Sennheiser RS120 II On-Ear Wireless RF Headphones with Charging Cradle

UPDATED/Embellished on 11/11/2017:Ten Stars!I always read reviews here prior to moving ahead. I read many of the one star reviews on this product, however, another thing I consider is the number of 3 or less star reviews compared to 4 and 5. So I took a chance and must say these headphones are working very well for me. The range is awesome with hardly any interference, the battery lasts long enough and the cycle of pleasing is sufficient.Seems most of the negativity is based on the unit being difficult to the right frequency. The tuning wheel must be turned very slowly, as it's covering many frequency bands with every tiny movement. Not difficult at all if the tuning is done slowly. This is FINE tuning.As for the range? It's unbelievably good. So long as the base is not in a metal room, in your average house with drywall you can easily walk to every part of the home, garage and yard without losing the signal. Of course if there is a lot of metal, chain link or if the base is in a bomb shelter, the range will be less.There is also an additional bank of frequencies available simply by flipping the switch on the bottom. More than enough tuning capacity to meet most every, if not all applications.Negative reviews regarding hiss are either caused by poor transmitter location and/or improper frequency tuning. Also, it's important to know if there is no signal going into the system, there is nothing to transmit but static, and that's exactly what you'll get! When the audio signal is interrupted (pausing or stopping a DVD, TV powering off, etc.) The headphone system will "time out" after no input signal is sensed after 2-3 minutes and you will indeed get bombarded with white noise / static. THIS IS NOT A DEFECT. If there's no "sound" going into the system, there's just dead air being transmitted. Dead air sounds like this: "Swishhhhhhhhhh!"Another complaint had to do with extreme difficulty hanging the headphones on the charger/transmitter/base. If the base is level there is no problem. I did however experience what one reviewer documented, which is having to tinker a long time hanging the headphones on the base until the charging light would stay on. Over the years the metal strips on the base (which charge the headphones) can and will collect dirt or tarnish. I used a jewelry cleaning rag to shine them up and once again, just plopping the phones on the charger is all it takes.Someone mentioned the volume and tuning wheels are too close together, but they're not too close so long as you're careful. If you're wearing gloves or have 5 thumbs on one hand, yes, you will have trouble turning the tuning and volume separately.Only thing for me is the light weight of the headphones. Overall this is a merry thing, except when I need to tie my shoes or swing my head around wildly (which I often do when reviewing here). All in all the price, comfort, function and sound quality are awesome, and that's a word I use way too much, just like most you all. Enjoy these, you will not regret a day in at all.As of the time of this embellished input of informationary review for your reading digestion, I've had my set over six years now. I have moved 3 times and have obtained phenomenal signal in all 3 locations. I've sat in my car outside, walked around the house, every room, upstairs, downstairs, etc. (basements might be a problem) out in the yard, etc. As I mentioned earlier, the transmitter must be in a suitable location, away from AC lines, metal, and formulated ionic sentries, etc.The tone is excellent! Better than the TV speakers. The original rechargeable batteries lasted almost 3-years before they quit. Easy to replace. You can even replace the rechargeable batteries with regular batteries, just DO NOT hang it on the charging station.Also! Additional headsets can be purchased and will work off one transmitter, however, since additional headphone sets cost more than the entire kit (with charger/transmitter), I'd recommend just getting two kits just because. Best if plugged into the external speaker output on your TV, then the TV can be turned down as these have their own volume. Multiple headsets are a great if you rent, have kids, rent from kids or have other reasons to keep your TV volume lower than any particular need therewith. Only thing with multiple headsets would be the recharging with only one base. Guess what? You can put [2] regular AAA batteries in the additional set(s) and forgo the recharging in those set(s).Considering the excellent tone and range, the excellent reputation Sennheiser enjoys, all this $300 level quality and performance for less than $70?Geez! Such a deal should be kept secret, so, please don't tell anyone!10/26/2020: I had updated and reduced stars, thinking my second unit has also stopped transmitting after a feew years. Well, I found out this was due to the unit needing an internal reset (after a power surge). Unplugged from AC and Audio, removed batteries from headset, waited 15 minutes and POW! Both units work!So, 5 starts remain.

