This is not a unique device but it is the first I have seen from a quality headphone manufacturer. It allows any corded headphones you may have to become wireless headphones which gives you the ability to move far further away than any normal cord will allow.
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Unless you are prepared to spend an arm and a leg – make that two legs – TV’s do not normally have good sound as that requires larger speakers which would of course spoil the line of the TV.
If you have perfect hearing then the mumbling in most modern films will not bother you however the majority of us have some form of impairment often meaning that the higher register of sound becomes unclear. So the answer is often a decent pair of headphones, however there is often a limit to how long a cable can be without becoming a danger to all.
Sennheiser have a rectangular box 26.5x5x4cm the last figure is at the back where the cables connect the front is half that.
This box has three inputs, the first accepts a 3.5mm lead, the middle one mains power and the third an optical cable. This then has the audio signal from the TV and at the other end of the box is where you clip (unclip) its remote part that you attach to any corded headphones or earbuds, it even has a clip to allow you to attach it to your clothing. It is 8x2.5x2cm and weighs only 33 grams and while it sits in the main unit it is being charged.
The leads supplied are a 1.5metre optical lead which means the sender unit can be up to this distance from the optical port at the back of your TV. The same length of mains lead is also supplied, and, for those without an optical socket on their TV a 1.5metre 3.5mm to 3.5mm lead is included. For good measure Sennheiser also provide a pair of earbuds.
Setting up is just a matter of plugging the yellow ended mains lead to the box and the pink ended optical lead into the colour coded sockets. Once you have power in the remote unit you can then plug your favourite corded headphones into the bottom end of the remote box and once you have adjusted the volume level you can then hear that dialog that modern film and even recent television series makers try to deny you.
A fold out sheet has the modern idea of one item per page in numerous languages, including clipping the correct mains plug aback around five minutes should have you enjoying whatever you want to listen to.
There are different modes and even the ability to turn the volume up or down to either ear.
The side of the remote box has a button to ‘turn on the speech intelligibility function’.
This unit can be great where one person has less hearing than the rest of the group so they can set the normal volume to suit everyone else and just the higher volume in the headphones for the person with the greatest sound loss. This unit can even be used with an induction loop on recent hearing aids.
The Sennheiser Flex 5000 is available from Amazon for £179.99 with free delivery.
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