[Hammy]

 
Sorry you are getting rid of them.

  Count me in on the club thing. I cannot imagine unloading my 598. I love it too much.

 
"Getting rid of" is too strong of a term!  See below.
 

Count me in on the Sennheiser fan club! May I ask why are you selling them? It's such a shame; I would buy them in a heartbeat (I'm still wishing for an ivory pair) if I wasn't so financially broken.

 
This whole recent headphone buying journey started because I wanted to try something other than the 598.  Ideally, I wanted something with more in the low end and, as I think I've said before, most of my listening is TV/movies.  The X2 (also now for sale) fit the bill but came with too many problems (in particular the lack of comfort), the HD700 were extremely comfortable but I had slight nausea/headaches a few nights after using them (coincidence?) and, after Amazon agreed to refund me for the open-box, I decided to try the RS185 instead.
 
For our lifestyle, the wireless solution is perfect.  I would like to hear other opinions of them because I think they offer slightly less fidelity of the 598, while having a thicker low end, no wires, perfect reception, and good comfort level.  There's no downside to them for us over the 598.  My GF will keep her 598 for work but I would rather pass mine on to someone who'll appreciate them rather than watch them collecting dust.
 
No matter what happens with the sale, I'll never unsubscribe from this thread.  *insert crying emoticon here*.  I can always steal my GF's pair anyway. 

 

[VeggiePopper]

Hammy Well, if it isn't touching!

I'm really sorry that none of your current headphones satisfy your needs - I subscribed to the HD700 thread because of you! So it makes me sad that after all this hype you ended up feeling nausea with them.

Anyways, I've never tried a wireless headphone. Rumour has it that quality suffers a lot because of the wireless streaming. So once again, I'll be looking forward to your impressions, and I promise that I (and I think LazyListener) will keep this thread alive for you.

Tell your girlfriend to take care of her 598s...

 

[Hammy]

Hammy Well, if it isn't touching!

I'm really sorry that none of your current headphones satisfy your needs - I subscribed to the HD700 thread because of you! So it makes me sad that after all this hype you ended up feeling nausea with them.

Anyways, I've never tried a wireless headphone. Rumour has it that quality suffers a lot because of the wireless streaming. So once again, I'll be looking forward to your impressions, and I promise that I (and I think LazyListener) will keep this thread alive for you.

Tell your girlfriend to take care of her 598s...

I kept quiet about the nausea/headaches in that thread because it may be unrelated and obviously I'm in the minority with it. If the RS185 hadn't worked out then I would have probably rebought the HD700 because they're the best sounding headphones I've yet to hear.

The quality really doesn't suffer as much as you would think. The 185 is considered the wireless equivalent of the HD6X0 or minimum HD5XX. I wouldn't argue with that assessment, but you're obviously paying a premium for the loss of a wire.

My GF is less convinced about ever switching from her 598. Smart lady

 

[techboy]

Actually, Sennheiser rep here Rosmandi, has said that RS 185/195 are a step below the RS 220.

And that the RS 220 were comparable/slightly better than 558 but not really on par with HD 6xx. Although the sound signature is supposed to be similar, the RS 220 isn't supposed to compete with HD 6xx in terms of SQ.

All this is as per Rosmandi, the official Sennheiser rep. I read this quite a while back.

You can PM him and confirm if you want.

 

[Hammy]

Actually, Sennheiser rep here Rosmandi, has said that RS 185/195 are a step below the RS 220.

And that the RS 220 were comparable/slightly better than 558 but not really on par with HD 6xx. Although the sound signature is supposed to be similar, the RS 220 isn't supposed to compete with HD 6xx in terms of SQ.

All this is as per Rosmandi, the official Sennheiser rep. I read this quite a while back.

You can PM him and confirm if you want.

 
It would be helpful if you could point us to exactly where these comparisons have been made.
 
I agree that the RS185 has a slightly lower sound quality than the HD598, so that would put it in the lower HD5XX range in my estimation. RS220 (in sound quality terms) is indeed considered the best of the wireless bunch and I believe it shared some driver elements from the HD6XX series.  RS220/HD6XX or RS185+/HD5XX is approximately where it's at.
 
Happy to discuss it further over in the RS* thread where Rosmadi Mahmood often comments.
 
EDIT: Fact checking -> RS220 and HD650 apparently share the same driver.

 

[techboy]

You'll need to ask that to him. Post on that thread. I think I read that somewhere on that very thread.

 

[techboy]

I may be wrong. But I think I read somewhere on the internet that the HD 6xx is still better than any wireless can, RS 220 included.

