Sennheiser RS 130 Wireless Surround Sound Headphones
by Sennheiser
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Our Price: $205.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sennheiser RS 130 Wireless Surround Sound Headphones
Customer Review: Excellent Headphone Set
Summary: 5 Stars
Before telling you the good points, let me express one thing to watch. When I first connected the base unit, after charging for 24 hours, I had a lot of static on every channel. It was so bad I could not use them. I went to move the base, and pulled the cord loose from the wall. After reattaching the cord to the outlet, I checked the cord at the base, and discovered it was only partially plugged in. When I pushed it in all the way, the static went away. It takes a little force to get the power connection all the way into the plug on the base unit, but if you don't plug it in all the way, you will have an unshielded area that will cause static.
So, for the Review:
Use: I use these on my home theater system, so I can watch a different channel in the living room, while my wife watches TV, with speakers, in the den. As she watches TV programs, and I am usually watching a movie with lots of guns, explosions, and other noise, this works well. I don't believe that these were designed with music in mind.
Range: Anywhere in my 2500 square foot house, regardless of appliances or electronics.
Interference: Absolutely none. My 802.11b/g/n wireless network is on frequencies so much higher that it does not interfere. The same applies to my new cordless phone. The headphones operate in a much lower frequency range than most common household wireless devices.
System Volume: I have the headphone base connected to the headphone jack on a Sony Dream System Surround Sound, and I set the Surround Sound volume to 30, and use the volume control in the headset to raise and lower. Works perfectly.
Surround Sound: Adds quality to the sound, though with most TV programs it does not matter. Will help some with DVD's.
Use Time: With a 22 hour use time, I never have them go dead. After using for several hours over several days, I just hang them on the magnitized holder to charge, and they are ready when I want them.
Outside Sounds: Mostly when I am listening to movies I can hear enough outside sounds to know if the dog is barking or if my wife comes up and say something to me. She will have to speak a little louder as I like the volume high for action movies, etc.
Sound Escape: Not enough sound can be heard by others from the headsets to matter.
The only down side to this set is that my neighbors probably think I am crazy, because they can hear me sitting in a quite house, laughing my head off...they can't hear Jeff Dunham when he is on my headset!
Customer Review: Great entry level wireless headset
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been looking for a wireless headset for the last few months in preparation for having our first baby. I was looking for something I could use to watch TV or listen to music while still being able to move around and not make too much noise. I read a CNET review which had the RS130s on a list of top headphones. It seems that these headphones fluctuate in price quite a bit from retailer to retailer and I wasn't satisfied by the $180 charged on amazon so I kept looking. Eventually, I recently managed to purchase these headphones online for $140Cdn from a local computer store so I ordered them and had them shipped. All I can say is that the design and sound of these headphones at that price point is fantastic. The headphones are lightweight and very comfortable and sound great. I wouldn't call myself an audiophile yet but the headphones provide ample bass and have great sound. They come with NiMH rechargeable batteries but they are not proprietary so you can use any NiMH batteries and the unit will recharge them. It also means that when the batteries die out, you can easily replace them. I've found too many rechargeable devices these days require proprietary batteries which are costly or non existent. To charge them, you simply have to hang them on the transmitter unit. The unit has an easily accessible volume dial. I saw other reviews which said that it was too close to the Tune button but I haven't had any problems with that. They are open design headphones which means that sound can leak out and leak in but that's perfect for me so that I can hear the baby cry and tend to her. Sennheiser also makes the RS140 which is a closed design.
One con is that occasionally I get static but it's only from time to time and doesn't bother me too much. When I'm sitting still watching a movie or listening to music I usually don't hear the static, it's only when I'm moving things or myself around. The second con is that the ear pieces collect dust. It's not that bad yet, but I'll probably try using something like painters tape to remove the dust.
Also, one of the other complaints I saw was the annoying beeping when there's no source but you can disable that by holding the tune button for at least 5 seconds while the headset it on.
I also bought a second set so that my wife and I can watch movies together and they can both receive signals from the same transmitter. The headset also has a SRS surround option but I usually have it turned off.
Customer Review: Everything has quirks, but these are still awesome.
Summary: 5 Stars
You will not be dissappointed in these headphones unless you are a real stickler for the specs. :) These headphones reliably transmit through walls and floors in my home to about 30 feet (not 300). By reliably, I mean without hissing or other noise; I'm sure they'll go quite a bit further if you sacrifice quality. The SRS mode is really nice, and makes them sound nicer with less booms and more clarity -- I leave them on SRS all the time. I use these for watching movies and listening to music. I don't really play games anymore, so I can't rate them in that regard.
I am very pleased with these wireless headphones. I wish I had a set for the office as well as home!
