Axel Grell, Sennheiser’s Legendary Headphones Engineer, Just Debuted His Own Earbuds

By Ana Dascalescu

Posted on October 6, 2021

Axel Grell was Sennheiser’s top headphones engineer for more than 30 years – and now he’s ready to take his designs to market under his own name.

The first offering? The $200 TWS1 earbuds.

Grell left Sennheiser in 2019 to found Grell Audio and now introduced the company’s first product, a pair of elegant wireless buds at a premium price point.

“Grell audio in-ear headphones mark a pioneering step forward in the realm of high-end listening devices,” they say on the website.

“TWS/1 technology, custom 10mm dynamic drivers, 34-hour (combined) battery life (ANC On), and transducers with a tolerance of +/- 1 dB, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) — plus, Axel Grell Noise Annoyance Reduction (NAR) technology” is basically the elevator pitch.

The Grell Audio TW1 earbuds come with Bluetooth 5.2 and a range of over 50 meters (164 feet). As for codecs, they support an extensive list: SBC, AAC, Qualcomm aptX, Qualcomm aptX adaptive and LHDC codecs.

They also have an impressive battery life.

With ANC on, they offer 6 hours in the buds and a further 4 full charges in the case, bringing the total to 34 hours of listening time. With ANC turned off, that battery life goes up to 8 hours in the buds and up to 45 hours total if you count the case.

They’re fitted with a glass touch field for gesture commands, have a built-in voice-assistant and can be charged wirelessly. At 7.3g on each bud and with an aluminum case, they’re also pretty light.

Grell Audio will sell the TW1 earbuds straight on their website and on Drop.com, with preorders already open and shipping in November.

Axel Grell, Sennheiser’s Legendary Headphones Engineer, Just Debuted His Own Earbuds