Sennheiser RS120 926 MHz Wireless RF Headphones with Charging Cradle
by Sennheiser
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List Price: Our Price: $68.00 You Save: $41.95 (38%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $48.01 (click here) Category: Speakers See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sennheiser RS120 926 MHz Wireless RF Headphones with Charging Cradle
Customer Review: Works Great if You Don't Own Cordless or Cell Phones!!
Summary: 3 Stars
These are awesome headphones! I think they fit fine on the head....they are adjustable so I have no clue what other reviewers are complaining about when it comes to them "falling off." The sound quality is crystal clear and sharp. The volume is fantastic! Even when the volume is turned down very low....you still can hear all of the wonderful little background sounds and conversations in the movie that you miss when watching it with only the tv speakers...even turned up loud! The charging base unit is pure genius perfection! Not clumsy what so ever..you just set your headphones on the chrome cradle and they have instant, simple contact for charging....so easy, you could do it in the dark! Plus there is a little red charging light that turns on... also a green light that comes on when you have your phones on...easy reminder to turn them off when you put them away.
However, I found a HUGE FLAW in these otherwise "perfect wireless headphones." The first evening I was using them and OH So Enjoying them while watching Schwartzman and Dunst in MARIE ANTOINETTE with its Electrifying Soundtrack....I suddenly got this HORRID static in my ears and "POOF"..no more movie! I walked out of my room to go find techie husband to see if he could help me tune them....none of the 3 channels would pick up the movie. I found him talking on his cell phone. He tried to tune my headphones while talking on his cell phone to no avail. BUT..as soon as he hung up...no problem! We had CONTACT! I'm back enjoying my movie for about 15 minutes UNTIL it happened again! This time a woman's voice came through my headphones wanting to take my airline reservations!! I walked out of my room with my headphones on and my husband came walking out of his office holding the cordless phone...him looking puzzled and me laughing and repeating what the airline recorded menu was saying.
It wasn't funny for long! After I started my movie back up again....my son uses his cordless phone and !*^@%$!& I lose ALL reception on all channels AGAIN!
I found from doing many experiments, these headphones WON'T pick up a reception on any of the channels if a cell phone or cordless phone is being used in the house. It was explained by our cell phone service provider a possible reason could be is that a cell tower is very close to our home. He didn't have a great answer for the cordless phones.
I have kept the headphones and use them when I'm alone in the house or LATE at night. They are THAT GREAT...When They WORK!
If I could use them WHEN EVER I WANTED WITHOUT COMPETING WITH the 4 Cell Phones and 2 Cordless Phones..I would gladly give this gem 5 STARS!
Customer Review: Two big flaws ruin an otherwise amazing product
Summary: 3 Stars
I read many reviews on this product before deciding to purchase and overall they are terrific headphones, but for some reason most people didn't mention the two most irritating things about these.
1) If your sound source stops for say 5 minutes, you are suddenly blasted with incredibly loud white noise that really can hurt your ears!
2) Overly loud sound in spots will noticeably diminish the volume of the music.
I've learned that the unfortunate cause of these are the following "features" of the unit which cannot be changed/adjusted or turned off as far as I know.
1) Auto power off mode of the base after 5 minutes of silence.
2) Aggressive Automatic Volume Gain
It seems that when the unit powers off after 5 minutes of silence, the automatic gain kicks in, and amplifies the silence tremendously to the point where all of a sudden, you get a blast of whitenoise that's really loud. I've trained myself to just turn the headphones switch off when my sound source stops (aka, if some interruption causes me to pause the music for abit, or the tv show I'm watching), and to start the sound source again (music or tv) prior to turning the phones back on, so as to avoid the loud noise. It's a pain, and I still get caught by surprise sometimes, but it's mostly managable.
Also in music that has a large change in volume, you can hear the phones cut down the signal significantly when the loud spot comes in. It's very annoying and can ruin the true feel of the music.
Despite these major issues, these headphones are otherwise fantastic, and it's a true shame these issues were not addressed prior to production and cannot be addressed after the fact either.
The phones are very comfortable to wear, the sound reproduction is excellent, and I've not had much in the way of interference wearing them (although I don't stray far from the base unit). The manual tuning control is not really a big deal as I've rarely had to set it more than the one time initially, and saves money on the more expensive unit they sell.
I'm still happy with the purchase and have managed to live with the 2 major issues, but I wanted to make sure the next person was aware of the problems before buying. From what I could tell reading other reviews, the higher priced models from Sennheiser have the same issues.
If they can correct these issues in future models, I would buy them in a heart beat since I don't think the other companies offerings are nearly as good.
Customer Review: Good headphones, but could be better
Summary: 4 Stars
Pros:
Great sound
Good fit
Easy, stylish charger
Light weight
Cons:
Don't like to stay put
Volume/Tune knobs unprotected and next to each other
Autooff generates static
Things I haven't tested suffciently:
Battery life
Range
These headphones do what wireless headphones should do: They play sound, and they play very rich sound. I'm happy with these headphones, and would buy them again. This review mainly deals with issues I've had with them, so people have a better idea about the product.
First, my biggest issue is that the Tuning and Volume knobs (well, wheels) are unprotected. That means there is nothing preventing you from brushing them if you settle back into a highbacked chair, or scratch an itch on your ear. You might get treated to a jarring blast of static if you bump the Tuning knob accidently.
