Digital Wireless Headphones Review – The Latest Trend In Wireless Technology?
May 26th, 2010
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.
The two review models are the Sennheiser RS180 and the Amphony Model 2500. Both models use the latest digital audio transmission technology. This means that prior to transmission of the audio signal by the transmitter, the signal is first converted to a digital data signal which then gets transmitted. Inside the digital wireless headphones, the signal is then converted back to an audio signal. Using this digital transmission, none of the two models showed any hissing or distortion that we are used to from previous wireless models. Both headphones claim to transmit true CD quality audio.
Looking at the headphones, we immediately noticed that the Sennheiser headphones are designed as open headphones which means that sound from the transducers can easily penetrate to the outside while the Amphony headphones are closed. Choosing between an open and closed design is a matter of preference and there is no way to state that any particular design is better than the other. A closed model will tend to reduce the sound level heard by others which is useful when listening at loud volume. At the same time a closed design will tend to attenuate exterior noise more. Both models are equipped with soft velours ear cushions and fit snugly.
The RS180 transmitter acts as a support base for the headphones. When not in use, the headphones can be suspended from the transmitter. The transmitter offer an analog audio input, yet no digital inputs. The Amphony 2500 transmitter offers analog inputs, one coaxial digital and one optical digital input. As such the Model 2500 transmitter can connect to newer plasma TVs, most of which no longer have analog audio outputs. The Model 2500 transmitter will automatically recognize whether there is a digital signal present and switch to the corresponding input.
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 sends it’s signal at 2.4 GHz. The transmitter supports up to four headphones. The Model 2500 operates at 5.8 GHz and supports an unlimited number of headphones. The RS180 operating ranged is specified by Sennheiser as 300 ft In an indoor test environment, we were able to get a clean signal up to around 100 ft with both the RS180 and the Model 2500 which should be plenty for most users. The Model 2500 transmitter can connect to secondary transmitters which are called RangeBoosters that allow expanding the headphone operating range even further.
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.
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Categories: Music and Gadget
