Customer Reviews

Sennheiser RS 170 Digital Wireless Headphone with Dynamic Bass and Surround Sound

5 star:		(115)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I've only had the RS 170 phones for a few days. I had expected to rate them 10 stars because of the excellent crystal-clear sound; but I believe they have a flaw that may render them unacceptable for some people (see CONS, below). I'm giving them 4 stars because they are so good - I should probably rate them either excellent or "not acceptable".
Here is my take - you may not have the same experience or have the same needs or expectations.

TYPES OF WIRELESS HEADPHONES: For those that don't know, there are broadly 3 ways by which wireless headphones receive their signal:

IR (infrared) -- these use a line-of-sight signal and avoid radio interference. They have the disadvantages of short range and reduced mobility (you have to remain within sight of the base station), but they usually do produce a clean sound.

900 MHz -- these are analogue radio headphones. The main disadvantage is susceptibility to hiss and other noise, especially when you move your head or move to another room.

2.4 GHz -- these are digital radio headphones, like the RS 170, and are more likely to be free from hiss and noise.

I bought the RS 170 phones to replace cheap ones I've been using for late-night TV, and which operate on 900 MHz, providing constant hiss, much worse when I move about.
The RS 170 sound brilliant. I've used them for late night TV and movies, and for music (radio and CDs) allowing me to move to other rooms in the house. They're comfortable to wear and I'm sure they'd be great for use on a treadmill or working out. All over my home, and in most of the garden, the sound is crystal clear with no hiss or extraneous noise. Except, that is, for the echo ...

CONS: Having read scores of reviews of wireless headphones, it seems that some people buy them to listen to movies/ music without disturbing other people. For that these phones are brilliant.
But some people buy wireless headphones because they have hearing loss (or just want the clarity that headphones provide) and use them to watch TV while their spouse listens through the TV speakers. The RS 170 phones seem to operate with a slight time shift (delay). If the loudspeakers are also on, albeit at low volume, the effect of the time shift is to produce an ECHO - this is very noticeable with dialogue, and is really annoying.

It might mean that if you listen to movies/ TV, and have the sound coming through the TV speakers as well, the RS 170 phones may not be acceptable.
If you turn the TV speakers down (or "mute") you won't notice the effect, but then no-one else in the room will be able to hear anything unless they have headphones as well.

The RS 170 are of a "closed" design, which means that sound is not supposed to leak out, and in combination with the comfortable ear-pads, they greatly attenuate ambient noise - but they don't eliminate ambient noise completely (they are not "noise-cancelling"). I wrote to SennheiserUSA yesterday morning, and received this prompt response:

"The RS 170 should block out the sound of the TV speakers. Check to
see that you have them on correctly so that there is a nice seal to
block out ambient noise.
Let me know if you have any additional questions."
Eric Palonen
Sennheiser Headphones + Headsets
1 Enterprise Drive
Old Lyme, CT 06371"

It's true that the ear-pad seal does greatly attenuate ambient sound, but it does not eliminate it. The problem is so serious that I cannot use the phones to watch TV if my girlfriend is watching also.
The more expensive model RS 180 is an "open" design - the echo problem is likely to be even worse. The more I think about this, the more I am torn -- if you have hearing loss, you might not notice, or care about, the echo.


OTHER FEATURES:

-- sound: The quality of the sound is better than I'd expected.
Listening to movies, I hear subtle sounds that I can't hear with loudspeakers. I can only describe the sound as crisp and clean with adequate, but not booming, bass.
I listened to some classical music CDs (Elgar) with delicate sounds as well as a full orchestra and timpani. The detail is excellent; even when I walk up my driveway the sound eventually cuts out, but there is no hiss as far as I can tell. My previous headphones were all hiss and crackle as I moved away from the base.

-- price. These are expensive, and may not be discounted for quite some time.

-- buttons. Lots of people criticised the prior design (RS 130/ 140) because the rotating volume control could catch on a pillow and move. The RS 170 has buttons for volume, mode, plus bass and [faux] surround sound. The disadvantage of buttons is that they're hard to find by touch alone. I think a lot of people will wind up taking the phones off to press the buttons. One advantage of the design is that the volume-up button is closest to the front and it doesn't take much practice to find it with your right thumb or finger. The BASS and SURROUND controls can be activated from the base unit.

