MacDEF
Headphone Hussy (will wear anything if it sounds good)
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2001
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A couple weeks ago I took advantage of a sale at Audio Advisor to grab a pair of Sennheiser RS60 wireless headphones. I'm a night owl, so I often watch TV/movies late at night while my better half sleeps
I chose the RS60 over the RS80 because the main difference is supposedly range. Since I never planned on using them over 30 feet from the base, I couldn't justify spending the extra moolah.
DESCRIPTION/FEATURES
The sytem consists of a base station that plugs into an AC jack and the source (headphone jack or line out; for plugging into a line out, a left/right RCA to miniplug adapter is included). Two batteries are included, and the base station will charge both at once -- one in a special charging slot and one in the headphone, which "docks" onto the base station.
There are three wireless channels (925.0, 926.0, and 926.5MHz in the U.S.), switchable at the base station. After you switch channels at the base, you have to adjust the "tune" control on the headphones to match. I didn't find any noticable difference between the three channels -- all offered similar range and audio performance.
The base station also includes an "SRS" button to switch SRS "surround" processing on/off.
The right earpiece of the headphone itself includes the battery slot, volume control, tune control, and on/off switch (the base station is always "on" -- when you want to listen, you turn the headphones on). The left earpiece has no controls. While on the topic of the left/right earpieces, one minor annoyance is that the charging contacts on the base station are backwards, IMO. When you place the headphones on the base station to charge, the charging contacts are on the left as you look at the base station. Since the battery/contacts are on the right earpiece, this means that when you pick up the headphones, you have to remember to turn them around to put them on. A simple thing, but one of those subtle details that make you say "hmmm... someone wasn't thinking this design out."
COMFORT
The construction and materials of the RS60 are clearly inexpensive -- which I guess is to be expected given their relatively inexpensive price and the fact that much of that goes into the wireless capabilities. Lots of hard, fairly flimsy plastic. Even the adjustment points where the earpieces extend/retract out of/into the headband are simply notched plastic. The upside to this construction is that they RS60 are actually fairly light (5.6 oz/160g, including battery), which is rare for wireless headphones, given that they must include extra circuitry and batteries.
The headband has a thin layer of foam on the underside where it rests on the top of your head. The earpieces have firm (too firm IMO) foam cusions that are almost 1" deep, so the drivers sit quite a distance away from the ear. I have small to medium ears, so they are circumaural for me, but for someone with larger ears the RS60 would be supraaural. Because of the firm foam and the depth of the earcups, it seems that for such people they would be quite uncomfortable; in addition, the sound would surely suffer with the drivers so far from the ears. In terms of the "sqeeze" of the headphones, for my average-size head they were a bit tight, but not unbearable. People with larger heads might find the grip to be a bit vice-like
As a side note, because of the deep pads and the fact that the earpieces contain extra wireless electronics, the RS60 stick out a *lot* from the head -- they look much bigger than they actually are.
Overall, the RS60 are not the most comfortable headphones ever, but because they are fairly lightweight they don't feel as bad as one would expect give their rigid earcups and non-adjustable grip. I could wear them for 45 minutes to an hour before needing to take them off because of the "clamp" effect. However, again, someone with larger ears, or a larger head, might find them quite uncomfortable.
WIRELESS PERFORMANCE
The advertised battery life is 4 hours. I found this to be a bit generous, as the battery seemed to only last 2 to 3 hours for me at low to moderate listening levels (higher volumes use battery power more quickly). After a couple hours, they still worked, but clicks, pops, and static crept in. After about three hours, they died completely.
The range of the RS60 is advertised as "up to approximately 100ft/30m." I found this to be VERY generous. As I'm typing this review, I'm sitting in my office, approximately 15-20 feet from the stereo in our bedroom to which the base station is connected. The "straight line" path passes through one wall and a door. There is audible noise that increases and decreases depending on my position (much like the noise when an FM station is fading in and out of range). If I get up and walk around, I get static fading in and out. In fact, if I go into our bathroom, which is directly behind the wall of the bedroom where the base station is positioned, the signal is quite weak.
On the other hand, sitting in bed, in the same room as the base station (15 feet away) the reception is fairly clear. Not perfectly quiet, but pretty good.
One other note: the RS60 operate (at least in the U.S.) using 925.0, 926.0, and 926.5MHz frequencies. We have a 900MHz cordless phone. When the phone is in use, there is a LOT of noise introduced into the signal.
Overall, the wireless performance of the RS60 is far from perfect, but it does work. Whether it works well enough for you probably depends on your wireless and sound quality requirements.
