[MiLeX]

Nice Review, I am currently thinking about getting wireless headphones again. 
I have the RS180, but my girlfriend won't give them back.  
I made the mistake to go with cable again, sadly the cable is bothering me so much that I need to go back to wireless, and open, therefore the RS185 are the once I am looking for. 

 

[MiLeX]

Thanks for the review, just got mine a day ago, I also upgraded from the RS180 to RS185 as my girlfriend won't give the 180s back, so I have to buy a new pair and why not go with the current model instead of trying to get the old one.
So far I love the RS185, not burned in though, still amazing!
I also have the AKG K7XX (Massdrop) as much as I love them, I hate the cable so much, wireless wins a thousand times over. 

 

[Sennheiser]

  Thanks for the review, just got mine a day ago, I also upgraded from the RS180 to RS185 as my girlfriend won't give the 180s back, so I have to buy a new pair and why not go with the current model instead of trying to get the old one.
So far I love the RS185, not burned in though, still amazing!
I also have the AKG K7XX (Massdrop) as much as I love them, I hate the cable so much, wireless wins a thousand times over. 

Congrats on your acquisition! 

 

[AtrafCreez]

Wires drove me crazy

 

[cloneman]

In the review it says the RS185 were sometimes less engaging. Is there a way to make them more engaging via EQ?

 

[mark2410]

  In the review it says the RS185 were sometimes less engaging. Is there a way to make them more engaging via EQ?

well if you are using the phono inputs, so an analogue signal you EQ in at the source a more dramatic balance if you wanted to

 

[analog'd]

thought i'd report in my findings re: the dac of the RS185. just got a pair. i think i'll like em just fine! but despite the good sense Mark2410 is making when he suggests that the dac is likely to beat the dac of the tv or whatever source here's my tale: When i buy a tv i do it for the default sound quality as much as for the visual quality, because i often do not use external speaks. so, the samsung i have, unlike most other samsung's actually has a very non-digital sound to it. i am a very fussy analog guy who now listens to a lot of hi rez music through good gear, so i am touchy about all this.
bottom line: the sound from the dac of the rs185 does not please my ear in the least (though that could be the tv or cable or both). i crossed my fingers, unattached the digital cable and attached analog out from the tv and voila! the cans sound reasonably decent while watching a concert video, not anywhere near as good as a pair of hd600's as has been stated, but much better than other wireless i've heard. and they sound fantastic with film and tv shows. they deliver the analog signal from the tv pretty much intact. the digital signal from the tv through the dac sounds lousy by comparison(thin and bright). then again, as i said it could well be due to the tv's digital output, or even the digital cable i'm using. at some point i will swap out the cable to see if there is an improvement, but i don't have another on hand. but i thought i could at least confirm to prospective buyers that the analog functions extremely well on the RS185.

 

[AtrafCreez]

The HD 1 Momentum 2 ,Being Bluetooth and the RS Sennheiser wireless series is beamed through a transmitter, still can anyone compare for me the audio quality? In the past Bluetooth was known to be the lesser audio HD. And today with the HD 1?? Thanks.

 

[alaska_guy]

I own both the 175 and the 185's and I see reviews where the 175's get bad reviews pretty much everywhere compared to the 185's... I honestly don't know why. The main difference I can tell from the 185's and the 175's is that the 185's are softer on your ears due to the pad design and being an open phone. I personally prefer to use the 175's over the 185's. The 185's are clean sounding, but they lack the bass and mids in my opinion. (The 175's are more than likely just upping these frequencies so they are more dominate) I also feel like I have to turn the 185's up louder than my 175's to get the quality/sound I want in the mids on the 185's. I just find the 185's kind of boring, even when using the bass boost option paired with my 175 base I just still prefer the 175's. I have both headphones hooked to my computer via optical so I can play FLAC music and the like and in an A/B comparison with people not knowing which is "supposed" to be better, everyone I know prefers the 175's.

Music tested was dance,techno, country, acoustic, and classical.

The best way I can describe the "feeling" I get from the 175's is it makes me want to dance, where the 185's are just nice to listen to. It's a totally different experience.

I use my 185's mainly for working out in my home gym and for moving watching and for this purpose they are great. They allow you to get in the zone easier as they block out sounds and with the lower frequencies being a little louder and punchy I feel more immersed. They enable me to really get pumped when I am using the elliptical. I also find them better for movie watching. The 185's are a nice sounding headphone, but they just seem to be missing the mid/low end punch that I have grown to love on the 175's. I used to own ATH 50's and the 175's give me more of that style sound signature.

