Not disturbing others while watching TV at night is likely still the main use of wireless headphones. Wireless headphones in particular are enjoying a high popularity by not being tied to a cord. Traditional wireless headphones could however never match corded headphones in terms of sound quality and realiability. The main culprit would be the wireless transmission itself which would be prone to noise and interference. New advances in wireless technology promise to remedy these drawbacks. We will review two models of wireless headphones which utilize the latest transmission technology to find out how these products compare to traditional corded headphones.

 

We will review the Sennheiser RS180 and the Amphony Model 2500 both of which use digital audio transmission. In other words the headphone transmitter will convert the audio signal into digital data which is transmitted to the digital wireless headphones. The headphones then convert this data back to audio. Using this transmission technology, none of these headphones showed the static or distortion that we have gotten used to from previous wireless headphones. Both of these models claim to transmit true CD quality audio.

 

At first glance, the Sennheiser headphones are constructed as open headphones, i.e. sound from the headphone transducers will penetrate to the outside while the Amphony headphones are closed. Choosing open or closed headphones is a matter of personal preference. A closed model, such as the Amphony, will lower the sound level heard by others which is good when listening over headphones without disturbing others and also will block exterior noise more. Both models come with comfortable 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 transmitter offer an analog audio input, yet no digital inputs. The Amphony 2500 transmitter offers analog inputs, one coaxial digital and one optical digital input. As such the Model 2500 transmitter can connect to newer plasma TVs, most of which no longer have analog audio outputs. The Model 2500 transmitter will automatically recognize whether there is a digital signal present and switch to the corresponding input.

 

Judging the sound quality of both models, the sound of the RS180 is on the light side with good mid range but a little low on 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. One limitation though is since wireless models are battery powered, they will never be able to achieve the same loudness as corded headphones hooked up to a good headphone amp. Having said that, both models achieve plenty of volume though, the Model 2500 more so than the RS180.

 

The RS180 transmits it’s signal at 2.4 GHz. Up to four headphones can operate simultaneously per transmitter. The Model 2500 transmits at 5.8 GHz and supports an unlimited number of headphones. The operating range of the RS180 is specified by Sennheiser at 300 ft. During our indoor testing we were able to get a clean signal up to around 100 ft with both models which should be sufficient for most users. The Model 2500 transmitter comes with an extension port though that allows connection of secondary transmitters for cases where you really need to have reception all over the house.

 

The RS180 offers a battery life of 15 hours. The Model 2500 will work around 30 hours per charge. Pricing is around $300 for the RS180 wireless headphones and $200 for the Model 2500.