 

[LazyListener]

I don't think I could ever get rid of my 598s.  They're just too special for the price, judging from the side by side comparisons I've done.  I paid around $130 for mine and my impressions in the first few weeks of listening were that I would easily pay $250-300 for this level of sound quality.  None of the other cans I compared with left me saying that they sounded better than their asking price.  When you find something special you hold on to it.  I'm even considering buying another pair and keeping it in box, just in case they stop making them and something happens to my current pair.
 
@Hammy  If you really need wireless, another option is to buy a wireless adapter that can be used with many headphones.  It's 2 devices, one transmitter, and one receiver.  Transmitter stays plugged into your source.  Receiver contains battery and plugs into cans.  Should be small enough to carry around with you.

 

[VeggiePopper]

I don't think I could ever get rid of my 598s.  They're just too special for the price, judging from the side by side comparisons I've done.  I paid around $130 for mine and my impressions in the first few weeks of listening were that I would easily pay $250-300 for this level of sound quality.  None of the other cans I compared with left me saying that they sounded better than their asking price.  When you find something special you hold on to it.  I'm even considering buying another pair and keeping it in box, just in case they stop making them and something happens to my current pair.

Couldn't say it any better. I love mine too, and just like you, if I ever have the money, I might buy a second pair - an ivory one. It would be totally worth it.

 

[Hammy]

  I don't think I could ever get rid of my 598s.  They're just too special for the price, judging from the side by side comparisons I've done.  I paid around $130 for mine and my impressions in the first few weeks of listening were that I would easily pay $250-300 for this level of sound quality.  None of the other cans I compared with left me saying that they sounded better than their asking price.  When you find something special you hold on to it.  I'm even considering buying another pair and keeping it in box, just in case they stop making them and something happens to my current pair.
 
@Hammy  If you really need wireless, another option is to buy a wireless adapter that can be used with many headphones.  It's 2 devices, one transmitter, and one receiver.  Transmitter stays plugged into your source.  Receiver contains battery and plugs into cans.  Should be small enough to carry around with you.

 
Well put.  It's worth mentioning that Sennheiser's RRP for them is actually $249.95.  5 years ago a whole lot of people paid that much for them and were very happy.  Highlights what an amazing deal we get when they're on sale.
 
The wireless adapter solution is intriguing.  I'd need something that transmits to two receivers at once.  Wouldn't need to be portable but charging the battery might be a pain.

 

[pfloyd]

The wireless adapter solution is intriguing.  I'd need something that transmits to two receivers at once.  Wouldn't need to be portable but charging the battery might be a pain.

i have a BlueAnt Ribbon that work great as a bt receiver for my cans with 3.5mm input but I am having a hard time finding a short 2.5mm to 3.5 mm cable for my momentums.

 

[serman005]

Let's see, a wireless 598. Now that just sounds like almost too much of a good thing...

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

Here's my 2 cent on why wireless headphones can hardly match the sound quality of wired ones:
- In every wirelss headphones solution that I know of (and can imagine of), the only thing transferred via wireless is digital signals. Bluetooth, Wi-fi, etc. Which means you need a DAC integrated into your headphones.
- For improvement in quality you also need a separate amp integrated into your headphones.
- Most DAC and amp is cumbersome. At least they're not small enough to rest comfortably inside your cans. And your cans might already be heavy.
The only good-quality DAC/amp that I find small enough to somehow get integrated into a pair of headphones is the DACport. That said, plenty of cumbersome DAC/amp sound much better than the Dacport.
- In most cases the manufacturers decide to sacrifice SQ for comfort -> Nope that's not what I really need.

 

[Hammy]

In my opinion (and that of Jude/Rosmadi) the most recent RS series' from Sennheiser not only match but surpass many wired headphones.  In the comparisons we've been making, we're comparing them to some of the best wired headphones available (and assuming they're adequately amped).  Sometimes my English fails me, and "equivalent" may not be the correct word, but I believe the RS185 offers the approximate same level of quality as the HD5XX and I can point to several cases where people have sidelined HD6XX in favour of them, too.
 
It's also worth pointing out that this series does not use Bluetooth, but rather passes uncompressed audio to the headphones.  The quality is never reduced, only fading in and out when standing across the house in front of a operational microwave.  I could even in-line my E10K as the DAC, but that obviously resulted in having to use the analog input.  The RS185 are heftyish at 310g but that is 70g less than the Fidelio X2, for example.
 
I would really stress anyone who has the opportunity to listen to the higher-end wireless Sennheiser's to do so before dismissing them.  I don't want to derail the thread further so I'll shut up now.  

 
 
EDIT: Removed quoted post.

 

[techboy]

Let's see, a wireless 598. Now that just sounds like almost too much of a good thing...

The RS 220 is a wireless step up from the HD 5xx acc to Rosmandi.