-- bass. The bass is not intrusive, even with the "bass boost" engaged. Fine for me, but some people like exaggerated bass for rock-N-roll, and they may find the bass to be light.

-- surround sound. It's simlated surround sound, and I haven't used it enough to have an opinion. I think I shall wind up not using it (just like the CNET reviewers who tested the prior model RS 130).

-- charging batteries - yes they need 16 hours for first charge, but it only takes a moment to slip in standard alkaline batteries (just don't leave them in when you put the headset on the charger).

-- connecting - connecting is very easy - I took the time to route the wires through the coiled conduit. Some people will want to connect to a TV set. I connected to an AV receiver (I used "tape monitor out") so I can quickly switch between TV, radio and CD player. I also connected them to my iPod, but somehow that seems like a tautology.

-- range - Sennheiser claim 260 feet range. My house was built to defeat cell phone signals and may not be a good test. They work all over the house and in some of the garden and the driveway, but they do cut out at much less than 260 feet. That may just be a feature of my house. I didn't buy them for extreme range and I'm very satisfied.

In summary I think these phones are great - they so enhance the experience of watching a movie that I'm not sure I want to forgo them when watching movies with my girlfriend. The echo problem may be a deal breaker for some.

Let me say that the main reason I bought these headphones was for watching movies with out hearing lip for having my home theater too loud.

I enjoy using the surround feature and the Bass boost for movies. I have a high end home theater and I do not miss it as much as I thought I would. Does the Bass feel like my two 1,000 watt powered subs. Of course not, but the bass is very good.

The main time I would use the headphones is times when I have my system very low so the headphones sound much better then my system when it is played at a low decibel level. While I have a movie in I can walk all over my house and it never breaks up. The sound is crystal clear all over the house.

The closed headphones are a nice feature so you can shut out most noise but you can still hear someone calling you if needed.

The only problem I have so far is an occasional sound dropout. I moved the transmitter and manually paired the headphones. Since then I have had no problems but it is too soon to be sure if it worked.

I highly recommend these headphones for watching movies. I am not a music guy so I could not comment on that.


7/14/10 I would like to give a quick update. The sound from the headphones for movies is still great. I do not get any sound dropout when I am close to the unit. I do tend to agree with a previous post that the range is not great. My house is decent size and when I go to some rooms the sound does drop out.

I bought the older Sennheiser wireless headphones (analog) two years ago. I wore them almost every day and liked them, except that the volume control wore out. I took it apart, cleaned it, and it worked perfectly after that.

I bought the HDR 170 two months ago. The sound is better and they are comfortable. However, I have three complaints. First, the volume controls are difficult to use. There are five buttons - up volume, on/off, down volume, surround, and bass. No problem if you take off the headphones and look at the buttons, but while you're wearing them you can't feel which button is which, so I turn the headphones off when I want to change the volume, etc. Sennheiser should have made the buttons feel different.

The second problem is that the range is shorter. With the old analog headphones I could go in the backyard to hang laundry and the sound was weak and scratchy, but I could hear it. With the HDR 170 headphones the sound switches on and off annoyingly. Our house isn't big, if you live in a big house you might lose reception in some rooms.

The third problem is interference. When I'm in the kitchen and switch on the microwave oven, the headphones shut off the sound. Even small electric motors such as my desoldering iron make the headphones switch off.

 

i am an audiophile, and i HATE digital music. for the better part of 20 years, i've amassed an assortment of electronic gear, but 3 years ago, i decided to strip everything down to a 5-disc sony upconvert dvd player [which allows the the ability to have a variety of sound settings] and a pair of senheisser rs 130 wireless headphones.

the rs 130s were at that point the best headphones i had ever owned, the sound quality was far greater than all of my previous sony headphones, but the one thing that always bothered me was the hissing noise. when the music got going, the hissing was unnoticeable, but in quieter moments, i could hear it. also, should i get up and walk around, move my head or sit a certain way, i could get rf interference, and the headphones would hiss and pop. they were what i could afford at the time, but after about 3 years of hissing, i wanted some without hiss. naturally, i came back to sennheiser, and i found the rs 170s.

these are now the best headphones i have ever owned. it is as advertised: they sound wired. there is no hiss at all. not only have they improved the hiss, but everything about these headphones is an improvement over the rs 130s:

1. the srs feature, which in the rs 130s just gave everything an echo, has vastly improved in the rs 170s, but all it really does is pushes up the middle sounds, killing the bass. an improvement still, but something i don't use because i can adjust the surround settings through my dvd player to create a truer surround sound.