The quirks:
The automatic level adjust can be annoying. Sometimes, increasing the volume in software will have no effect on the output of the headphones. The volume control on the side of the headphones behaves like a volume regulator, so you can adjust the mean of your waveform up or down, but the setting may be toned down if a particularly loud sound plays.
Let me re-iterate that point. If you are watching a movie with a low encoded volume, and have your headphones turned up, and someone sends you an instant message, 2 things will happen. First you will cringe at the unbearably loud "DING" from the IM, then you will notice that you can't hear your movie because the base station detected a volume spike and lowered the output reactively. This takes some getting used to, but I don't fault the headphones for that (as it comes in handy when the movie gets REALLY REALLY LOUD all of a sudden during an action scene or such.)
The headphones automatically turn themselves off if they don't detect audio for a period of time. This is nice, but I could do without the annoying beap-beap-beap-beap if I happen to be wearing them at the time. The nice part is they will at least turn themselves back on -- most of the time. They can always be manually set on or off via the switch on the left side behind the left ear cup.
If you are looking for a $100-$150 set, and the lack of wires is a priority (oh, and the magnetic-drop-on charging between the headphones and the base station is sweet!!) then definitely consider this set.
Customer Review: Tricky to get going, but easy afterward.
Summary: 5 Stars
I received these headphones for Christmas. My primary reason for wanting them was so that I could play video games at whatever volume I liked without having to worry about disrupting anyone else. I'm coming at this from a slightly different angle from many of the reviews I've seen here, as I've never used a "good" pair of headphones for home theater/gaming, so I had almost no expectation for how they'd change my experience.
Pros:
These headphones were simple to set up and hook up. The ear cups are really comfortable, and allow outside sound to flow in very easily, as other reviewers have noted. The recharging/cradle feature is extremely convenient. The sound quality is remarkably good, although I can conceive of slightly better sound quality, which is whay this isn't quite getting 5 stars all around. It is, however, pretty phenomenal sound for all that. Games feel good and immersive, the frequency response on these headphones means I'm now hearing parts of the game music and sound effects that I didn't even know existed before.
Cons:
Almost none. I only have two complaints:
1) these headphones plug in via RCA cable. That's understandable, however it is completely ridiculous that they plug in via an ATTACHED set of RCA leads. Particularly when you note how thin and poorly shielded those built-in leads are. I would much rather have RCA jacks on the base unit to which I could have connected an RCA cable of my choosing.
2) Due to the poor shielding on the RCA cable, I had to spend about 20 minutes trying to find a way to route my wiring such that the attached leads weren't coming anywhere near any power cables. Normally, you can get away with running perpendicular to a power cable without picking up a 60Hz hum, but not with these. The net result is that finding a good place to put the base unit can be tricky, and your "ideal" location may simply not work.
Now, overall, I still LOVE these headphones. I feel like both of my objections are the result of one simple design flaw, and that once you accomodate that flaw these headphones perform beautifully. I'd highly reccommend them to anyone looking to keep the peace while gaming in comfort. :)
Customer Review: Excellent wireless headphones
Summary: 5 Stars
I probably read 200 reviews before buying the Sennheiser RS130 headphones. For wireless headphones, these are excellent. Many other reviews adequately cover the quality and unsurpassed features. I want to dispel a few of the negative comments I continually read from other reviewers (which very nearly deterred me from buying my set).
One of the big complaints is that the volume and tuning control are too close to each other. When your pair arrives, you'll see that this is not an issue. The tuning control has a raised bump, and you won't have any trouble differentiating the two even though they are right next to each other. Inadvertently adjusting the tuning when you want to adjust the volume doesn't happen.
Second, those who complain of the loud beeps when the phones hook up with a signal or loose reception did not read the insturctions. The manual explains how the beeping can be turned off. In any case, I didn't find the beeps to be annoying, and I see no reason to disable this feature.
Third, the endless complaints of hissing, pops, and dropout are ridiculous. These are wireless, what did they expect. That said, once the batteies are fully charged, any background noise is barely audible, especially compared to other wireless headphones I've tried. The occasional hiss, pop, crack, and dropout that occurs when walking around the house is minimal.
Fourth, Putting the phones back on the charging stand, which BTW turns the phones off (very nice), is intuitive and ergonomic. Again, all one has to do is read the well written and concise manual.
I do agree that the SRS feature is of dubious value.
IMO, if you do get a pair that are not excellent, they are either defective and you should return them, or you didn't read the manual and follow the instructions, or there is an external problem that will have the same effect on any wireless headphones you buy. For the rest of us, these are simply wonderful. I highly recommend you choose these headphones if you have a need for wireless. Oh, one last comment. The fabric ear pieces do not rest on the ear, they cover the ear, and yes they are comfortable.