Sennheiser Consumer Audio RS 175 RF Wireless Headphone System, Black

First let me say that I suffer a serious hearing loss which makes it difficult to watch television with my wife because I have to have the volume up so loud and even then I can't hear everything. I have had two sets of sennheiser RS 120's for a few years now and loved them. My wife wanted to get me these for Christmas this year because they were apparently capable of surround sound. Now I'm not an audiophile but I will try to point out some pro's and con's here.The 175's are an over the ear fit as opposed to the 120's being an on the ear fit. The 175's fit much tighter which is very nice when up and moving about yet the tight fit makes it difficult to hear when my wife is speaking to me during a show which she does quite often. I'll let you decide if that's is a pro or a con. The 120's were loose enough that I could hear her speak even though I still had to remove the headset to understand her. The looseness had a downside though in that if I went to the fridge for a drink or snack and bent down the headset fell off. Not so with the 175's. Both sets have excellent sound reproduction even though the 120's are analog. The 175's can be digital or analog which can be decided by a switch on the back of the transmitter. You have the option of connecting to the sound source by optical cable or 3.5 jack which in my case required a y adapter converting to RCA jacks. I was amazed to find that there is a very noticeable difference between digital and analog, digital being the best by far. With the digital you don't hear any static or interference noises in non-dialog or silent spots. At least I couldn't hear any and my wife said in her words "this is fantastic".sound with the 175's:You can switch between regular stereo, low SRS, and High SRS by clicking a button on the side of the headset. This can also be controlled at the transmitter. There is a very noticeable difference between each setting. I have noticed that on low SRS the background recordings seem to be moved back and reduced in volume while the main dialog remains at regular volume. Ever had one of those instances where the main character is talking in a whisper voice, which seems to be in vogue these days, and is suddenly overrun by the background noise, which also seems to be a problem these days. Well, low SRS helps to overcome that problem for me. I can hear the dialog very clearly and if you've lived for a while having to constantly asked "what did he/she say?" then you can really appreciate that fact.In High SRS there is a distinct surround sound quality. I've never been able to experience this before due to my hearing loss so to me it is awesome. I love Paul Simons music, especially "Graceland", "father and daughter" and "late in the evening". I just thought I liked them before but after listening to them through the 175's I have heard notes and instruments that I didn't realize were there. Now I love the songs. Having discovered that I went back and watched a couple of my favorite movies and discovered background sounds that I had been missing and they add so much more to the entertainment value. Keep in mind that I have experienced all this with the 120's also and there is a large difference.continued pros sound aside:I like that the controls are on the side of the 175 headset because I often recline when watching television and this keeps the controls from contacting anything and changing the settings unintentionally.This was a problem with the 120 sets because the controls were behind the headset.The 175 set, to me, is much more comfortable because of the padding and because possibly of the tighter fit which keeps them in place verses the loose fit of the 120 set.cons (maybe):The 175 set is only capable of employing two headsets.The 120 can employ several at one time. I'm not sure how many but certainly more than four because I have that many headsets.The 120 has an option of three channels selectable on the transmitter and the headset which means you can use more than one in a household without interfering with each other. This is the situation at my house. I have one set in the bedroom and one in the living room and we can use them separately on separate channels at the same time. My grandkids love the headsets so this settles a problem when they come to visit and want cartoons while I want news.The 175 has only one channel so this setup would probably not be possible.The 175 power button has to be held down for about three seconds to activate while the 120 has a slide switch. The 175 has a very slight delay between activation and transmitter connection. The 120 is instant. This caused a rather humorous incident early on. My wife was watching a movie on Netflix and I picked up the headset, turned it on, placed it on my head and thought I was waiting on a connection when in reality I was in a very quite point in the movie just before an explosion and massive gunfire. I was on my way to my recliner when all hell broke loose and it was so realistic I almost wet my pants and overran the recliner. It was apparently the highlight of my wife's day. She still laughs about it. Her lack of concern about my bruised shins and ego aside...after the fact it was funny.I know this was lengthy but I hope it helps someone in my situation to make an informed decision.In short I would never had purchased the 175's for myself due to the cost because I wouldn't have believed they would make this much difference. Now that I've experienced them I would buy them in a heartbeat.Now a word about sennheiser's customer service. I had a situation early on where I lost the optical connection with my TV. I was quick to blame the new headset simply because they were new. I sent an email to sennheiser in hopes they could find a solution before I had to send the set back. I had a return mail in about 45 minutes telling me what to do. Turns out the problem was with the television and not the sennheiser transmitter. Quick response, great customer service.

I rated these 5 stars years ago, but never wrote a review. So here I am in 2025, STILL using these. I purchased these back in 2018 (7 years of heavy use). The only thing I've had to replace is the ear cushions from excessive wear and tear, and the rechargeable batteries which wear down every few years (normal wear). I use them as PC gaming headphones. Before these, my headsets would last a year or 2 (tops). The sound quality is 5/5. Setup is easy. It has 2 different ways to connect to a PC (TOS link or 3.5mm connector). This was important since my newer motherboard, sadly, only had a 3.5mm connection. It sounds great with either connection. I love them for the immersive sound when I'm running around Baldur's Gate, and my husband loves them because they're big enough to fit over his large ears, and he doesn't have to hear me nagging him to do his honeydew list.The only downside to these is when the batteries go flat (after about 7-8 hours of full surround and bass), it blasts your ears out with an annoying non-stop beep, and you can't charge them while using them. They also take nearly 12 hours to charge. My solution is a spare batter charger on my desk to quickly swap them out if needed.I would absolutely buy these again, and I highly recommend these for PC (never used them for anything but that).