2. the bass boost function. this is the best, especially if you listen to tons of music like i do. the 130s had a meh ammount of bass, but the 170s make all bass and drum parts pulse, punch, and throb. most importantly, the bass doesn't kill the lighter parts of the music. usually when bass is increased, the mids and light parts of the music, giving songs a surround sound, are compressed and any sort of musical atomosphere is lost. this is not so with the 170s.

3. they have a closed design, which blocks out virtually all sound. i don't hear anything but music with these headphones, nor is any sound leaked. i am skeptical about the velour ear pads. i had some velour ear pads with my last pair of sonys, and one, hot summer day, i sweated and the velour disintegrated. i picked up little black flakes of velour from my carpet for several months. should that happen with the 170s, i'm not too worried. the ear pads are detachable and replaceable; sennheiser recommends they be replaced over time anyways.

4. the buttons are a bit of an improvement, but not by that much. you don't have to worry about accidentally altering the volume if you lay down, like the rs 130s; the buttons on the 170s are push buttons. my only gripe is that they are harder to find than the 130s and there is less fine tuning of the volume.

other issues:

the only other gripe i have is actually turning on the headphones. my procedure is: playing the music, turning on the base, then turning on the headphones, wait to get them to pair, then stop the music, put the headphones on, then play the music. like the 130s, the headphones won't activate until there is a signal to transmit, but having to turn on the base is an extra step.

another issue i had, which really didn't turn out to be an issue at all, was having to hook up the base to my dvd player via a standard headphone cord with an analogue adapter, splitting the signal to right/left audio jacks. the 130s had an analogue cord running from the base, with a standard headphone adapter [the opposite], and i had negative experiences using the 130's headphone adapter. BUT the adapter for the 170s works just fine. i plugged the right/left audio jacks into my dvd player, then hooked that to the standard headphone cord, then the headphone cord into the base. in total, it took about 7 minutes to take out of the box, plug everything in, and it was good to go.

the instruction book is a disc, but there is an illustrated instruction book with it, that i thought was more than clear an concise. the full manual, on the disc, is like 30-something pages and in a gazillion different languages, so i can see why see why sennheiser tried to save some money and put it on a disc.

also, one might hesitate over the price. these are about $100 more than i spent on the 130s, but worth every penny. there are other features to these headphones i haven't mentioned [like multiple headset pairing], which make these headphones quite versatile for any entertainment needs. though, if you are like me and love music, your music only sounds as good as the gear you use. i highly recommend these headphones.

** Update 10/5/2011 **

I'm not as militantly anti-digital music when i first wrote the review. in fact, i now listen to more digital music than cds. obviously i want to listen to music from my computer on these headphones. i use iTunes to listen to music, so i had to play around with the equalizer settings to get the right sound. also, since i still like to listen to cds and watch dvds, i decided to get airport express to allow me to keep my headphones connected to my dvd player, while listening to music through airport express' airplay feature.

the problem: airport express has a nagging feature where music will cut out randomly. for sometime i figured it had something to do with the rs 170's operating on a 2.4 ghz signal. this signal may interfere with AE's wifi signal, making the music cut-out. i then have to get up, turn off the tower, wait for AE's signal light to change from blinking orange to solid green, then turn on the tower. After further research, the problem isn't isolated to the ghz spectrum, but may be a config issue with AE. i'm continuing to play around with settings with some success and failure. if the issue is a broadcast problem or a AE config problem, i will post another update.

even still, the audio quality is top notch, and the velour ear pads haven't disintegrated yet. still worth every penny!

