Sennheiser Flex 5000 Digital Wireless Headphone

Limited range due to higher operating frequency compared to TR140 and other 9xx Mhz range wireless headphones.
Audio frequency curves are good for general hearing loss, as is the voice comb filter. It is a plus, at least for me, that you are free to chose your own headphones.

This is for the FLEX 5000 RF Earbud system.

Update several months later: Still very happy with the system. Just one additional con for the receiver – it doesn’t have a MUTE button, so if you are someone who watches live TV and mutes commercials, you will instead have to turn the vol on the receiver all the way down, though it doesn’t go off, just very low. You can do this by holding the down button in, instead of having to press it repeatedly. But as stated in the main review, the volume buttons require quite a bit of pressure to push, and someone who is elderly with arthritis might have a hard time changing volume, if they can do it at all. Hopefully Sennheiser will improve the receiver with time – adding small tactile, raised buttons that are easy to press, and add a mute button.

I got this system because I wanted RF (works through walls and up to 100′ or more depending). And after trying other RF earbuds that have the receiver built-in to a “horse shoe” type device that hangs from your ear canals under your chin, I did not like those at all as they weren’t comfortable. So wanted to use my own wired buds with the little receiver the Sennheiser provides.

Pros:
Excellent full sound
Comes with optical cable (RCA and Aux 3mm as well)
Comes with AC adapters for US and additional types for EU (handy for those who travel)
Three programs to choose from for enhancing certain frequencies, or speech, or can bypass all
Button on side of receiver can switch to the enhanced speech mode, and switch it off
A long-press of the side button on the receiver turns the receiver off/on
Multiple receivers can be used with each transmitter
Each receiver (if you buy extra ones) can be programmed individually with settings auto-saved
Nicely made
Great reception to receiver with no cut out or delay
Takes literally a minute or two to plug in and you’re all set
Full, nicely detailed manual
Rechargeable battery in the receiver can be replaced when it reaches end of life

Cons (subjective):
Receiver is a little bigger than expected but still not bad
The receiver’s volume buttons are part of the receiver’s face, rather than raised tactile buttons

If the receiver had small tactile buttons, one on top of the other, so that my thumb could rest on them and adjust volume up or down by tactile feel I would have given it 5 stars, but I took a star off for this. The receiver has a slight rubbery feel (which is nice) but there are no raised buttons at all. Instead you press down near the top/middle of the face, or just below the middle, to change the volume up or down. The underlying ‘buttons’ seems to be rather large and takes a bit of pressure to press, compared to a small tactile button, and your thumb (or finger) has to cover more real-estate to press it. It also feels a bit mushy. That said it works well,. it’s just not an ergonomic design I’d choose.

They probably did this purposely thinking people will clip it to their clothes and so didn’t want them to have to hunt for small tactile buttons, but instead could ‘mash on it’ some.  But it’s a little heavy and large to clip on clothes and I prefer it in a pocket… so would be nice to have little raised buttons, close together, and clicky. That way I could easily change the volume without having to ‘navigate’ up/down the receiver feeling for the right spot of the underlying buttons. They do have a swirl molded into the face for tactile help but you still have to move up and down the receiver, so can’t leave a thumb or finger in place and just change it as needed by a slight movement of the thumb.

All that said it has excellent leveling without compromising sound. So while I usually watch TV with a remote in hand and my thumb on the vol rocker to go up/down as needed, I found I didn’t really have to do that. But I was watching a drama and not something like “Vikings” so maybe it will be different in a show that has loud sequences (i.e. scenes or action), I can’t say yet.

Now the Pros – I’m using optical and the sound quality is excellent. You must choose PCM on your TV menu, as the system does not support Dolby or Surround (going to stereo earbuds), but I was impressed by the full acoustic envelope it has. It really sounds good… nice bass, full mid tones, and high end is not trilly or sharp. The entire acoustic envelope is smooth, full, rich, and evenly balanced. If it’s a scene of someone outside, it sounds like you’re standing outside. You get that “:air” quality.

The three programs could be handy for people with slight hearing impairments. One accents lower frequencies, another higher frequencies, and the middle program is to isolate and accent speech. This is the program that can be turned on/off at the receiver, which is handy if you’re watching something that only has intermittent scenes that bury the dialog by background noise. Can switch on the speech enhancer until you don’t need it anymore, and switch it off.

The other two programs can be set on the transmitter. Once you set a program you like (or bypass them all together) the transmitter saves that info in relation to the active receiver, so that every time that receiver is turned on, the transmitter switches to the program saved to it. And again, can have up to three receivers (IIRC) that each have their own program saved for different listening needs.

All three programs use compression but I was surprised at how clean they were, as usually compressed sound is somewhat muddy. But they really did a nice job.

The transmitter also has various light functions that relate to the receiver’s battery and the programs that are active, and the receiver will beep if the battery is getting low. It does (according to specs) last up to 12hrs on a single charge, which takes 3hrs to fully charge from a nearly depleted battery. The receiver arrived with about a 2/3rds charge, so it didn’t take that long to fully charge it.

There was no crackle plugging in my buds, and they made good contact with both channels coming on instantly. Also nice, when you turn the receiver on, the volume fades in over about 2s, rather than coming on full blast. Changing programs (at the transmitter) also fade from one into the other.

With the transmitter in my pocket, I walked into the backyard to toss the shipping box into the recycle bin, then came in and went in the kitchen (transmitter was in a bedroom) and heard the TV the entire time without any break or change in sound.

Definitely a winner. I also like that the transmitter has a long, low fingerprint, rather than being high. I have it on the TV stand, under the TV on one side, with room to spare between its top and the bottom of the TV. And a 1GB, 2.4gHz modem/router sits just about 6 or 7 feet away, with no interference.

The Sennheiser buds that come with it have excellent sound because they are quite large, with large flat, foam pads, so aren’t designed to push into your ears, but to sit in the outer part of your ear. This means they can easily fall out if you accidentally pull on a wire or are active. But I got this system to use my little Panasonic buds that fit deep inside the ears, so the Sennheiser’s were just a bonus.

Finally, the battery in the receiver can be replaced when it reaches end of life. Sennhesier notes in the manual this should be done by a technician, but for those geekier users it is probably something the user can do (once the warranty expires).

All in all, a VERY nice system. I do think the markup on it is very high, and should be priced closer to $89-$99. But for someone who wants to use their comfy buds with an RF system, it works great and is not junk. Providing it lasts like Sennheiser tends to do, it will pay for itself in the long run.