SOUND
I burned the RS60 in over a few days before using them, just to be sure I was hearing them at their best.
I mentioned above that during use, static/noise fades in and out. For some people, that's a deal-breaker right there. However, I was willing to put up with some noise if it meant being able to watch TV/movies in bed or while working in my office (I can see the TV in the living room, but to be able to hear it would mean waking up the woman of the house).
Unfortunately, even ignoring the noise, the RS60 left a lot to be desired. The RS60 were severely lacking in both the highs and the lows. The treble/highs were faint, if not outright missing. Listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons, some of the higher violin solos were almost inaudible. Likewise, there was very little low bass, and even the upper bass was muddy. But the midrange -- WOAH. There's plenty of that. Unfortunately, as famous as Senns are for their great midrange, the RS60 had midrange that was muffled and fuzzy -- almost like I was listening through a sponge. It sounds like I'm being harsh, but in all honesty I gave the RS60 chance after chance. It was like listening to a transistor radio sometimes -- no dynamic range, no highs, no lows.
On the other hand, if one of your primary uses of these headphones is to watch TV, you might be OK. Since the human voice is primarily located in the midrange, using these cans for TV watching will be adequate to hear dialog, watch the news, etc. However, keep in mind that even then the midrange is muddy, so it is at times difficult to differentiate between several voices speaking at the same time.
I mentioned above that the RS60 base station includes an SRS surround processor. I tried using the SR60 with the processor enabled, and there really isn't any way to describe it except that it is just plain awful. The SRS system on the RS60 further emphasizes the midrange, and adds what sounds like "reverb" in an attempt to add more "space" to the signal. The end result is "boomy" midrange with no highs to help you differentiate or identify what is going on. I found it unlistenable.
CONCLUSION
The RS60 can be purchased for as low as $99 right now (from Audio Advisor). Whether they are worth that to you will depend on your intended use, how willing you are to put up with poor sound quality and static, and how desperately you need wireless ability. If you're only going to use them for watching TV, and wires are a hassle or simply not an option because of distance, you might find them acceptable. However, if you're at all concerned about audio quality and/or static, you will probably be as disappointed as I was. I'm sending them back this week and going back to my Grado 15' extension cord (and not watching TV late at night in my office
).
P.S. The RS80, which can be found for as low as $149, supposedly has a better transmitter for greater range. This might have alleviated some of the static/noise I experienced (even though I was well within the advertised range of the RS60), but if nothing else is different (same drivers, same signal quality), I wouldn't expect much of an improvement in audio quality.
DESCRIPTION/FEATURES
The sytem consists of a base station that plugs into an AC jack and the source (headphone jack or line out; for plugging into a line out, a left/right RCA to miniplug adapter is included). Two batteries are included, and the base station will charge both at once -- one in a special charging slot and one in the headphone, which "docks" onto the base station.
There are three wireless channels (925.0, 926.0, and 926.5MHz in the U.S.), switchable at the base station. After you switch channels at the base, you have to adjust the "tune" control on the headphones to match. I didn't find any noticable difference between the three channels -- all offered similar range and audio performance.
The base station also includes an "SRS" button to switch SRS "surround" processing on/off.
The right earpiece of the headphone itself includes the battery slot, volume control, tune control, and on/off switch (the base station is always "on" -- when you want to listen, you turn the headphones on). The left earpiece has no controls. While on the topic of the left/right earpieces, one minor annoyance is that the charging contacts on the base station are backwards, IMO. When you place the headphones on the base station to charge, the charging contacts are on the left as you look at the base station. Since the battery/contacts are on the right earpiece, this means that when you pick up the headphones, you have to remember to turn them around to put them on. A simple thing, but one of those subtle details that make you say "hmmm... someone wasn't thinking this design out."
COMFORT
The construction and materials of the RS60 are clearly inexpensive -- which I guess is to be expected given their relatively inexpensive price and the fact that much of that goes into the wireless capabilities. Lots of hard, fairly flimsy plastic. Even the adjustment points where the earpieces extend/retract out of/into the headband are simply notched plastic. The upside to this construction is that they RS60 are actually fairly light (5.6 oz/160g, including battery), which is rare for wireless headphones, given that they must include extra circuitry and batteries.