The odds of this happening are compounded by the fact the knobs are next to each other. Several times I've gone to adjust the volume only to have the music turn to static. This is pretty annoying; the ability to stop the tuning from being adjusted with a Hold switch or similar would do much to improve these headphones.
Another annoyance is that the base station, but not the headphones, go to sleep after several minutes of no sound. I have these plugged into my computer, and was listening to a CD while lying in bed. I was not quite asleep when the CD ended, when ZAP! I was jolted out of bed, ripping off the headphones as the silence was replaced by very loud static. Needless to say, these aren't going to be used to help me sleep anymore! However, whitenoise is said to help you get to sleep, so perhaps this a feature and not a bug. Perhaps a switch on the base station to prevent this would be useful. (These are also ment to be plugged into a TV it seems, so perhaps this wasn't a consideration for its intended use)
The last isssue is that while the headphones are very comfortable and fit well, they don't fit very well unless you are almost motionless. If you want wear these to do chores like I do, you'll be constantly adjusting and trying futility to keep them on your head. If you're sitting in a chair listening to music or watching TV, or sitting at the computer, this won't be an issue. But if you want to listen to some tunes while mopping or doing dishes, you will encounter some issues.
Again, even with these issues, I'd still buy these again.
Customer Review: Nice headphone set. Limited connectivity to new TVs.
Summary: 4 Stars
Bought this headset a couple of weeks ago for my father-in-law who is loosing his hearing. These wireless headsets are great for sr. adults needing some help in hearing TV shows. The concept is that the user can adjust his/her own volume (headset) without having to have the TV volume up as loud as it goes. The benefits to this are obvious. My father...age 93...has had a wireless headset for over 2 years now and couldn't watch TV without it!
The ONE COMPLAINT I have with this headset (and, it may apply to other sets, too), is that the TV connection is ANALOG (RCA-type) plugs ONLY. Now, on the surface, you might think this is OK. However, have you actually looked on the back of your TV?? Yes, you may see the typical RED-WHITE ANALOG jacks, BUT do you know if they are for OUTPUT, or INPUT ONLY? That's where I ran into problems. My father-in-law has a new(er) 42" LCD flat-panel TV with LOTS of jacks on the back. BUT, upon investigation, I found that 95% of the jacks are for INPUT ONLY....and not a single ANALOG AUDIO OUTPUT in the bunch! As a matter of fact, the only audio output is a DIGITAL (fiber) connection, intended for driving home-theater-style speaker systems. Now, being the techno-whiz that I am, I figured that a DIGITAL-to-ANALOG audio 'adapter' might exist. Sure enough, there is such a product BUT, the cost of the 2 or 3 that I found were more than the cost of the wireless headset...probably not a viable option.
SOLUTION: Remembering that my father-in-law had another (smaller) LCD TV in his bedroom, I thought he might be able to use the headsets when he was in bed. Sure enough, this TV had the required ANALOG OUTPUT jacks and the headset connection plugged in and worked as expected. Realizing that this headset was 'wireless', I then discovered how he could actually watch the big set in his living room AND use the headset, too. He simply had to tune the smaller set (where the headset was connected) to the same channel he wanted to watch in the living room. Yes, it's a little trouble to have to get up and go change the channel on the smaller set everytime you want to watch something different, BUT, it is the best (only) option to allow him to keep the headset.
BOTTOM LINE: The headset is great, and functions in line with expectations. As long as you have an ANALOG OUTPUT jack to plug in the headset connections, you'll get satisfactory results from them...at least, for this type of requirement.
Customer Review: Great sound, extremely comfortable, minor design flaws.
Summary: 4 Stars
I researched wireless headphones having become reliant on an old and annoying Acoustics Research set that I've had for years. When I decided on the Sennheiser RS-120s, I was interested to see how far wireless headphones have come. Let me just say that these Sennheisers beat them hands down! Terrific sound (for wireless) and very comfortable. I can walk all around inside (and out) of my two story house and hear only a rare hiss. I don't get the clicking or popping that I had with the ARs. The hiss isn't even "static" but a soft (and brief) hiss which occasionally comes in if my head is turned a certain way. A slight move of the head can eliminate it. When I'm stationary (and usually closer to the base) the sound is crystal clear. The charging is ingenious. Set them on the stand and they're good to go the next time. My old ARs had a NiCad battery which never held a full charge and had a short "memory". These ones last for days (a hour or two a day) off the stand before I throw them back on. So easy!
The ear pads are soft and extremely comfortable. There is less "pinch" than the cup style. They are good headphones to wear so as to not disturb others although unlike the cup style, having them real loud will let someone next to you still be able to hear. I have found good, clear sound at a relatively low volume. These are perfect for late night TV, very decent for movies and music. HOWEVER, like some of the other reviews, I sometimes have a little trouble keeping them on my head if I bend forward abruptly. They are angled quite strangely. I would not use these for anything strenuous. One other thing... A couple other reviews mention it and I have to agree that I don't understand why Sennheiser would put the tuning dial so close to the volume dial. I have accidentally shifted the tuning when I meant to adjust the volume. Why have the two dials so close together and for that matter, why have them on the back of the 'phones where they can be shifted when you lean up against a pillow or couch? A rare occurence, corrected with practice but it's happened.
That said, unlike my old ARs, the tuning rarely needs to be adjusted. I suggest really playing with the tuning for the first couple of days until you find the perfect channel and setting. Then you can just leave it. I haven't touched it since (except accidentally). By now I'm into the ease of use part. I just put 'em on and enjoy.