After reading other people's reviews I decided that the first thing I am going to do is test the complaints. So certainly, I tested the most popular complaint which is the auto-shut off feature, which turns off the transmitter base and leaves the listener with loud static. First of all, it is not loud static because these headphones DO NOT have the power to blast your ears as some reviewers commented. It does startle you a bit if you've been listening to silence for several minutes. But it does not blast your ears at all. One fact nobody mentioned is that the transmitter will wait for about 3 minutes of silence before it shuts off, which is plenty of time for most situations. Some reviewers made it seem like it would shut off immediately after it detected silence. Obviously, if you're going to be using these headsets with a computer it could be a problem. In that case, I would use a wired headset because when you are browsing the internet on a computer, you could spend a long time without hearing a sound. So think carefully what you're going to be using these headsets for before you buy them.Now for a bit of critique: In 2011, don't you think that technology is advanced enough to have implemented at least an auto-silence feature so that when the transmitter shuts off, it mutes the headphone? I mean FM auto-mute is an 1980's technology that even some car radios had back then to mute the FM static when no signal is being received. But anyway, on to my next item.Along with the auto-shut off feature many people hate (which I find to be no problem at all), some complained that after the transmitter shut off, if you started sending audio to the transmitter base again, the transmitter did not turn back on. This is totally false. If you spend a whole 3 minutes listening to dead air silence and the transmitter shuts off, when the transmitter begins to receive audio again it will turn back on automatically and the headset will receive the audio again. However, what I found disturbing is why doesn't the headset turn off after it stops receiving the signal from the transmitter? I waited a whole 5 minutes after the transmitter shut off listening to FM static and the headset never shut off. If I was a manufacturer of quality products, I would've considered that.Onto more positive things. For most listening occasions, these headsets will deliver crisp, full range audio with punchy bass. I was very pleased with the sound quality. However, if you are a DJ, don't expect these are going to be loud enough for you. I did find that you could easily make the bass distort as the headset itself is not powerful enough for me (I am a DJ). But for most occasions, (watching TV, listening to music in the quiet, etc.) these will do fine, though. What I found is you need to be careful with the audio input to the base. If it is too loud, you may get distortion (which is natural), and if it is not loud enough, you may hear some hissing in the background. So for those of you complaining about hissing, check to make sure your source is loud enough. I am using the headphone output from my home stereo so I can control the audio level going to the base. One nice thing though is that the base will automatically level the sound for you. If the incoming audio is low, the base will automatically amplify the audio level being transmitted to the headset. If you suddenly increase the audio level going to the base, it will automatically level it down to keep the same consistent level for you. Nice feature! I did not find that these feature dampened the dynamic range though, so your audio contrast between loud and soft sounds is nicely maintained.I can't comment much on the battery life as I just got these, but I will probably update on that in the future. But about the signal range, I find it to be very powerful. Very minor static when walking around which is normal for FM communications, but I can go to the backyard without a problem, but why would I need to do that when I can't see my TV from there?Another thing, I find wearing them for a long time to be no problem. They are very comfortable and the open design is not a problem at all. Some people complained about the open design allowing for ambient noise to contaminate the audio experience, but to be honest, once I was listening to something I could not notice any distracting ambient noise.One last thing, I find that the volume control and frequency tuning controls are hard to find by touch while wearing the headset. I guess I might get used to that in the future, but I always find myself struggling looking all around the area where I think they are with my hands until I find them. Same thing with the power switch. Other than that, these are fine headsets that I find most people will be pleased with. Since all I care is sound quality, comfort and durability, the minor flaws of this product is nothing to complain about so I gave it 5 stars. Very good for the price!