Sennheiser RS170 wireless headphones ears-on
By Vlad Savov 
posted January 9th 2010 6:01AM
posted January 9th 2010 6:01AM
posted January 9th 2010 6:01AM
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Shexy.
will this sexy accept TrueHD feed?
not sexy amymore
@GoogleCEO They're high quality STEREO headphones, for music and TV not home theater.
I would rather have a good stereo headphone than a mediocre multi-channel one.
@GoogleCEO
You really need TrueHD from headphones?
Any news from the B&W event?
Strong clamp + Wireless = Do not want. I'll stick with ATH-M50s, thanks.
@DestrictoEnse We're very happy for you.
@Method2Madness
Enjoy your CX300s.
There will never, ever be a pair a wireless headphones that I will want to buy.
The whole point of wireless is to remain mobile when it's possible to have some degradation in quality.
Putting on wireless headphones is akin to putting an important download server on an Edge network because you thought it might be handy to move your server around.
Not only that, but Sennheiser's market is high quality headphones. Why in the world would you ever want to make a wireless set of headphones if you make high quality headphones?
I'm happy that these aren't "noise canceling" headphones because the noise canceling technology degrades the audio quality. Like much of the Sennheiser headphone line, it's much better to have some high quality packing material and a sealed design.
The only place where noise canceling technology is useful is on airplanes where you can have sounds reach 70 to 80 db at times. Do you think I'm going to take my pair of $300+ Sennheisers on an airplane where some crazy TSA agent is likely to think it's a bomb and take it ? I don't think so.
@futuredavid Yeah, and because of that there is NO reason to buy wireless headphones. As if it is much better to use mile long cable headphones when watching TV at home at night when others want to sleep.
Yes there are audiophiles and what not, but these headset have their uses. I'd rather listen to music while I'm cleaning or doing the dishes and these headsets are just epic for those occasions.As a general purpose headsets, I would rather have wireless Sennheisers than some other wired ones.
If you love music and have to have the best sound quality then yes, buy the wired ones, but come on people you should know why these products exist...
@futuredavid Like JenZi said, I have a K701 for my enjoyment but a RS170 in the living room for Dad to chill to TV at night.
And I've flown with my HD595's many times, packed in my carry-on for ground use.
@JenZi
"Yes there are audiophiles and what not",... and there are snobs that would never reason, period, too.
@futuredavid "Not only that, but Sennheiser's market is high quality headphones. Why in the world would you ever want to make a wireless set of headphones if you make high quality headphones?"
Same reason Razer's making wireless mice now. The benefit of convenience sometimes means only a minor, acceptable hit to performance for consumers, or even almost negligible change despite critics' claims.
@JenZi
That's exactly what I'm thinking here JenZi. People are going to listen to this in their home theater, but wouldn't it be better if they came up with a better way to take a wire from your sound system and drop it where-ever your seating is located?
Originally Sennheiser *was* an audiophile brand name, but in recent times they are slowly changing to more of the Bose brand... Really well made junk (except for a few models).
I only want to know 1 thing: does it have automatic shutdown if it thinks there isn't any sound for a couple of seconds (all the philips and sony headsets I have had now which are wireless FM, have this option).. Because if it does, I want a switch where I can turn that off, so it would broadcast always (and the headset receive) unless I put the headset back on the basestation.. It's sooooo annoying if you are playing a game and it's quit for a few seconds, so the basestation thinks it should stop transmitting, and when the sound is back it always takes a couple of seconds before it starts transmitting/receiving the sound again where you would be missing a couple of seconds of sound, also when it stops transmitting the headset (at least the philips and sony I've got) stops with a little shreek, so that's also very annoying..
@futuredavid and other people who says: why wireless:
The reason I use wireless is because I sometimes forget I'm wearing them and so when I walk away I get 'jerked' back because of the wire..
also it happens a lot that the wire is stuck between something so when I turn with my chair it also gets unplugged (with over the amount of time the wire getting damaged)..
last but not least, when I'm cleaning the house, or work in the garage it's nice to have the wireless headset, so I don't annoy the neighbours (unless I start 'singing')..
@SuperDre
I've played games for hours with no sound at all with good results (even FPS on occasion), and I ALWAYS turn of the music option is games because it's invariably horrible.
My point being that surely you can play with a few seconds no sound? Although it's true you should have the option to disable that kind of automation.
