Customer Reviews

Sony MDR-RF975RK Wireless Headphone System with Noise Reduction System

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After receiving the headphones and following the directions to charge 24 hours, they worked fine the first couple times they were used. Then I began noticing that the indicator light on the base showed the power on when they were not in use. Shortly after, the headphones started to die after a few minutes use and would not recharge even when left as long as 2 days undisturbed.

Sony instructed me to send them in for service. After many, many follow-up calls I was told that my headphones could not be repaired and I would be sent a replacement. After many, many more calls Sony informed me that there were no replacements available and none expected within the foreseeable future. Sony offered me a full refund of the purchase price, which I accepted.

After 3 months I am again looking for a set of wireless headphones. The Sennheiser RS-65 set looks good to me. While I applaud Sony for doing the right thing and issuing me a refund, I cannot recommend this Sony product.

I have had these about 1 week and so far I am pleased. I live in a subidivion house in the suburbs and the interference is not that bad. In the same room of my 2 level house, they pick up wonderfully and there is no static or interference anywhere (even if I am moving around). This has not been the case with many of the analog 900MHz/2.4GHz phones I have used in the past. They seem to have places with static even 2 feet from the transmitter but not with these headphones. However, the cordless phones do not seem to get worse with greater distance from the transmitter, but these headphones do get a little worse when you leave the room. As I walk through the rest of my house, there will be a few small spots where I will get some static, but almost all of the time is spent with no static at all. Sometimes there is no static, but volume just seems to go down slightly. I am not sure if this is a signal receiving problem or some other problem.

I was not surprised to find out that my 900MHz telephone interferes horribly with these headphones. When I get a call or turn on the telephone, the headphones are unusable. But even with the phone handset turned off, there must be some handshaking between the base because there was a click that would occur about 1 time per second in the headphones. I pulled the battery from the phone handset and it went away. So I either have to stop using that handset, or remember to put it in the metal filing cabinet before I listen to my headphones. My 2 other 2.4GHz phones do not cause any problems. Overall I am happy with these headphones.

Pros:

1) Really good sound
2) Auto on feature (come on when you put them on your head)
3) Better than expected reception.
4) Pretty comfortable, and despite there size, do not feel bulky
5) Very long NiMH battery life (24 hours)
6) I am listening to more music than ever!!

Cons

1) Need to keep 900MHz phones away (this might be a problem in an apartment where you can't control what kind of phone your neighbor uses)
2) Full battery charging takes 24 hours!! Apparently the charger is just a timer that cuts off in 24 hours. If you charge for 24 hours, take them off of the base and put them right back on, it would charge for another 24 hours.
3) You can get to the battery, but I don't think it is really meant to be replaceable. And I am sure it is an expensive battery pack (but I don't think it is meant to be replaceable because they do not tell you the replacement pack, they just tell you how to remove it before disposing of the headphones)
4) Fairly difficult to get back on the base so that they can charge.

I almost bought an infrared (IR) set of headphones because I mainly just needed wireless in my one room. Also, I heard IR headphones have almost no interference in the same room, but of course they do not work at all out of the room. But I have found that I enjoy walking around the house and still having the music playing.

BTW, I bought these headphones because I love music and listen to everything from classical guitar to doom metal and my wife doesn't like anything but pop music. So I think she is happier with my purchase than I am.

I was very happy with the headphones until one afternoon they stopped working. I played with the controls and modes without luck. I moved them around on my head and they began working again (as if a wire was not making good contact somewhere). The next day they died completely.

I called sony since they were still under the 90 day waranty and after two long phone calls they said that they are eligable for replacement. However, they will be replaced only with a refurbished set that is "similar", but the person on the phone could provide no details on what kind of replacement this would be.

For the price I would expect better service (ie money back, replacement with new unit), and that they would last more than fourty days.

I've had these for about 6 months. They sound great and work very well far from the source. To me the most important part of the headphones is how comfortable they feel. These feel good, but I eventually feel the need to remove them [perhaps it's the earrings].
AMENDING my review to ONE STAR: these headphones stopped working after about 8 months

I bought these headphones so I wouldn't disrupt my room-mate and I love how they sound, and the quality of manufacture. The signal carrys really well over distances. And They are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. I would recommend these things.

We bought the 900 MHZ unit because of its light wt. and distance of use. We spent the first 48 hr charging it like directed, it should have taken 24 hr., but the light did go off finally. The unit worked great all around the house with very little static. After using it 5 days the battery ran out, we put it on the recharger for another 48 hours, and the charging light never went off as directed telling us it was now charged compleatly. We called Sony and was informed the battery charge light and charge should shut off after 24 hours if not it is defective and should be replaces or repaired. We took it back and got another unit only to have the battery light never shut off after 36 hours the first time around. Sony no longer has any service centers and sends you to "Parts/Accessory Inquiries" these people know even less about this device. Are the direction wrong, will the unit battery give out from over charging, will the head set finally not recharge at all, for $150.00 thoses are big questions.

This sony PRODUCT MDR-RF975RK was aweful. The volume was very low, I had to crank the volume on my sterio to hear anything, there was lots of static and as you moved around it would suddenly turn into a deafening screeming sound. I was unable to use these comfortably at home or at work. In neither place do I have a cordless phone, but there was tons of interferance and they were so abrasive to my ears I gave up beacuse I was afraid I'd get ear damage. I let them charge for a full 24 hours before I used them.
I would not even try these- they sound worse than a 2$ raido speaker. My guess is that you have to have a chord, or maybe infared technology instead, or maybe you can;t live in a city ( like I do), and must not have any electornics anywhere near them.
I bought these from ( and returned them to) Vanns, which was A GOOD COMPANY to deal with. I thank Vanns for refunding my money so quickly.

I almost returned to seller. Went back and read the doc again. It says to turn up the volume to at least 5 or 6. After turning it up, no more problems with static.

I almost returned to seller. Went back and read the doc again. It says to turn up the volume to at least 5 or 6. After turning up the MusicMatch volume on the PC, no more problems with static. Not sure if it works well with CD players.