Essence For Hi-Res Audio has announced US pricing and availability for the Earis Premium Personal TV Audio System, a wireless under-chin receiver designed to give one listener their own dialogue level without touching the volume for everyone else in the room. The system will be sold directly by Essence for $699, with shipping beginning 25 August 2026, according to a detailed specification breakdown published by ecoustics.
The Earis Premium targets a familiar living-room problem: one person wants the TV louder, or clearer, than the rest of the household is comfortable with. Rather than solving that with a soundbar or a pair of standard wireless headphones, Essence has built a dedicated transmitter-and-receiver pair. The transmitter connects to the television and sends audio over a dedicated 2.4GHz wireless link to a receiver that sits under the listener's chin, weighing about 2 ounces and housing 14.8mm moving-coil transducers on each side.
What's inside
According to ecoustics, the receiver's digital-to-analogue conversion is handled by a Wolfson WM8918 24-bit DAC, feeding a stated signal-to-noise ratio of 96 dB and total harmonic distortion of 0.005%. Frequency response is quoted at 20 Hz to 16 kHz, and maximum output is listed at 122-125 dB SPL — a figure aimed squarely at listeners who need substantial amplification headroom rather than casual background listening. Audio latency is stated at under 47 milliseconds, low enough that lip-sync drift shouldn't be an obvious problem for TV dialogue and general viewing.
Connectivity is deliberately narrow. The transmitter accepts optical PCM stereo at up to 24-bit/48 kHz, plus a 3.5mm analogue input. There is no HDMI or eARC support, and no Bluetooth — the wireless hop between transmitter and receiver is a proprietary 2.4GHz link rather than a Bluetooth pairing. Essence's own naming includes "Hi-Res Audio," but the stated optical input ceiling of 24-bit/48kHz is a standard PCM rate, not a high-resolution one.
Battery life is quoted at 9 hours per charge with a 2-hour recharge time, and Essence states an operating range beyond 70 metres from the transmitter. A single transmitter can feed two separate receiver units, which would let two people listen independently from the same TV feed. On the receiver itself, ecoustics lists a rotary volume control and a separate left/right balance control on the rear, along with a microphone input and subwoofer compatibility for use with the system's own speakers switched off.
No surround, no spatial audio — by design
The Earis Premium is stereo only. Essence's own specifications rule out Dolby Atmos and any form of spatial audio or head-tracked surround processing, and the digital input is capped at optical PCM stereo rather than the multichannel bitstreams that a Dolby Digital or DTS-fed HDMI connection would carry. For a product built around dialogue clarity for a single listener rather than home-theater immersion, that tradeoff lines up with the product's stated purpose, even if it puts a firm ceiling on what the system can do next to a full AV receiver setup.
Where Essence is positioning it
ecoustics frames the Earis Premium against existing wireless TV-listening products, specifically Sennheiser's RS 255 (quoted at under $300), the RS 275 and RS 195, as well as Sony's SRS-NS7 neckband speaker. That's a positional comparison on ecoustics' part rather than a tested one — no source here makes a sonic comparison between the Earis Premium and any of those products, and none is claimed in this article either.
Essence also markets the Earis Premium toward viewers with hearing loss, citing up to 125 dB of amplification alongside speech enhancement and tone control features. That marketing angle places the product in territory more often occupied by hearing-assistance devices than by conventional hi-fi accessories, though nothing in the available sourcing describes the Earis Premium as a hearing aid or a regulated medical device.
Bob Rapoport, founder of Essence For Hi-Res Audio, is quoted describing the listening experience in the company's own terms: "Full range music, ambience, localization, effects and dramatic impact were all preserved." That's a manufacturer claim about the stereo listening experience, not an independent finding, and Into The HiFi has not heard the Earis Premium to confirm or dispute it.
It's also worth flagging an open question the available sourcing doesn't answer. ecoustics states the Essence Earis Premium is designed and engineered in Germany, and a product using the same "Earis Premium" name is sold separately in Europe by Humantechnik and in the UK by Sarabec as a hearing-assistance TV listening system. No source establishes any corporate relationship — licensing, ownership, or otherwise — between Essence For Hi-Res Audio and Humantechnik. This article makes no claim either way; readers should treat the US launch strictly as Essence bringing a product called Earis Premium to the American market at $699 from 25 August, without assuming anything about how that product relates to similarly named devices sold elsewhere.
AV NIRVANA has also published a third-party review of the Earis Premium alongside its coverage of Essence's announcement. That review represents an independent outlet's own listening impressions, not a verdict Into The HiFi is adopting, since we have not evaluated the system ourselves.
For now, the concrete facts are these: a $699 US price, a 25 August 2026 ship date sold directly through Essence, a stereo-only signal path limited to optical PCM and 3.5mm analogue inputs, and a stated spec sheet built around dialogue clarity and personal volume control rather than home-theater surround sound.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Essence Earis Premium and what does it cost?
The Essence Earis Premium Personal TV Audio System is a wireless under-chin receiver that lets one person set their own TV dialogue level independently of the room's main volume. It is priced at $699 and sold directly by Essence For Hi-Res Audio, with US shipping beginning 25 August 2026.
When does the Earis Premium ship in the United States?
Essence has stated that US shipping for the Earis Premium Personal TV Audio System begins on 25 August 2026, sold directly through Essence For Hi-Res Audio at $699. No UK or EU price or availability date has been established for this product.
What inputs and wireless connection does the Earis Premium use?
The Earis Premium's transmitter accepts optical PCM stereo audio at up to 24-bit/48kHz plus a 3.5mm analogue input. It sends audio to its under-chin receiver over a dedicated 2.4GHz wireless link rather than Bluetooth, and it has no HDMI or eARC connectivity.
What are the Earis Premium's stated specifications?
Per ecoustics, Essence lists a 20 Hz–16 kHz frequency response, 122-125 dB SPL maximum output, under 47ms audio latency, a Wolfson WM8918 24-bit DAC, 96 dB signal-to-noise ratio, 0.005% THD, 9-hour battery life with a 2-hour charge time, and range beyond 70 metres.
What does the Earis Premium not support?
The Earis Premium is stereo only. It does not support Dolby Atmos, DTS, spatial audio, or any surround processing, and its digital input is limited to optical PCM stereo rather than HDMI or eARC. There is also no Bluetooth; the wireless link is a proprietary 2.4GHz connection.
This article was written by an AI system from Into The HiFi AI Desk, generated from the following sources, with no human editing pass before publication: ecoustics: Essence Earis Premium Personal TV Audio System Targets Clearer Dialogue and Private Hi-Res Listening, AV NIRVANA: Breaking News From Essence For August 2026, AV NIRVANA: Earis Premium Personal TV Audio System Review.
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