I have to say, the first time I played the Binarual Test I nearly crapped my pants with the 175's! I literally grabbed for my sidearm. I never knew headphones could make such realistic noises. I have played the same tones on my 185's and they sound great, just not as real and scary! haha! Especially if you have never done the test before and have no idea what to expect. I had the wife sit down at my desk and played the test tone. She immediately stood up and started looking around.

http://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php

Both are good phones. If I was to do it again, I would honestly buy two 175's. Everyone's taste is different. The 185's may be better on paper, but for me they just lacked too much of the lower end punch/bass that I enjoy.

The 175's aren't without drawbacks.

The 175's headphone pads are harder on your ears, if you use the bass button on the stand it pretty much makes everything muddy and worthless for music. I can't stand the bass feature for music. However, for movies they are fantastic. I always enable the bass feature when watching movies.

The mids/bass tones may be more blown out or exaggerated... So if you don't like bass these are not for you.

The 175's to me are like going with a wireless ATH-50. The 185's are like going with a typical Sennheiser headphone. That's the easiest way to explain them to someone.

Hopefully that helps others out there.

 

[AtrafCreez]

Hi Alaska and thank YOU ! That was a very thorough report. Google RS 175 versus RS 185, its probably on Google Search by now! Everything from this forum goes on it !
Since they changed the forum web pages there are hardly any new talks about the RS line.
There are ways to add the sound volume to RS 185 , look for "troubleshoot" at the bottom of the manual : pages 30,31 : https://en-us.sennheiser.com/global-downloads/file/2665/RS185_EN_0817.pdf
Have the RS 180 which I love for music, open cans and also have RS 195 which use for films and are closed cans. But the RS 195 can be altered so that it is more attuned to music. Find that both the hard closed RS 195 are heavier yet even using them for 12 hours I forget that i'm wearing them!! The RS 180 open are lighter and when i go to take my bi-monthly shower, if I don't check my head, the headphones might get a shower!! So comfortable.Thanks for the great detailed input. Nothing was superfluous.

 

[wag12]

So after testing with both of them I made some conclusions. The RS 185 has a way more open sound and the sound positioning is great, sounds nearly surround. It has clear bass in movies and the mids are higher. The RS 175 has way more bass, bass boost is too much. The bass is muddy from the start and the sound is very claustrophobic feeling due to the closed back nature of the headphone. Neither is louder than the other. What's cool though is with the RS 175 base you can use bass boost on the 185 headset. Neither will play DTS bitsreamed. RS 185 is way more comfortable. The only knock id give the RS 185 is that mids and trebble can be harsh on video games and music sometimes. But this is the nature of open back?

So after testing with both of them I made some conclusions. The RS 185 has a way more open sound and the sound positioning is great, sounds nearly surround. It has clear bass in movies and the mids are higher. The RS 175 has way more bass, bass boost is too much. The bass is muddy from the start and the sound is very claustrophobic feeling due to the closed back nature of the headphone. Neither is louder than the other. What's cool though is with the RS 175 base you can use bass boost on the 185 headset. Neither will play DTS bitsreamed. RS 185 is way more comfortable. The only knock id give the RS 185 is that mids and trebble can be harsh on video games and music sometimes. But this is the nature of open back?

I was thinking of buying the HDR 185 headphones to use with the TR 175 base. Have you tried using this combination to watch movies and did you notice an improvement in the low bass? Also will the - + buttons on the HDR 185 headphones still work when paired to the TR 175 base unit so I can adjust the volume?
Thanks

 

[wag12]

I own both the 175 and the 185's and I see reviews where the 175's get bad reviews pretty much everywhere compared to the 185's... I honestly don't know why. The main difference I can tell from the 185's and the 175's is that the 185's are softer on your ears due to the pad design and being an open phone. I personally prefer to use the 175's over the 185's. The 185's are clean sounding, but they lack the bass and mids in my opinion. (The 175's are more than likely just upping these frequencies so they are more dominate) I also feel like I have to turn the 185's up louder than my 175's to get the quality/sound I want in the mids on the 185's. I just find the 185's kind of boring, even when using the bass boost option paired with my 175 base I just still prefer the 175's. I have both headphones hooked to my computer via optical so I can play FLAC music and the like and in an A/B comparison with people not knowing which is "supposed" to be better, everyone I know prefers the 175's.

Music tested was dance,techno, country, acoustic, and classical.