I just love these headphones. I also own Sennheiser's HDR 65 and HDR 140. My only complaint is there is no hard-copy user manual, just a CD or online. There is a quick guide, but it is only a picture guide with almost no text. The sound quality is great. Periodically, I have to turn off the headphones to verify what I am hearing is actually from my TV and not somewhere inside my apartment or just outside the door. I was watching the FX cable show 'Damages' and heard voices just outside my apartment door and after taking the headphones off I realized it was from the show. It was a scene inside the law office and evidently the voices were from people supposedly standing behind the people in the scene. The headphones might not have actual Surround Sound but they sure sound like they do and I didn't have the simulated Surround Sound turned on. Also, they seem to have noise canceling, even though its not stated. When I use the microwave with the headphones on, I can't hear the beep when I push the buttons. Again, I had to take the headphones off to tell if the microwave was working; it was. Even if I don't need to wear the headphones, I do when I what to hear the best sound.

There is no interference from any room in my apartment and or outside for about 50ft.

I've only had the RS 170 phones for a few days. I had expected to rate them 10 stars because of the excellent crystal-clear sound; but I believe they have a flaw that may render them unacceptable for some people (see CONS, below). I'm giving them 4 stars because they are so good - I should probably rate them either excellent or "not acceptable".
Here is my take - you may not have the same experience or have the same needs or expectations.

TYPES OF WIRELESS HEADPHONES: For those that don't know, there are broadly 3 ways by which wireless headphones receive their signal:

IR (infrared) -- these use a line-of-sight signal and avoid radio interference. They have the disadvantages of short range and reduced mobility (you have to remain within sight of the base station), but they usually do produce a clean sound.

900 MHz -- these are analogue radio headphones. The main disadvantage is susceptibility to hiss and other noise, especially when you move your head or move to another room.

2.4 GHz -- these are digital radio headphones, like the RS 170, and are more likely to be free from hiss and noise.

I bought the RS 170 phones to replace cheap ones I've been using for late-night TV, and which operate on 900 MHz, providing constant hiss, much worse when I move about.
The RS 170 sound brilliant. I've used them for late night TV and movies, and for music (radio and CDs) allowing me to move to other rooms in the house. They're comfortable to wear and I'm sure they'd be great for use on a treadmill or working out. All over my home, and in most of the garden, the sound is crystal clear with no hiss or extraneous noise. Except, that is, for the echo ...

CONS: Having read scores of reviews of wireless headphones, it seems that some people buy them to listen to movies/ music without disturbing other people. For that these phones are brilliant.
But some people buy wireless headphones because they have hearing loss (or just want the clarity that headphones provide) and use them to watch TV while their spouse listens through the TV speakers. The RS 170 phones seem to operate with a slight time shift (delay). If the loudspeakers are also on, albeit at low volume, the effect of the time shift is to produce an ECHO - this is very noticeable with dialogue, and is really annoying.

It might mean that if you listen to movies/ TV, and have the sound coming through the TV speakers as well, the RS 170 phones may not be acceptable.
If you turn the TV speakers down (or "mute") you won't notice the effect, but then no-one else in the room will be able to hear anything unless they have headphones as well.

The RS 170 are of a "closed" design, which means that sound is not supposed to leak out, and in combination with the comfortable ear-pads, they greatly attenuate ambient noise - but they don't eliminate ambient noise completely (they are not "noise-cancelling"). I wrote to SennheiserUSA 2 days ago, and received this prompt response:

"The RS 170 should block out the sound of the TV speakers. Check to
see that you have them on correctly so that there is a nice seal to
block out ambient noise.
Let me know if you have any additional questions."
Eric Palonen
Sennheiser Headphones + Headsets
1 Enterprise Drive
Old Lyme, CT 06371"

It's true that the ear-pad seal does greatly attenuate ambient sound, but it does not eliminate it. The problem is so serious that I cannot use the phones to watch TV if my girlfriend is watching also.
The more expensive model RS 180 is an "open" design - the echo problem is likely to be even worse. The more I think about this, the more I am torn -- if you have significant hearing loss, you might not notice, or care about, the echo.


OTHER FEATURES:

-- sound: The quality of the sound is better than I'd expected.
Listening to movies, I hear subtle sounds that I can't hear with loudspeakers. I can only describe the sound as crisp and clean with adequate, but not booming, bass.
I listened to some classical music CDs (Elgar) with delicate sounds as well as a full orchestra and timpani. The detail is excellent; even when I walk up my driveway the sound eventually cuts out, but there is no hiss as far as I can tell. My previous headphones were all hiss and crackle as I moved away from the base.

