Review of two Digital Wireless Headphones – The Latest Trend In Wireless Technology?
Not being tied to a headphone cord is one of the biggest reasons for the popularity of wireless headphones. However thus far wireless headphones could never really match the sound quality of traditional corded models. The wireless transmission would be prone to interference and noise. Are new advances in wireless transmission technology able to cope with the drawbacks of the previous generation of wireless headphones? We will take a look at two wireless headphones that both utilize the latest in wireless transmission to find out how these models stack up against traditional corded headphones in terms of sound quality and reliability. We will review the Sennheiser RS180 and the Amphony Model 2500. Both models use the latest digital audio transmission technology. Simply put, the wireless signal that is broadcast by the transmitter will undergo a conversion process. Then the resulting information is broadcast to the headphones and converted back to audio. 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. The first thing we noticed is that the Sennheiser headphones are designed as open headphones which means that sound from the headphone transducers will penetrate to the outside of the headphones while the Amphony model is closed. There is no way to state that any particular design is better of the other and as such it is a matter of personal preference. A closed design, such as the Amphony, will reduce the sound level heard by others which is good when listening at loud volume without bothering others. 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 RS180 transmitter offers a regular analog audio input but no digital audio input. This is particular important since most modern plasma TVs no longer have analog audio outs. 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 we feel the RS180 is suited for listening to vocals and light music. The bass response of the Model 2500 is more pronounced than the RS180 but still well balanced and not overly aggressive in any way. The wireless transmission itself no longer suffers from the drawbacks of previous generation models and the sound quality of both models rivals the quality of 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. It supports up to four headphones per transmitter. The Model 2500 works 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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