After much research, I finally pulled the trigger on 11/22/15 and ordered the top rated Sennheiser RS 175 Headphones over the ear phoneswith Amazon Prime for $245, with no added tax or shipping costs. These were essential for domestic tranquility with others in the house because my new SAMSUNG 4K UHDTV and Soundbar system speaker bass which you could hear all over the house even with a low volume setting of 10. These got as low as $199 for Black Friday, but I still got a good price on them.General Comments:As far as the hookup to my Samsung UN65JS8500 (see my Amazon review)......a couple of things your should know that took me about an hour to figure out which might save you some time and pain. First, I already had a Samsung Soundbar on the 4K UHDTV which ran off the single optical out from the one-connect mini box. These headphones are not Bluetooth but have their own wireless frequency transmitter direct to your headphones up to 100 meters away depending on your walls. You don't have to pair them up with the UHDTV and you can get a second pair of them for a viewing companion. They are great phones but you need to set them up special on this Samsung:1. Split the Optical out into 2 cables if you have a soundbar. Get the Toslink Digital Optical Audio Splitter 1x3...1 input to 3 possible output devices. The VHD-TS1X3 will cost you around $25 on Prime or at stores like Fry's. Also purchase a 1 meter optical cable from your one-connect mini box to the splitter input port for about $10, Then you will have A, B, or C output ports and supplied cables from the splitter to your soundbar, headphones, and one additional device if you need it.2. On the Samsung Menu Sound Option. Very important, as it took me an hour to figure out what settings to use as my first hookup with the headphones was dead silent and there was nobody to help me at Samsung or Sennheiser:a. Sound Mode: Up to you, but I like "Movie" for the better base in most movies and 4K series on Prime or Netflix.b. TV Speaker: Stay with SoundBar (if you have one) or TV speakers....not Bluetooth, or Optical Out options.c. Additional Settings: HDMI Out:.....set to PCM and Audio Format: also set to PCM. Headphones require PCM format on UHDTV.Once you do this, the headphones and the soundbar will both send out fantastic audio simultaneously......so you must mute the soundbar (or regular TV speakers) to eliminate any echo effect time delays....but fiber optic is so fast you should not hear any. My Audio delay is set to 100 ms with my HD Audio: OFF. You may need to play with these depending on your speaker/Soundbar setup.PROS:1. Great sound fidelity and reproduction. No noise once you put them on. You hear voices and stereo sound effects you can't hear fromstandard UHDTV speakers or soundbars which adds to your viewing experience.2. I can take them to any room in the house within 30 feet upstairs or downstairs and not miss a sound. No sound dropouts anywhere,even the garage, bathroom, or outside.3. Fairly easy to setup once you have your optical cable or stereo audio cable setup and your sound source menu options setup properlyfor the Sennheiser.4. Nice to have the transmitter post nearby to charge the headphones when not in use and red/green charging indicator status.5. Good reference CD. I suggest you print out the entire 32 page instruction manual before you start the setup or view the PDF. You can still read every page if you double up to print 2 pages per sheet for 16 pages with landscape format. It will take you 10 minutes to read it.6. Nice to confirm your current BASS BOOST or SURROUND SOUND setting lights on the transmitter post if within view.7. I am still experimenting with BASS and Surround Sound settings Hi and Low for movies, normal shows, and music channels. So far, I like the just the extra BASS BOOST setting for movies. You need to experiment for yourself.CONS:1. Headphone batteries: Swap out the supplied AAA batteries with the Energizer AAA rechargeable batteries, which charge up much faster and last a lot longer than the German supplied "ReCyko" batteries. You need 1 battery in for the left and right side headphone. Volume controls, + or -, base high/low, and surround sound buttons are on the right side headphone, which take a while to get use to. Don't use your remote or you will unmute your soundbar or TV speakers and alert others in your house and defeat your headphone privacy.2. All controls on the right earphone. Very nice if you are right-handed or ok with your right hand if left-handed. The other problem is that the 4 main quadrants of the control circle: BASS, SURROUND SOUND, VOL -, and VOL +, are basically on a flat surface, and unless you have a mutant eye or good tactile feel on your right thumb, you really can't feel which control is which. The first few days, I had to take off my headphones multiple times to see which control I was touching. Problem solved: I got some 3/8" round soft felt tabs with a stick-on side on each control. The BASS and SURROUND tabs are a little thicker than the sound control tabs, so I could feel, where I was on the control circle. All I had to remember was the BASS was to the left of the SURROUND control and that VOL - was to the left of VOL +. Sennheiser should improve this ergonomic problem with future models.3. Break-in pain. I have only had these headphones about 2 weeks, and even with the padding around the ears and on the top of my head, there is definitely a dull throbbing pain around my ears once I remove the headphones after about an hour of viewing. There is no way to adjust the tightness of these phones on the sides of your head. However, as others have suggested, it might take a month or so of normal use to loosen them up...or maybe you can stretch them out over a large wooden block when not in use.I may change my 4* rating to 5* in a future review update if the pain issue resolves itself or my head shrinks. We'll see.