-- price. These are expensive, and may not be discounted for quite some time.

-- buttons. Lots of people criticised the prior design (RS 130/ 140) because the rotating volume control could catch on a pillow and move. The RS 170 has buttons for volume, mode, plus bass and [faux] surround sound. The disadvantage of buttons is that they're hard to find by touch alone. I think some people people may wind up taking the phones off to press the buttons. One advantage of the design is that the volume-up button is closest to the front and it doesn't take much practice to find it with your right thumb or finger. The BASS and SURROUND controls can be activated from the base unit. With only a little practise, I can now find the buttons by touch; they are well designed, in my opinion.

-- bass. The bass is not intrusive, even with the "bass boost" engaged. Fine for me, but some people like exaggerated bass for rock-N-roll, and they may find the bass to be light.

-- surround sound. It's simlated surround sound, and I haven't used it enough to have an opinion.

-- charging batteries - yes they need 16 hours for first charge, but it only takes a moment to slip in standard alkaline batteries (just don't leave them in when you put the headset on the charger).

-- connecting - connecting is very easy - I took the time to route the wires through the coiled conduit. Some people will want to connect to a TV set. I connected to an AV receiver (I used "tape monitor out") so I can quickly switch between TV, radio and CD player. I also connected them to my iPod, but somehow that seems like a tautology.

-- range - Sennheiser claim 260 feet range. My house was built to defeat cell phone signals and may not be a good test. They work all over the house and in some of the garden and the driveway, but they do cut out at much less than 260 feet. That may just be a feature of my house. I didn't buy them for extreme range and I'm very satisfied.

In summary I think these phones are great - they so enhance the experience of watching a movie that I'm not sure I want to forgo them when watching movies with my girlfriend. The echo problem may be a deal breaker for some.

The Sennheiser RS 170 is the first pair of wireless earphones I've owned. The sound quality is very good. There is absolutely no hiss that I can hear. I can put them on and wear them sitting here at the computer or in washing the dishes.
The negative observations are what has been stated before.
There is a significant echo. I live alone so can turn the volume down when near the speakers, but when any friends come over I won't be able to use them and the speakers. I have hearing loss so watching a movie without overwhelming my friends with the volume was one reason to purchase them. The remark by the Sennheiser representative is wrong. The phones may be closed in design but you have to put the volume really low on the speakers, or high on the phones to get past the echo.
The buttons were not well thought out. The power button is located between the up and down volumes and without removing the set to see what I'm doing, I'm as likely to turn the unit off as to change the volume.
As a rule I don't make changes with the volume after it's set, so the design flaw is minimal for my usage.
The range given is supremely optimistic. I can go to the three surrounding rooms with no dropout, but any other rooms and the phones are clicking on and off. Perhaps 40 feet then a wall stops the transmission.

Having stated all the negatives I need to say if something happened to the phones, I would go out and buy the same set again tomorrow. The clear, well balanced sound is impressive to hear. The volume doesn't decrease as one gets further away; it is simply on and off, which is easier on my ears.
I may eventually run a hard wire to connect the Sennheiser to a more central location in my house.

First I'd like to say I have been into home theater for about twelve years. Other than my blu ray player I don't have the best money can buy but it's by any measure a very good system i.e. Oppo BD 83 blu ray player, Toshiba Regza 55 LCD TV, Yamaha RX-V 465 receiver,Infinity speakers. Because I live in an apartment and have had complaints from neighbors about noise I reluctantly entertained the idea of headphones. So I did some research and decided on the Sennheiser RS 170's.
Since I have never owned headphones before the only comparison I can make is to my standing home theater system. Well, let me tell you that I now prefer to watch all my movies with these RS 170 headphones. When I have to watch movies without them because of other viewers I do so reluctantly. Only if I could play my standing home theater system at theater level volume would it outperform these headphones and mainly only in the bass area. I get a much better experience with these headphones than I do with my regular system at lower volumes.
I've been using them with the surround sound and bass boost feature for about three weeks and I am still amazed at the quality of the sound coming out of them. I have to remind myself that I'm not listening to a full blown theater system. I have watched movies with very strong sound codecs like The Dark Knight, Apocalypto and Shooter and I have been blown away by the sound range these headphones are capable of. I actually do not miss my regular system at all and I'm amazed I can say that since I was very reluctant to use headphones to begin with. Now my neighbors are happy and I'm also happy. A great solution.
I would have absolutely no hesitation recommendin