The headband has a thin layer of foam on the underside where it rests on the top of your head. The earpieces have firm (too firm IMO) foam cusions that are almost 1" deep, so the drivers sit quite a distance away from the ear. I have small to medium ears, so they are circumaural for me, but for someone with larger ears the RS60 would be supraaural. Because of the firm foam and the depth of the earcups, it seems that for such people they would be quite uncomfortable; in addition, the sound would surely suffer with the drivers so far from the ears. In terms of the "sqeeze" of the headphones, for my average-size head they were a bit tight, but not unbearable. People with larger heads might find the grip to be a bit vice-like
As a side note, because of the deep pads and the fact that the earpieces contain extra wireless electronics, the RS60 stick out a *lot* from the head -- they look much bigger than they actually are.
Overall, the RS60 are not the most comfortable headphones ever, but because they are fairly lightweight they don't feel as bad as one would expect give their rigid earcups and non-adjustable grip. I could wear them for 45 minutes to an hour before needing to take them off because of the "clamp" effect. However, again, someone with larger ears, or a larger head, might find them quite uncomfortable.
WIRELESS PERFORMANCE
The advertised battery life is 4 hours. I found this to be a bit generous, as the battery seemed to only last 2 to 3 hours for me at low to moderate listening levels (higher volumes use battery power more quickly). After a couple hours, they still worked, but clicks, pops, and static crept in. After about three hours, they died completely.
The range of the RS60 is advertised as "up to approximately 100ft/30m." I found this to be VERY generous. As I'm typing this review, I'm sitting in my office, approximately 15-20 feet from the stereo in our bedroom to which the base station is connected. The "straight line" path passes through one wall and a door. There is audible noise that increases and decreases depending on my position (much like the noise when an FM station is fading in and out of range). If I get up and walk around, I get static fading in and out. In fact, if I go into our bathroom, which is directly behind the wall of the bedroom where the base station is positioned, the signal is quite weak.
On the other hand, sitting in bed, in the same room as the base station (15 feet away) the reception is fairly clear. Not perfectly quiet, but pretty good.
One other note: the RS60 operate (at least in the U.S.) using 925.0, 926.0, and 926.5MHz frequencies. We have a 900MHz cordless phone. When the phone is in use, there is a LOT of noise introduced into the signal.
Overall, the wireless performance of the RS60 is far from perfect, but it does work. Whether it works well enough for you probably depends on your wireless and sound quality requirements.
SOUND
I burned the RS60 in over a few days before using them, just to be sure I was hearing them at their best.
I mentioned above that during use, static/noise fades in and out. For some people, that's a deal-breaker right there. However, I was willing to put up with some noise if it meant being able to watch TV/movies in bed or while working in my office (I can see the TV in the living room, but to be able to hear it would mean waking up the woman of the house).
Unfortunately, even ignoring the noise, the RS60 left a lot to be desired. The RS60 were severely lacking in both the highs and the lows. The treble/highs were faint, if not outright missing. Listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons, some of the higher violin solos were almost inaudible. Likewise, there was very little low bass, and even the upper bass was muddy. But the midrange -- WOAH. There's plenty of that. Unfortunately, as famous as Senns are for their great midrange, the RS60 had midrange that was muffled and fuzzy -- almost like I was listening through a sponge. It sounds like I'm being harsh, but in all honesty I gave the RS60 chance after chance. It was like listening to a transistor radio sometimes -- no dynamic range, no highs, no lows.
On the other hand, if one of your primary uses of these headphones is to watch TV, you might be OK. Since the human voice is primarily located in the midrange, using these cans for TV watching will be adequate to hear dialog, watch the news, etc. However, keep in mind that even then the midrange is muddy, so it is at times difficult to differentiate between several voices speaking at the same time.
I mentioned above that the RS60 base station includes an SRS surround processor. I tried using the SR60 with the processor enabled, and there really isn't any way to describe it except that it is just plain awful. The SRS system on the RS60 further emphasizes the midrange, and adds what sounds like "reverb" in an attempt to add more "space" to the signal. The end result is "boomy" midrange with no highs to help you differentiate or identify what is going on. I found it unlistenable.
CONCLUSION
The RS60 can be purchased for as low as $99 right now (from Audio Advisor). Whether they are worth that to you will depend on your intended use, how willing you are to put up with poor sound quality and static, and how desperately you need wireless ability. If you're only going to use them for watching TV, and wires are a hassle or simply not an option because of distance, you might find them acceptable. However, if you're at all concerned about audio quality and/or static, you will probably be as disappointed as I was. I'm sending them back this week and going back to my Grado 15' extension cord (and not watching TV late at night in my office
P.S. The RS80, which can be found for as low as $149, supposedly has a better transmitter for greater range. This might have alleviated some of the static/noise I experienced (even though I was well within the advertised range of the RS60), but if nothing else is different (same drivers, same signal quality), I wouldn't expect much of an improvement in audio quality.
