Sennheiser RS 140 Wireless HiFi Headphone with Dynamic Compression System
by Sennheiser
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List Price: 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 140 Wireless HiFi Headphone with Dynamic Compression System
Customer Review: Very Good Headset - But some instructions needed
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought the 140 as a replacement for an old wireless headset. I have been using wireless headsets for around 6 years. The first thing to note is that there are *no* controls on the base unit. On the headset there is a 'tuning' push-button and an on off switch on the left and volume and balance controls (very useful) on the right headset. The instructions just describe what the 3 lights on the base unit mean - not very fulsome.
From experiment I have found the following:
- If the batteries are running down then the first thing to suffer is the range and the headsets cut out a _lot_ and standing by the transmitter reduces but does not cure this. Charged or replacement batteries and _all_ problems go (but see below).
- I have several 'radiating' devices within 3 feet of me: 2 'frequency agile' cordless phone sets (4 handsets 2 base stations) WiFi base unit and 3 WiFi radiating computers. All of these share the same frequency band as the headset transmitter. My 140 headset doesn't whistle or hiss or, as my last one did, click at 1 second intervals; it just cuts out; move your head a few inches and the signal returns.
- To avoid hiss and some of the cutout problems I followed advice and raised the volume setting on my amplifier output to maximum. This is something that audiophiles would no doubt hesitate to do but it seems to have eliminated any hiss and pop. (_D0_ remember to lower the volume before unplugging the headset!! or buy a defibrillator ;-) )
Of course I cannot guarantee that this approach will work for everyone - but it did for me. The reason for the missing star is that this advice should be in the instructions and not here in a customer review.
Customer Review: We can hear the TV again!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been wanting to watch TV for years but couldn't because I'm hearing impaired and blind (so I can't read close captioned TV either). My husband is also hearing and visually impaired and connects up to the TV with wired headsets, which works ok for him except it's like being connected by a long umbilical cord, and it mutes the TV external sound so nobody else can watch the TV with him. Because of our hearing impairments, simply turning the TV volume up doesn't work because it distorts the sound too much. So I started researching wireless headsets, found the reviews on the Sennheiser RS 140 Wireless Balanced Headphones, and ordered them and an extra pair of the add-on headphones. We've had them for 3 months and they are amazing!! For the first time ever, we can watch TB together, can individually adjust our own volume controls, and if we had company, they can watch the TB with us because you have the option to leave the external sound on or mute it. The headphone sound clarity is excellent, we haven't had any problem with static, and it was a snap to install. My husband, who watches a lot more TV than I do, alternates wearing the 2 headphones so that one is always being charged up on the stand, so there hasn't been an issue with one of the headphones losing its charge when we both watch TB together. BTW, earbuds were out of the question because my husband finds them uncomfortable and I have 2 cochlear implants. These look like over-the-ear hearing aids , so I needed ear muffs large enough to encompass them. The Sennheiser headphones are not only comfortable, but the ear muffs are large enough to fit perfectly over my cochlear implants too. If I could give these a rating of 10, I would!Customer Review: Great, But Not Perfect, Product
Summary: 4 Stars
I just received this from Amazon.com. These are my initial impressions.
1. It takes 16 hours for the first charge of the batteries, so don't plan on using them the first day you receive it.
2. I was disappointed by the loud hum/hiss you hear during periods of silence. I really didn't notice it when music was playing (or while watching movies), but there was quite a roar after the song ended (MP3s playing on a HTPC). I played around with positioning of the transmitter, but it didn't seem to matter. I also tried changing the headphone channel to no avail... at least not at first. I just started playing around with the channel switch again and it did seem to help quite a bit.
3. The range is SUPER! My HTPC is in the basement on one side of the house and my bedroom is upstairs on the other side of the house... very good reception even at that distance. My Linksys wireless router can't even work that far. I can go anywhere in the house.
4. The headphones are very comfortable and VERY good at isolating you from virtually all room noise... even with my son cranking up the 12" subwoofer during videogaming. My wife thinks they'll be great for isolating her from the household din even when the headphones are turned off.
5. If you want an extra set of headphones to use with this system, you might as well just buy another complete package... the additional headphones without the transmitter is only about $15 cheaper.
Summary: I really like it, but wish there was NO hum/hiss (probably unrealistic to expect this from wireless). Excellent range, great noise isolation, great sound, great comfort. A keeper!
Customer Review: Bought for iDoser, Would be a great item, if it didn't experience so much interference
Summary: 2 Stars
For all those who are buying this for idoser, I am EXTREMELY surprised to find out that doses work with these earphones. I experienced so much interference that it sounded like DSL, and thats not an exaggeration. This item uses the 900 Mhz range, so I checked the neighborhood for cordless phones.
My house uses 5.4 Ghz, one neighbor uses 3.6 Ghz, and the other uses 5.4 Ghz. I got an extreme amount of interference, with no 900 Mhz device to be found.
If you are looking for good audio quality audio, don't waste your time on this. For me, interference (clicking, tones, and static) being mixed in the audio completely ruined any audio I tried to play on it. Get headphones with a cord, you sacrifice the walk around your house ability, but you don't get maddening interference.
Earphones were comfortable, seemed to keep a decent charge, its nice that you can swap out the batteries when your device gets older. The docking station is a little bulky, and because placement is key, can move your headphone station to the other side of your room (to be far away from electrical equipment, and reduce interference).
The noise gate never seemed to work, it is unbearable to wear these headphones during pauses or times where the input audio is low.
You might have better results, but if you are geeky, or have electrical equipment, its not the best buy.
My headphones probably came defective, the interference I was experiencing was unimaginable for a working device, but buyer beware, you might have to waste your time returning the defective product after hours of troubleshooting and moving your transmitter around like I did.
Customer Review: Excellent choice
Summary: 5 Stars
After a good bit of review, I decided to get the Sennheiser wireless headphones for use with a wall mounted TV that I view while walking on a treadmill. I was simply tired of trying to hear the TV, particularly with DVD's, over the whine of the treadmill. I've now had the headphones for a couple of months and could not be more pleased with their performance. They have proven to be an excellent choice. I don't know how well they might work for an audiophile, but for this application they are perfect. They are comfortable even for extended use, block out the treadmill sound nicely, and produce high quality sound. The volume and balance controls are very easy to use and initial set up was transparent ... just plug it in and go right out of the box. Charging them is particularly easy, you just drop them on the wire rack that is part of their stand and they charge. They also wipe off easily afterwards if I last long enough to sweat a bit.
Incidentally, TV's apparently don't come with headphone jacks these days, but the Sennheiser headphones are designed to work equally well with a TV's audio out. The package includes the appropriate adapter for this purpose. If you are trying to decide on headphones be careful in this regard, since many require the amplified signal provided by a headphone jack (there is no easy work around for this deficiency apparently ... one suggestion I found suggested running the TV audio into another device that had a headphone jack!).
Jan 29, 2011: update - still using these regularly after 3 years now and they are still performing flawlessly; have proven to totally live up to their reputation.