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: Sennheiser RS 130
Summary: 4 Stars
Like a number of purchasers of the Sennheiser RS 130, a bought the headphones to plaquate my wife, who frequently thinks I have the volume too loud, on whichever audio medium I happen to be using. The sound quality of the RS 130 is good, if not specuacular. Generally I use them in one location but I have noticed some static areas when walking about my house with the headphones in use. No real concern to me, as I did not purchase them for extensive portable use.
A couple of complaints however, although they are minor:
1. The jack adaptor, as other reviewers have noted, is cumbersome and for a device with a front jack, sticks out 2 or more inches. Couple that with the realtively short cord provided from the jack to the RS 13's output to the its transmitter, and your placement of the transmitter/recharger becomes limited. My receiver required the use of all the adaptor devices supplied with the RS 130. Although the device seemed to work well when hooked up in this manner, since my primary use of the headphones will be for TV useage, I found that I could connect the transmitter directly to the back of my cable box without the need for any adaptor. I also gained more flexibility in locating the transmitter/recharger device. If I want to use the headphones with my DVD player or listen to music through my receiver, I simply jack the transmitter to the front of the reciver using the adaptors.
2. The second complaint may be unique to me. I generally use the headphones in conjunction with "vegging out" in my recliner. With my head in contact with the recliner back, I sometimes, unintintionally, change the headphone volume by the friction between the headphone volume control and the chair back. Again, no big deal.
Overall, I am happy with the purchas and my wife is extremlly happy. (There is also an added plus: When convenient, I can pretend not to hear her when I am using the headphones!)
Customer Review: MUST READ BEFORE YOU BUY - Auto-tuning and Auto-signal WARNING
Summary: 2 Stars
This product was absolutely perfect with the exception of its automatic signal control and tuning. Unfortunately, those two "features" rendered the unit completely unusable for me, forcing me to return it.
EXPLANATION
This product features an "automatic signal control" which will automatically adjust the volume/strength, which at first sounds like a great idea. If all you do is use this for voice/TV or music that is constant, it would be fantastic. Unfortunately, if you use this product for music with variable strength, i.e. volume/strength goes from soft to loud -- such as techno, classical, and even a lot of modern pop/rock -- this "feature" will drive you crazy. It's like listening to a song where someone is constantly turning the volume up and down.
Another "feature" that drove me crazy was the automatic tuning. Again, in theory, it sounds like a great idea. Anyone that's familiar with wireless headsets will know that the signal constantly fluctuates, especially when you turn your head a certain way, because of where the antennae is located and basic radio frequency physics. Most products respond like radios which will get slightly "static-y" when this happens. Unfortunately, when the signal fluctuates with the auto-tuning feature, you will get a sudden one-second pause of silence as it re-tunes. As annoying as any static may be, I *assure* you that having a song constantly interrupted by one-second pauses any time you move the wrong the way is *WAY* more annoying.
CONCLUSION
I've been searching for three years now to find a replacement for my Brookstone set. The Sennheiser RS 130 product was absolutely perfect in every way except for the two previously described "features" that didn't benefit the product at all. In the end, they were disturbing enough that I couldn't use the unit and keep my sanity. My search for a replacement continues...
Customer Review: Great Purchase! Works wonderfully....
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the RS130 headset for a Christmas present for my husband. Not sure how receptive he would be so I rolled the dice. The gamble paid off...he loves them! I purchased the RS130 over the RS140 because I was not sure about the differences and for our use, it has certainly been a good choice. I believe the RS140 are considered a closed system where as the RS130 are open. He agrees, it's nice for him to still be able to hear me somewhat and wouldn't have needed the complete noise cancelling feature of the 140's.
As I read in many reviews, the main reason for me considering purchasing the headset was the volume my husband (48 years old)watches TV. If certain movies were on, he would literally run me out of the room and then become aggravated (humm...sound familar, ladies?). He is very particular with his electronics so again I simply took a chance.
Set up was easy and he allowed the headset to charge overnight as recommended which I couldn't believe! He mention the manual was virtually worthless so he simply used his own knowledge of electronics etc to connected through the cable box verses directly to the TV so that he can listen at "HIS" volume and me at mine. The first Sunday morning he had them, I rolled over in bed at nearly 10:30 am with the house completely quiet. Confused for a minute, only to walk in the family room to see him in his recliner watching the new Bruce Willis Diehard movie (another Christmas present) with a smile on his face! Unbelievable!
Our house is prox. 3600 sq feet with a fairly open floor plan and he moves all over without any problems. The headset is very comfortable and he has no problem wearing them for an extended period of time. After 25 years of marriage, two kids now in college to hear him say..."This was one of the best presents I have ever gotten!" is a true testamate in itself therefore I would HIGHLY recommend!
Customer Review: Good but overpriced because of its problems
Summary: 3 Stars
My Wife bought these for me for Christmas which I was very excited to have since we have a 5 month old in the house and I wanted to try and keep the sound down at night when he was sleeping.
I when I saw she bought me Sennheiser I thought wow I should have a great set of headphones here.
I hooked them up and they sound ok. I do get some hissing but not enough to bother me while watching TV. But then I noticed how much she spent on these and then I realized that these should have a lot better sound for the money.
I am only about 9 feet away from the base so that should not be the issue either.
I will say though I can walk through out the house and even the garage and the reception does not change so I was impressed by its distance.
The biggest problem with these is that when you sit them on the base station to charge they lean to one side because of the batteries and I have to keep going up and correcting this so they charge. Other wise they are not getting a connection and charging properly. This might be a problem with all the Sennheiser that have this design but I would read other reviews to make sure.
You would think they would have done a better job in the design.
They are setting level so it has nothing to do with that. One thing that helps though is if you set them in one exact position on the charging base they do seem to stay there longer.
Over all nice headphones and I like them but they are overpriced I would try some of their other models that are lower in price or another brand.
I would not get these as well if your using them for music or wanting perfect sound then I think the best thing to do is not buy wireless headphones and get more your more traditional headphones with the cable.
So yes I am happy and love my wife for thinking of me and buying them for me but would look at all the other models as well.
Customer Review: Worth the money, exactley what I expected.
Summary: 4 Stars
Wireless:
I expected these, being wireless to be a little fuzzy from time to time, and they are. they aren't perfect, but for wandering around my room and floor of the house, i barely notice fuzz. when moving around, from room to room, they tend to hiss and have light intermittent static especially when they have to go through a few walls and or floors, but it stops when you hold still.
As for range, i've yet to find the edge of it. not that i haven't tried either, i wore them across the street to the neighbors once and they still worked.
Sound:
the synthesized surround sound leaves a little to be desired, the volume seems to vary slightly from time to time and the unit sometimes emphasizes the wrong sounds giving an echo on spoken words. it doesn't do it very often though, maybe a total of 5 minutes in about a whole day. the increased 'richness' ofht esound makes up for it. i've had headphones before that put out better bass too, but i'm the person who runs dual 10" subs in a Jeep Wrangler, i.e. i like my brain rattled by my music and these don't do it.
Comfort:
it's simple, i've worn them for an entire day working on homework and i barely know i have them on. they're the right stiffness, enough to keep the sound in but not so tight you get a headache in an hour. kind of like they were made for Baby Bear, they're just right.
Annoyances:
the blasted volume dial. it's in the perfect spot to reach and adjust, but it's also the perfect spot to get messed with when leaning on a pillow or office chair headrest. a piece of electrical tape over it fixes it if you need to wear them in bed.
Conveniences:
uses rechargeable AAA's, not some goofy battery pack that costs $50. batteries go dead, switch them out and charge later.