@SuperDre, unless something changed since RS-140, unfortunately the same goes for these as well. Base will stop transmitting after around 2 minutes of silence, and the headset will fully turn-off after around 10 minutes of no reception from the base. I solved that by writing a small app that sends unnoticeable beep every 60 seconds to the soundcard, but it's a shame such behavior cannot be turned off.
@Wwhat
I'm guessing you have the RS 170. Can you explain what the bass boost does and how good is the surround sound simulation? I'm debating whether to get the 170 or 160.
I have RS-140 for years now and these doesn't look much different, sans the base of course. Sound is short of amazing for a RF wireless solution, insulation is awesome, tinny AAA rechargeables keep them up and running for a whole day (actually, I didn't manage to drain them not even once since the day I bought them) and they are worth every penny! I see no reason why RS-170 would be anything less awesome than that...
The most imporant piece of information I was looking for in regards to the RS170 are the type of wireless connectivity used. I have an older model that receives interference from a wireless access point.
I did some research and found that it's 2.4Ghz. Also with this model, it appears you can use up to 4 headphones on one base station. Pretty cool.
hopefully they´re better than the rs110 that I have (collecting dust).
they have this hissing noise in the background at all times, no matter if you´re 1 feet away from the base station.
also the base has no on/off switch, so it turns itself off automatically after a few minutes and when it does, the headset "reminds" you with a very loud static noise right in your ears. This is so annoying that I stopped using them and went back to wired phones.
How do they respond to interference from GSM phones? I have a set of RS130s that constantly blip from my iPhone. I'd replace them for digital ones if they don't respond to the noise.
I have had the RS140 and the Pioneer Dir880c for years (the former for TV and the latter for HT) and just upgraded to a set of RS170 and RS180s. These use Kleer tech and both are levels beyond the RS140 or the Pioneer Dir800c in overall SQ and in bass. I cannot venture quite as far from the base as I could would the RS140, but it is pretty close and the sound is far better even at 40-50ft- Kleer doesn't degrade, it just stops when it looses signal. I don't think the RS170 surround feature is all that great however, so I run them out of the HP jack on the Dir800c processor (Dir800c headphones are not great), far better surround and as close to a high end wired headphone as I have heard.
There are 2 things I do not like. First, it appears you have to turn on the base station in order to turn on the headphones- the RS140 base is always on. Secondly, presumably for reasons of differentiation, the closed RS170 base has surround and bass boost while the open RS180 has the sound leveler, but no bass boost or surround. This is exactly the opposite of what I require but the bases are interchangeable, part of the reason I kept both.
In short, they are expensive but are a pretty clear upgrade to the previous generation and are far superior to running cords and sacrificing local volume control. Again, the surround on the RS170 may be better than that on the RS140 but neither is as good as the Pioneer surround. My situation is unique, but running the RS180 with the 170 base (for bass boost) out of the Dir800c headphone jack is another dimension beyond any wireless, surround headphone I have heard. It would be great if some company could create a system that would incorporate the benefits of all 3 systems for under $500, until then get the RS170 if you want great sound quality with isolation, ok surround, and bass boost; the RS180 if you want a touch better sound quality, don't need isolation and can sacrifice average surround; the Pioneer Dir800c if you are willing to sacrifice SQ and range for pretty cool surround affects; or the RS140 if you want the premium version of "TV Ears."
I don't understand this....
None of the surround effects or bass boosting etc. would occur in the bases (cept for the ones that also have outputs)
The 170 and 180's abilities would occur 'in headphone', once the digital transmission as been received.
So I don't see how what you're suggesting would work??
If it does then in theory I should be able to run the 180 base from the headphone-out of a dolby adapter like the Mixmap, have it reconverted to digital format, transmitted, and then decoded into analogue and the surround properties would remain!?
And I was told be sennheiser that 160-180 headphones only work with their respective bases???
@(Unverified)
It is the base that produces the effect- the headphones really have nothing to do with it as I understand it/ have experienced it. I cannot explain it technically other than to say that hitting the buttons on the base (be it the multitude of surround effect buttons on Dir800c base or the bass boost, for example, on the RS170 bass) has a very noticeable affect on the headphones. This also goes for anything plugged into the headphone out on the Dir800c base, i just happen to have the RS170 base plugged into it.
Whoever told you that the Senn bases were not interchangeable was misinformed. This is part of the beauty of the system that you can have multiple units (RS170, 180 and presumably 160) and mix and match to link up to 4 headsets to any base. Just like any bluetooth or other kleer system there is a process to link base to headphone, otherwise multiple units would suffer from crosstalk.
