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: 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: Despite few flaws, have fallen in love
Summary: 4 Stars
Normally I'd never use a set of wireless headphones, but I found I needed them for a specific application. I use these at work in a fairly large office, but given the nature of my work, I move around a lot, so a cable would have been prohibitive, and using speakers wasn't an option.
As far as general usability is, I have really been taken by these headphones. I have worn them for several hours at a time with no discomfort. Great padding around the headband and on the ears makes for superior comfort.
Battery life is rather good too in these. In the past 4 months I've only had one instance where the device complained about low battery, but I hadn't charged it for a couple of days, so the life on a single charge is really long.
There are only a few things about this that I didn't like. First being the auto shut off feature. Although useful, it's a bit short for my taste (about a minute) and there isn't a way to adjust it. If I pause my music to answer a question from someone it will shut semi off. From that point when you start playing again it will come back on, but it takes a second to do that. I'd really like to be able to adjust that time to maybe 2 or 5 minutes. Not a major thing, but only slightly annoying.
The second thing is the interference. Granted these are wireless, and they beat iR or bluetooth based headphones any day there is a slight hiss you will hear, esp at higher volumes. So do be aware of that. However it can sometimes grow into drops in signal, pops, or screeching static. This is rare and relative to your position. In my case i'm never more that 15 feet away from the base unit, but i do work in a room where there's more interference that normal, the music i listen to are all compressed mp3 and the sound card on my computer isn't that great here at work. I can say that when these arrived at my house i tested them on my home computer and had significantly better results than at work, and a lot less interference.
All in all I highly recommend these if you must have wireless, but do ask you to consider your usage environment before purchase. I am likely to purchase a second set for home while working outdoors or whatnot.
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.
Customer Review: Great Wireless Head Set!
Summary: 5 Stars
To begin with I live in a very busy area in NYC and in my home I have a 3 system wireless computer network, 2 wireless phones, wireless PS2 controllers, wireless Xbox360 controllers, 3 cellular phones and now I have added 2 Sennheiser RS 130 headsets. You can imagine I was concerned with interference, popping and static especially after reading some of the reviews of the 130's on this site.
To be very honest it was anything but the case. Amongst all the wireless items in my house I get crystal clear sound with little to no problems. The signal strength on the head phones is phenomenal as I can even take the trash out and not miss a word from my TV shows. The sound quality is just as good as my wired headphones and the head phones all though large are very comfortable and after hours of wearing them I hardly notice there still on.
I have had the headsets for close to two months now and on the very rare occasion that I hear static all I do is hit the scan button and the problem is solved. The only technical issue I had with the headsets was during the initial setup. When using both headsets at the same time the set in my basement entertainment room was picking up some of the signal from the head set a floor above in my bedroom. This only occurred when I had the head sets on channel 1 and channel 2. To resolve this issue I set the basement set to channel 1 and the bedroom set to channel 3 and I have had no issues since.
My only other issue besides that is just as others stated with the poorly placed volume knob that occasionally gets moved when I shift my pillow in bed. It doesn't occur enough to put tape over the knob but if it did that would be my solution as it's a small inconvenience and doesn't justify not purchasing a great wireless headset.
Overall I love the headphones! They are a phenomenal buy and at around half the cost of the Best Buy price you can't go wrong buying them off Amazon. I never write reviews but ive been so happy with my two 130 headsets that I felt I needed to share so others could also join the wonderfull experience.
Customer Review: Expectations Met
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this product for two reasons. One, so that I could listen to or watch whatever (movies, news, music) while having guests stay over, and not bother them, or so that I could BLAST music, if I choose to, late at night and not bother the neighbors. Two,I wanted a good set that would play well while moving doing chores around and outside the house while listening to music.
I had read quite a few reviews before purchase and even had the courage to write the company to give my (logical?) opinion based on reviews of people having problems with the control knobs on the back of the ear-cups, changing the volume when their heads were resting against something. I received an email response from the Co. and felt perhaps I was hasty in giving an opinion before even trying out the product. Yes, I admit, it was baseless, for me personally, and have had no problem with the controls....yet.
I even tried and could not change anything resting my head in my Lazyboy. So, I give this product 4.5 stars. I have only experienced one problem. Having to unplug the unit from my TV by getting up, rather than just turning it off from the earphones to have the TV go back to regular sound. Am I missing something?
The sound is great and I even tested the distance with music by going downstairs outside and walking around to the laundry room, a distance of about 30 ft. Yes, there were some quick interruptions and some hissing at intervals,(no surprise) but was amazed that they still played pretty darn OK at that distance. Oh, one other slight problem, a personal one. My ears stick out some (was nicknamed "Dumbo" in grade school) and the pressure the cups put on my ears causes a bit of irritation after a while...say 45 minutes. I have to say this is normal for me (and probably a minority of others?) as I cannot wear over the ear anything without eventual discomfort happening. That said, make your own decision. I am happy I changed my mind and made this purchase. Well worth the homework and wait to decide.
Sincerely,
Atindra Gibbs
Hayward, CA