Sennheiser - RS 175 RF Wireless Over-The-Ear Headphones - Black

The last pair of Sennheiser wireless headphones performed flawlessly for over 10 years -- until the headphones and over-the-head padding had been stepped on, broken irreparably, the repaired well over 10 tens, before leading to our decision to hunt for new ones. This new pair allows for far better fidelity - and the controls are positioned so that turning your head on a pillow doesn't result in catastrophic volume changes! Seriously, my wife just loves them - and so do I. As a 'night person' Marsha follows me into bed by about three hours on a typical night - then lies in bed watching Law & Order for another two hours. I used to wake up occasionally hearing 'dum-dada-dum-dum-dum' sneaking out of the old phones. These have much better cushioning and I haven't been woken once since we starting using the RS175 model. Looks like we might make another 34 years together the way these things are working!

These work just great! I’ve lost quite a bit of my hearing and makes it difficult to understand what there saying in movies, even with the sound turned way up. With this headset I now hear every word very clearly. Night and day difference now watching tv. Love these headphones!

Purchased these in the store. Had a gentleman helping me who supposedly was an expert. He told me these would easily hook up to our surround sound. We had tried different ones in the past that would not connect so I was very excited when told these would. We purchased all the geek squad protection on these plus an 85 inch TV. First, we had our TV calibrated by a member of the geek squad and that individual said this could not be done. I then called and scheduled another visit with another member of the geek squad with an additional service fee. He also said this was not possible to do! We happen to have a friend who is self-taught with many things including electronics. He came to look and was able to hook up in minutes!! It is the first time we have ever been unhappy with Best Buy and Geek Squad but this was really bad. If I'm told in store something will work I have to assume that is correct I also have to assume when paying extra for the geek squad that they certainly know how to fix/repair. NOT THE CASE at all. Soooo we paid an outside service. I am also disappointed that I could find no where to inform Best Buy corporate what happened.

These are by far the best earphones I have purchased. I like to turn up the volume for the audio effects of action movies, but am constantly being scolded. Now with these headphones I am able to watch movies or tv with clear crisp sound while not disturbing anyone else in the household.

Due to my wife's hearing issues, whenever she would watch a TV show, she would turn up the volume much louder than I would care to enjoy. I needed wireless headphones for her so that I can focus on work in a quiet setting. Didn't want to buy the cheaper brand/model because I am all about quality. Setup was easy. The only thing that I had wait for were the batteries to charge. While you can use them after charging them for a bit, I decided to wait until they were fully charged before letting my wife try them out. These are top-notch headphones. I have a couple of Sennheiser wired headsets that I use for gaming and phone conferences, but never had any experience with the wireless headphones. My wife is very happy with the quality of sound that comes out of it, and I am happy with the fact that they do what they are supposed to do. One important thing to note: if you have a Samsung Smart TV and want to watch a movie that's on a USB device (hard drive/flash drive) or watch Netflix via its built-in app, then these will NOT work for you. Reason being is that the headphones require an analog/optical sound output connection to the wireless base station, but the Samsung Smart TV does not output its sound through that connection. While we can hear the sound coming from our DVD/Blueray player and from the TV itself, the Sennheiser is currently not compatible with any movie watching on USB devices that are directly connected to the Smart TV or Netflix via the built-in app. The only solution that I could find was to use a device that is connected to Smart TV (in this case, our Blueray Player), and then, connect my USB device to the Blueray player (thankfully, it had one). The Blueray player also has access to Netflix as well, so she can watch/listen to Netflix movies. The bottom line is that you need a device that is currently connected to the Smart TV, and then use its USB functionality / Netflix app, as the sound will be able to travel to the device and to your headphones via the optical/analog connection to the TV. Hopefully my review helped anyone interested in these headphones. Great headphones overall, but watch out for incompatibilities with Smart TV functionalities. If Sennheiser were able to make these headphones connect via bluetooth, then we would be all set, as USB stored movies and Netflix via the built-in TV app work just fine with bluetooth speakers.

After reading other reviews about how good these were for people hard of hearing,I had to buy them to see if it really made that big of a difference. I wound say this is my best electronic purchase ever. Before I had to blast my surround sound to here what they were saying and I was still asking my wife what did he say. My wife was always saying turn it down. Now we’re both happy. The tv can stay at a low volume and with the Sennheiser headphones I can make out every word and hear background sounds I never heard before! I just wish I had purchased these a long time ago.

It is a very good headphone. It is easily adjusted for volume, surround and bass on the right cup. It is a bit slippery on my fine hair so I wear a nit cap. Also the over ear cups hurt my pierced ear so I have to extend the cup arms down a bit. It takes up to 16 hours to charge fully for the first time. It helps to keep my neighbor in the apartment below from calling the manager too much.