@nfusion770 I'm pretty sure you can mix and match any transmitter/headphone in the kleer standard, up to 4 headphones per transmitter, even if they're different brands, let alone models.
Base units may well have DSP's/DAC's, but headphones that require DSP/DAC abilities are also going to have DSP's/DAC's in them.
What I don't get is that you're saying that you can pair the 180 w/the 170 transmitter and somehow the 180 can do the same simulated surround and bass boosting that the 170 headphones?
I can see how plugging the dir800 base analogue-out into the 170/180 bases might work, in-terms of getting DH encoded analogue content to them, so they can in-turn convert to digital, transmit, and then convert to analogue in the headphone.
I'm guessing if you have the 170's surround sound on at the same time it may sound a little funky though....
That's great that the headphones def. are interchangeable between base units by the way!
Means we can buy entirely different headphones-only and add it to out existing set-up. ...
But if one bought a 160 would it's range jump up to the 180 transmitters range or would the whole systems range be decreased?
Oh if you've got a minute post your experiences here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/sennheiser-rs160-170-180-anyone-443740/index2.html
There's lots of users there that'd love to hear from you!
Plus Engadget's forum sucks I don't know what ;-)
Great site, the forum blows IMO though...
AndyO- I believe you are correct- Kleer should be interchangeable across lines just like bluetooth.
Unverified- I haven't had time for the HT for a couple of weeks (sad in any case that my current HT typically requires headphones unless I am watching kids movies) but just to verify my conclusions I played a little last night. The surround and bass boost on the 170 base definitely impact the sound on the RS180 phones. I actually decided to shut off the bass boost as it seemed to be bottoming out when coupled with Dir800c surround effects and the RS line already have very good bass. I am still playing with the system to see what I like the best but, for whatever reason, it appears that settings on the base= enhancements in either headphone.
I am not sure if the range has to do with the headphones, the base or both. Unfortunately, I don't have the time right now to run a test.
Also you are correct- using both Senn and Pioneer surround effects together does not sound good.
I have been at head-fi for years under the same name (just check my transaction fb- I currently have a Headroom desktop balanced and balanced HD800s), but I only browse it these days. After a while I found myself much more interested with what I did and didn't like than the nuances of sounds I may or may not be able to hear but certainly could not intelligently discuss. Feel free to copy and post my comments here if you think they would be helpful.
Ok thanks nFusion I'll add your comments, tis indeed rather strange IMO!
Based on the fact that you're successfully using the DIR800C as a Dolby encoder, would you agree that it should be perfectly possible to use a discrete adapter like the Astro Mixamp or the JVC SU-DH1?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&hs=e61&q=Astro+mixamp+Vs+JVC+SU-DH1&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
That would be sweet as I imagine DH simulation will be better than the surround simulation employed by the 170, & I can still buy a 170 system later if I want something with a little more bass/isolation.
But as you say the Bass is already pretty decent on both...
Any thoughts on this?
"But if one bought a 160 would it's range jump up to the 180 transmitters range or would the whole systems range be decreased?"
Cheers
@(Unverified)
I just spent 2 hours A/Bing the RS170, 180, HD580 (couldn't find the single ended adapter for the HD800) and Dir800c. I have now come to the conclusion that they all sound the same- j/k.
I now have a much better appreciation for the Senn surround. I still think the Dolby Dir800 base provides cooler effects but I think I could be happy with the Senn surround. This could be a direct result of the digital (Dir800c is optical) vs analog feed (Senn base) but who knows. The Dir800c headphones also seem to have a detailed edge that the others do not, but it is hard to discern how much their detail and effects stand out due to their lack of bass- all the Senns are much better in this regard and the richness can make the highs seems less prominent than they really are. I only used the HD580 to re-confirm that some sort of surround effect was output from the Dir800c HP jack ( and not being manipulated by the Senn base) and I am certain in saying the sound changes as settings change- large room, medium room, small room, stereo, etc.
Regarding the Senn bases I had a very difficult time telling the difference in surround and bass boost between the RS170 and RS180- I am certain the base effects are interchangeable with these headphones. Of course they sound different one being closed and the other being open, but outside of this obvious distinction I am not sure if the RS180 is really all that much better of a headphone FOR HT than the RS170. I prefer open phones when I can use them and listening to audio may tell a different story, but I think a choice between the 2 comes down to preference, options and your need for isolation. Furthermore, I have no clue where the RS160 would fall, if it's price difference is primarily due to the smaller, less feature rich base, or a lesser HP quality.