The best way I can describe the "feeling" I get from the 175's is it makes me want to dance, where the 185's are just nice to listen to. It's a totally different experience.

I use my 185's mainly for working out in my home gym and for moving watching and for this purpose they are great. They allow you to get in the zone easier as they block out sounds and with the lower frequencies being a little louder and punchy I feel more immersed. They enable me to really get pumped when I am using the elliptical. I also find them better for movie watching. The 185's are a nice sounding headphone, but they just seem to be missing the mid/low end punch that I have grown to love on the 175's. I used to own ATH 50's and the 175's give me more of that style sound signature.

I have to say, the first time I played the Binarual Test I nearly crapped my pants with the 175's! I literally grabbed for my sidearm. I never knew headphones could make such realistic noises. I have played the same tones on my 185's and they sound great, just not as real and scary! haha! Especially if you have never done the test before and have no idea what to expect. I had the wife sit down at my desk and played the test tone. She immediately stood up and started looking around.

http://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php

Both are good phones. If I was to do it again, I would honestly buy two 175's. Everyone's taste is different. The 185's may be better on paper, but for me they just lacked too much of the lower end punch/bass that I enjoy.

The 175's aren't without drawbacks.

The 175's headphone pads are harder on your ears, if you use the bass button on the stand it pretty much makes everything muddy and worthless for music. I can't stand the bass feature for music. However, for movies they are fantastic. I always enable the bass feature when watching movies.

The mids/bass tones may be more blown out or exaggerated... So if you don't like bass these are not for you.

The 175's to me are like going with a wireless ATH-50. The 185's are like going with a typical Sennheiser headphone. That's the easiest way to explain them to someone.

Hopefully that helps others out there.

I own both the 175 and the 185's and I see reviews where the 175's get bad reviews pretty much everywhere compared to the 185's... I honestly don't know why. The main difference I can tell from the 185's and the 175's is that the 185's are softer on your ears due to the pad design and being an open phone. I personally prefer to use the 175's over the 185's. The 185's are clean sounding, but they lack the bass and mids in my opinion. (The 175's are more than likely just upping these frequencies so they are more dominate) I also feel like I have to turn the 185's up louder than my 175's to get the quality/sound I want in the mids on the 185's. I just find the 185's kind of boring, even when using the bass boost option paired with my 175 base I just still prefer the 175's. I have both headphones hooked to my computer via optical so I can play FLAC music and the like and in an A/B comparison with people not knowing which is "supposed" to be better, everyone I know prefers the 175's.

Music tested was dance,techno, country, acoustic, and classical.

The best way I can describe the "feeling" I get from the 175's is it makes me want to dance, where the 185's are just nice to listen to. It's a totally different experience.

I use my 185's mainly for working out in my home gym and for moving watching and for this purpose they are great. They allow you to get in the zone easier as they block out sounds and with the lower frequencies being a little louder and punchy I feel more immersed. They enable me to really get pumped when I am using the elliptical. I also find them better for movie watching. The 185's are a nice sounding headphone, but they just seem to be missing the mid/low end punch that I have grown to love on the 175's. I used to own ATH 50's and the 175's give me more of that style sound signature.

I have to say, the first time I played the Binarual Test I nearly crapped my pants with the 175's! I literally grabbed for my sidearm. I never knew headphones could make such realistic noises. I have played the same tones on my 185's and they sound great, just not as real and scary! haha! Especially if you have never done the test before and have no idea what to expect. I had the wife sit down at my desk and played the test tone. She immediately stood up and started looking around.

http://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php

Both are good phones. If I was to do it again, I would honestly buy two 175's. Everyone's taste is different. The 185's may be better on paper, but for me they just lacked too much of the lower end punch/bass that I enjoy.

The 175's aren't without drawbacks.

The 175's headphone pads are harder on your ears, if you use the bass button on the stand it pretty much makes everything muddy and worthless for music. I can't stand the bass feature for music. However, for movies they are fantastic. I always enable the bass feature when watching movies.

The mids/bass tones may be more blown out or exaggerated... So if you don't like bass these are not for you.

The 175's to me are like going with a wireless ATH-50. The 185's are like going with a typical Sennheiser headphone. That's the easiest way to explain them to someone.

Hopefully that helps others out there.

Since you have used the HDR 185 headphones with the TR 175 base can you confirm that I will still be able to control the volume using the - + buttons on the HDR 185 headphones when paired to a TR 175 transmitter?

Thanks