I am and have been a big Sennheiser enthusiast and frequently use my classic wired audiophile HD 580's for critical listening of favorite lossless tunes in my collection. I have never been a fan of wireless headphones, but took a chance on Nov 09 Black Friday, when Amazon had the Sennheiser RS 130 Wireless Surround Sound Headphones (900MHz, analogue fm) for $49.95. We have them connected directly to our television panel for private listening and they do an absolutely amazing noise free, hassle free job....I would never guess wireless could be so good!

Since that time I noticed Sennheiser introduced a whole new line (RS 160, 170,& 180) of wireless phones that looked to be a even better wireless implementation using the Kleer technology (digital 2.4MHz)....likely the reason the RS 130's were closeout priced. Well recently I had a chance to pick up the Sennheiser Wireless headphones RS 170. They are impressive to say the least....pretty much on a par with my trusty HD 580 wired set. The freedom of no wires and true HiFi sound is so enjoyable. They work flawlessly through out my whole home, including out on the patio.

The only problem I encountered initially was with the dock/transmitter "charge" light that is supposed to extinguish when the batteries in the headset are fully charged; my light never went out. The headphones still performed well; none the less it still bothered me enough to troubleshoot a bit. Batteries seemed to fully charge ie measured the expected voltage. I tried cleaning the contacts yielding no improvement. Finally I tried a set of Tenergy 1000 mAh NiMH AAA rechargables (vs the GP Industrial 600mAh NiMH included with the RS 170); they charged right up and the charge light extinguished as it should. The easily changed batteries are under each ear piece; in fact one could use Alkaline batteries in a pinch if desired (but obviously not to be used with the charging dock). The fact that the 2 batteries required are in each earpiece makes the headset very balanced (my RS 130's had both batteries in the left earpiece); the headset is very light weight and comfortable for an extended period.

As others have mentioned the buttons on the headset could have been better placed, and tactually designed; I typically take the headset off when I want to adjust the volume or select the optional Bass enhancement and Surround functions, so I know what button I am pressing. The other annoying problem is once you turn off the headset, or turn off the input device at the transmitter, the system reverts to standby mode within 5 minutes; Sennheiser calls it energy saving mode, ie the reason the headset has the "Energy Star" seal. This means you must not only turn the headset on, but actually return to the transmitter location and turn it on as well, which becomes quite an annoyance. My RS 130 wireless automatically synced back up to the transmitter (which is always on) whenever you turn them on, or pick them up from there charging dock.

For many years I used a pair of Sennheiser TR-140's. They were great headphones except for the design of the volume control knob. Like many users, I used these headphones to watch TV in bed without disturbing my spouse. On the old model the volume was controlled by a knob that was poorly placed and would always bump against the pillow suddenly turning the volume way up... or way down.

When I heard that Sennheiser had finally redesigned the volume control, I was excited to get a new pair.

What a disappointment.

They are well made, sound great, work well, get great range... all the signs of a quality product. But there are two glaring problems with these headphones.

POWER SWITCH ON TRANSMITTER: With the old ones, the only power switch was on the headphones. I just hit the power switch on the headphones and I was good to go. With the RS-170's there are now two power switches you have to turn on each time you use them. This means I have to get out of bed and go over to the transmitter (which is plugged into the cable box across the room) and turn the transmitter on... every time I want to use them. This was not a design improvement.

POWER SWITCH / VOLUME CONTROLS ON HEADPHONES: The buttons on the new model are tiny... They are all on one side of the headphones... and the Power switch is located in between the volume up and volume down buttons. On the older model, the power switch was on one side.. the volume control on the other. I don't understand the benefit of putting the power switch in between the tiny volume buttons. It is really easy to turn them off when you are trying to adjust the volume.

I believe Sennheiser would benefit by conducting some market research with the types of customers who really use their products and in a real world environment.