NOTE: This review was originally posted on another well-known shopping site on the web shortly after my purchase in 2015. I originally started shopping for wireless headphones to find something better than the so-called TV ears that a member of my immediate family who suffers from hearing loss had been using with some success. This inevitably brought me to the fine line of quality wireless headphones available from the German company Sennheiser and I had first thought about purchasing a just recently discontinued RS 170 or RS 180 model without an optical connection – analog only (As of 05/30/2015, the RS 180 was still only $199.99 at Crutchfield online with free shipping and 60-day returns). But then why spend about $200.00 on technology that is essentially 12 to 14 years old when the absolutely latest thing from Sennheiser (models RS 165, RS 175, RS 185 and RS 195) is available for just a little bit more? Out of this latest line of Sennheiser wireless headphones with a two-year warranty it is this model – the closed-back RS 175 – that I eventually ended up purchasing from Crutchfield online. Pricing was exactly the same as it is here on Best Buy (about $280.00). However, by using my Discover card (5% rebate and 90-day price match guarantee – lowest price seen 2 weeks later was $233.97) I was able to ultimately get my pair of brand new headphones for only $219.97 with free shipping, no sales tax and 60-day returns. I agree with CNET.com and their excellent review of the Sennheiser RS 175 that it is this specific model that gives you the most bang for your buck; it is the most cost-effective model in this product line. There is a big difference in moving from the RS 165 to the RS 175 in that the transmission distance of the RS 165 is only rated at about 90 feet while the RS 175 and other models are still functional at a distance of about 300 feet. The RS 175 also adds a low/high surround sound capability which the RS 165 (bass boost feature only) does not have. The differences in moving to a pricier model beyond the RS 175 are not that significant, in my opinion. Whether the open-back (not as sound isolating) RS 185 with the addition of manual/automatic level control features (MLC/ALC) and a balance control located on the headset is worth an additional $90.00 premium (best current price of about $370.00) above the RS 175 is something that only you can decide. At a cost of about $170.00 more than the RS 175, the top-of-the-line RS 195 closed-back model includes all of the aforementioned features of the RS 185 and adds 7 presets to tailor sound to individual hearing requirements as well as separate “speech” and “music” modes. Initial setup of these RS 175 headphones was extremely simple. The most time-consuming step was waiting for the batteries located in the two headphone ear-cups to complete their initial charging process which takes about 18 hours; subsequent full recharging of the headphones should only take about 8 hours. The operating time with fully charged headphones is claimed to be up to 18 hours until recharging is required. Both analog and optical/digital connection options are available. You can choose to use both connections (say for a TV and a stereo system) and then toggle between the two at your leisure using the sliding switch provided for this purpose on the back of the headphone transmitter. So far I have only opted to connect my television via the included 1.5 m long optical cable (don’t forget to remove both clear protective plastic end caps before using) and the optical input on the headphone transmitter which ensures optimum performance. If the cable is too short for your needs, you can always subsequently purchase a 3 m long cable like I did for about $10.00 (Digital Optical Audio Toslink Cable - 9.8 Feet [3 Meters] ). Note that the appropriate output on the back of your TV or other device may not be labelled as an optical output: Mine is actually called the digital audio output, but it is definitely what is needed to make the proper connection. The unique shape of the optical connector (it really can only fit in one place) will help you figure out just where it needs to go, assuming that you have an appropriate output available and don’t need to make an analog connection. If you do make an optical/digital audio connection to your TV, be sure to go into the appropriate settings menu before first using the headphones to set the optical/digital audio output mode to PCM (pulse-code modulation). Don’t leave it on automatic or some other setting. This is specifically required in the 15-language Sennheiser instruction manual on CD that comes with the headphones! As far as the user experience itself is concerned, these comfortable headphones with the easily adjustable headband are just what I was looking for. The member of my family who is hard of hearing has noticed a day and night difference in his ability to not only hear, but more importantly distinguish and understand speech when using these wonderfully isolating closed-back headphones. There is virtually no sound leakage in or out. He remains happily occupied in his own little world watching TV while now being able to understand essentially everything. This was not the case with the previously mentioned TV ears that cost less than $100.00 when purchased. Other people in the same room can simultaneously watch the TV in the usual manner – without headphones. Everybody’s happy. The quality of the sound that emanates from these headphones when using an optical connection is truly amazing! There is absolutely no hissing or other distracting sound – only that which needs to be heard and nothing more. The bass boost setting is quite useful for music and can be activated on-the fly when needed by using the touch controls located on the outside of the right ear-cup (bass boost, surround sound, volume +/-) near where the on/off button for the headphones is found. The surround sound setting (off, low and high available) does create a more immersive sound experience when activated; I personally prefer the low setting and usually have the headphones set in this manner when I use them. Additional bass boost and surround sound controls, each with a separate indicator light that glows green when activated, are also found on the front of the headphone transmitter upon which the headphones are placed when not in use and for recharging. The transmission distance with these headphones is excellent: I am able to walk anywhere throughout my 1600 square foot ranch home without any signal loss whatsoever; the same holds true when I am in either my front or back yards. I have the headphone transmitter base located near my Roku 4 in the living room and there is absolutely no interference when streaming and simultaneously using the Sennheiser headphones. However, I should note that I have my Roku 4 set to stream at 5.0 GHz on my dual-band AC router. There may or may not be a problem if your WiFi network with connected devices located near the Sennheiser transmitter is set to function in the 2.4 to 2.8 GHz range which is used by the headphones. You’ll just have to try it and see what happens. If necessary, appropriate device relocation - a greater distance of separation - should resolve any difficulties. Overall my hearing-impaired family member and I have been exceedingly pleased with our listening experience when using these Sennheiser RS 175, closed-back, wireless headphones of impressive quality. If you too would like to experience a most enjoyable, crystal-clear earful when partaking of diverse auditory pleasures during your leisure time, I can recommend them most highly and without any reservations whatsoever.