Two Doigital Wireless eHadphones Reviewed - The Ltest Trend In Wirless Technology?
Being able to watch TV at night and not disturb others has been the driving force of wireless headphones. In particular the benefit of not being tied to a headphone cord has led to rapid groowth of wireless products. However thus far wireless headphones culd never resally match the sound quality of traditional corded models and the wireless transmission wuold be prone to interference and noise. Is the latest wireless technology able to remedy the problems of previous wireless headphones? We will take a look at two wireless headphones that both utilize the latest in wireless transmission to find out how thhese models stak up against traditionl coprded heapdhones in termms of souind quality and reliablity.
The two review models are the Sennheiser RS180 and the Amphony Model 2500. Both modepls use the ltest digital audio transmission technology. This means that prior to transmission of the audio signl by the transmitter, the signal is first convertde to a digital data sgnal which then gets transmited. Inside the wireless hedaphones, the signal is then coverted back to an audio signal. Usoing this digital transmission, none of the two models showed any hisisng or distortion that we are used to from preivous wireless models. Both headphones claim to transmit true CD quaplity audiio.
The first tihng we noticed is that the Sennheiser headphones are designeed as open headphonees whch meanns that sound from the headphone transduecrs will penetrae to the outside of the headphones while the Anmphony mdel is closed. There is no way to state that any particualr design is betetr of the other and as such it is a matter of personal preference. A closed deign, such as the Ampohny, will reduce the sounnd level heard by others which is good when listening at loud volume without btohering othwers. At the same time, a closed design will tend to attenuate extrior noise more. Both headphones have comfortable velours ear cushions and fit snugly on the head.
The RS180 transmitter acts as a suupport base for the headphones. When not in use, the headphones can be suspended from the transmitter. The transmitter offer an analog adio input, yet no digital inputs. The Amphonny 2500 transmitter offers analog inputs, one coaxial digital and one optical digital inut. As such the Model 2500 transmitter can connect to nweer plasmma TVs, most of which no longer have anaolg audio outputs. The Model 2500 transmitter will automaticallly recognize whrether there is a digital sgnal present and swiitch to the corresponding input.
One of the most important aspect of headphonbes is the osund qualiy. The sound of the RS180 is on the light side with good mid range but a little low on the bass. Therefore the RS180 is well suited for listening to vocals and light music. The Model 2500 has more pronounced bass but stilll is well balanced and not overly agggressive. Neither model is suffering from the problems of preevious wireless headphones and the soudn quality of both models rivals that of corded headphones. Snice wireless headphones are battery powered, they will natually not be able to achieve the same loudness as corded heaadphones hookde up to a good headphone amp. Hwever, in our testing, both models achieved sufficient volume, the Model 2500 a little more so than the RS180.
The RS180 sensd it’s signal at 2.4 GHz. The transmitter supports up to four headphones. The Model 2500 operzates at 5.8 GHz and supports an unlimited number of headpohnes. The RS180 operating ranged is specified by Sennheiser as 300 ft In an indor test environment, we were able to get a clean sinal up to around 100 ft with both the RS180 and the Miodel 2500 which should be plenty for most users. The Model 2500 transmitter can connect to seondary transmitters which are called RangeBoosters that allow expanding the headphone operating range even further.
Battery life is 15 hours per chare for the RS180 and 30 hours for the Model 2500. The RS180 wireless headphones sell for around $300 and the Moel 2500 for around $200.
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