooo

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We all know the real reason for this move - so Sennheiser can bundle hearing aids in with their HD600 and HD650, in order to prevent anymore people with presbycusis and NIHL defaming them with wild, unsubstantiated accusations that they're selling the same headphone under different monickers ;)
 

URS

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garbulky

Sorry to confuse you - I was sort of joking....;)
Go ahead and get your HD800S :)

I'm very confident that the Sennheiser Brand will continue in its current glory ! They are both highly respected brands here in Europe.
SONOVA & Sennheiser will simply combine their efforts to grow in their respective markets.

Regards
Urs

(Sonova have their headquarters just accros from my home, near the Lake of Zurich )
 

L5730

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I wonder what this means for warranty and repairs, and sourcing replacement parts. Probably nothing at all, for the short-intermediate time frame (5 years I guess) but things may change later.

To buy HD650 now or not. My goodness, this fence is quite comfy, I've been on it a long old while now! Lazy, lame joke from a bloke in his mid 30's. in age and mid 40's in waist size.
 

Count Arthur

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I wouldn't worry about spares for HD650s, even if you can't get genuine Sennheiser parts, they are such a popular headphone that there are plenty of aftermarket cables, headband and ear pads available.
 

Nango

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They launch a new flagship IE900 costs 1.300€!! Might include a 1-week trip for two persons to Canary Islands and all inclusive, otherwise it's a bit steep the price.......
 

Helicopter

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They launch a new flagship IE900 costs 1.300€!! Might include a 1-week trip for two persons to Canary Islands and all inclusive, otherwise it's a bit steep the price.......
I have been awaiting the news of what they would release... ear penetrators... I wouldn't buy them for $199 with a golfing panther. I hate IEMs.
 
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