Not disturbing others while watching TV at night is likely still the main use of wireless headphones. Wireless headphones in particular are enjoying a high popularity by not being tied to a cord. Traditional wireless headphones could however never match corded headphones in terms of sound quality and realiability. The main culprit would be the wireless transmission itself which would be prone to noise and interference. New advances in wireless technology promise to remedy these drawbacks. We will review two models of wireless headphones which utilize the latest transmission technology to find out how these products compare to traditional corded headphones.
We will review the Sennheiser RS180 and the Amphony Model 2500 both of which use digital audio transmission. In other words the headphone transmitter will convert the audio signal into digital data which is transmitted to the headphones. The headphones then convert this data back to audio. Using this transmission technology, none of these headphones showed the static or distortion that we have gotten used to from previous wireless headphones. Both of these models claim to transmit true CD quality audio.
At first glance, the Sennheiser headphones are constructed as open headphones, i.e. sound from the headphone transducers will penetrate to the outside while the Amphony headphones are closed. Choosing open or closed headphones is a matter of personal preference. A closed model, such as the Amphony, will lower the sound level heard by others which is good when listening over headphones without disturbing others and also will block exterior noise more. Both models come with comfortable velours ear cushions and fit snugly.
When not in use, the RS180 headphones can be suspended from the transmitter which acts as a support base. The RS180 transmitter offers a regular analog audio input but no digital audio input. The Model 2500 transmitter offers one analog audio input, one coaxial digital audio input and one optical digital audio input. The digital inputs are useful when connecting the transmitter to a plasma TV for example which normally don’t have analog audio outputs anymore. The Model 2500 transmitter will automatically switch to the correct audio input by detecting which audio input has a valid signal.
Comparing both models in terms of sound quality, the RS180 has a light sort of quality and excels at the midrange but is low on the bass. As such the RS180 is most suitable for listening to vocal racks and light music. The Model 2500 has a more pronounced bass response, but in no way aggressive and is well balanced. The wireless transmission no longer has the problems of older headphones and the sound quality of both models rivals corded headphones. The only limitation is the fact that wireless headphones are powered by batteries and thus will never be able to blast the same volume as corded headphones connected to a good headphone amp. However, both models were able to achieve reasonably loud levels, the Model 2500 more so than the RS180.
The RS180 transmits it’s signal at 2.4 GHz. Up to four headphones can operate simultaneously per transmitter. The Model 2500 transmits at 5.8 GHz and supports an unlimited number of headphones. The operating range of the RS180 is specified by Sennheiser at 300 ft. During our indoor testing we were able to get a clean signal up to around 100 ft with both models which should be sufficient for most users. The Model 2500 transmitter comes with an extension port though that allows connection of secondary transmitters for cases where you really need to have reception all over the house.
The RS180 has a battery life of around 15 hours the Model 2500 offers 30 hours per charge. The cost is around $300 for the RS180 wireless headphones and $200 for the Model 2500.
Author Resource:
Gunter Fellbaum has been engineering audio and other electronic products for over 10 years. You can get additional details regarding wireless headphones and digital wireless headphones in particular at Amphony's website.
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