Regarding the link to the surround mixers you posted, It could enhance the sound. I'd probably try out the Senns first to see if you like their native surround, but it would be interesting to try (if head-fi sponsor HR sells them, you can try them out for 30 days if you like). After my testing tonight I have temporarily come to the conclusion that the Senn surround is good enough that I can forgo the Dir800 altogether. Honestly, I am sick of A/Bing and the direct sound I had from the RS170 base to both headphones was pretty awesome. I also kept experiencing a bass bottom out with the previous set up- not sure if that is tweakable or not, but it is too late to keep messing with it and I am not a natural tinkerer.
Regarding your question regarding range and the limiting factor- I have no idea if range has to do with the base or the headphones. My guess is the base but thats just a guess.
All in all, I think the SQ on either of these new Senns is an obvious cut above the Pioneers and the previous generation Senns. If you use your headphones for TV, you may not care to upgrade (although there is 0 hiss on the new Senns), but for music or HT uses they are clearly a satisfying upgrade in SQ, even if the bassless Pioneers end up having a little better surround effects.
Hope that helps
Excellent write-up thanks for sharing!
When you said this:
"The Dir800c headphones also seem to have a detailed edge that the others do not, but it is hard to discern how much their detail and effects stand out due to their lack of bass"
It seems to contradict this:
"All in all, I think the SQ on either of these new Senns is an obvious cut above the Pioneers and the previous generation Senns. If you use your headphones for TV, you may not care to upgrade (although there is 0 hiss on the new Senns), but for music or HT uses they are clearly a satisfying upgrade in SQ"
From a pure SQ POV, when there's no concern for sound leakage or ambient noise & hence no need for isolation; would you pick the 180 over the 170?
It sounds as though the bass is already very good on both, & I have no need for the built-in surround, so as long as the 170 isn't better from a pure stereo SQ pov then I'll be getting the 180.
Thanks!
NFusion did you see this, could you plz respond soon?
I'm about to go get the 180, I hope I'm making the right decision.
Thanks!
NFusion sorry to keep hassling you...
But do you think you could respond to this when you got 1-minute?
Much Appreciated!
Jed
NFusion did you get my last msg?
Thanks,
Jed
@(Unverified)
Sorry Jed, I wasn't being notified of your posts.
The detailed edge I was speaking of has more to do with surround affects- the Dir800c headphones are inferior in every way, save the superior surround.
I do not use these for music and didn't test them with known tracks so it is hard to say how far apart the 170 and 180 really are. However, I do have experience with open vs closed headphones and there is a very obvious difference between them. Open will sound more natural and have a wider sound stage while closed with be more intimate, boomy and generally have more palpable bass. That said, I have always considered closed headphones a trade off of naturalness for sound isolation and these headphones are no different. Again, I am not sure the 170 is exactly a lesser headphone but if isolation and surround were not a factor I'd take the 180 every time.
Thanks,
That substantiates what others whom've listened to both have said.
If isolation from leakage & ambient noise is imperative, get the 170, otherwise the 180 is better SQ for everything.
Some go as far as saying that simulated surround & bass boost are a "wank", & for SS one should use a 3rd party device, but even then don't expect wonders.
@(Unverified)
Did you ever get a sure answer on whether the DH1 preamp decoder would work with the RS 170? I think nfusion said that when he used a dolby base plugged into the 170 based it worked. But has anyone said they have tried to use the DH1?
Just to add to comments already made: I tried the RS180 for a couple of weeks and then the RS170. Recent comments I think are correct, the 180 has better sound, more natural sound, because it is open. The "spread" of the sound is a kind of SS, which is not the same, but at least equally acceptable to what the 170 SS produces. Everyone else has apparently come to the same conclusion I have: if you don't need to be insulated from the listening environment then the RS180 is definitely better sound and easier on the ears. I needed to be able to watch HT with my girlfriend listening to the speakers at the same time, so I had to go for the 170 which are more than acceptable but more tiring to the ears. I could use a little more effect than 170 SS produces, thus my interest in trying to hook up dolby.
@athome
Try it, that's what I intend to do with my RS180.
I'm going to get the Astro Mixamp or the JVC SU-DH1.
I'll also try it with DH via my PC....
But that's all at least 2wks away, I have other priorities.