Sennheiser 170 vs 180, worth it? Or other choices for TV and music??

Richdog

Richdog

Richdog

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Hi guys,

I am in the market for a good pair of wireless cans for late night music and TV/movie use. I can get the RS170's for £127, or the RS180's for £175.

So, my quesitons:

1) Are the RS180's worth £50 more than the RS170's?
2) Is there anything as good or better in this price cactegory that you would reccommend? Sony MDR-DS6500 perhaps?

Thanks in advance for any advice. :)

Rich.
 
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Cookeh said:
Any reason they must be wireless? Wired would be cheaper and offer better sound quality for the price.
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You'd have to be sat fairly close to the TV or have cables running around the place :/

I still have an old pair of Sennheiser RS130 wireless headphones and I still use them regularly. Obviously compared to my Beyer T1s they don't really compare but wireless is a great benefit sometimes.

If you've never had a decent set of headphones then I would imagine any of those would sound good to you and if you've had decent ones then they'll at least sound ok :P
 
Phal said:
You'd have to be sat fairly close to the TV or have cables running around the place :/

I still have an old pair of Sennheiser RS130 wireless headphones and I still use them regularly. Obviously compared to my Beyer T1s they don't really compare but wireless is a great benefit sometimes.

If you've never had a decent set of headphones then I would imagine any of those would sound good to you and if you've had decent ones then they'll at least sound ok :P
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Depending on the 'phone you can have detachable cables and therefore 3m or more is doable - I know my cans came with a 1.8m cable and 3m cable as standard - true, you might not want cables trailing around but as you also say, the sound quality will be grossly inferior.
 
Cookeh said:
Depending on the 'phone you can have detachable cables and therefore 3m or more is doable - I know my cans came with a 1.8m cable and 3m cable as standard - true, you might not want cables trailing around but as you also say, the sound quality will be grossly inferior.
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You'd struggle to tell the difference between the RS180s and a standard mid-range pair of headphones tbh
 
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Richdog said:
Yes they need to be wireless, and im aware of the pros and con of both. Cheers. :)
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In that case the 170s :) Main difference is they are closed cans, better for noise isolation and will leak less - presumably a factor in why you're getting headphones for the usage you have outlined.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/innerfidelitys-wall-fame-wireless

choose which one you can afford
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Good site, thanks.

Cookeh said:
In that case the 170s :) Main difference is they are closed cans, better for noise isolation and will leak less - presumably a factor in why you're getting headphones for the usage you have outlined.
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Leakage isn't a big issue, I just want them for late night movie watching as I live in an apartment, so can't blast out the sound too late.

I am curious if to Sennheiser has plans to replace the RS170/RS180 though, considering then are now a few years old...
 
Psycho Sonny said:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-Wireless-Circumaural-Over-Ear-Headphone-Black/dp/B007RMNNN0
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He was talking about a new revised "220s"model though... those are the 2012 model right?

you would have to be crazy though to buy these when you could buy a wireless mixamp for £60-£80 then Fidelio X1's for £140

you could then also use the setup for console gaming, pc gaming, etc.
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Ok thanks Sonny I had looked at wired to wireless solutions but never seen this mixamp mentioned... only the Bluetooth solutions.

I found the Astro GamingMixAmp 5.8... is there a better solution than this? http://www.astrogaming.com/mixamp™-pro/3AM99-HBU9X-975.html

As for wired cans... I really love the look of the Sennheiser HD598 and apparently they sound awesome too. http://www.head-fi.org/products/sennheiser-hd-598

Are the Fidelio X1's noticeably better?

PS: Bass is not an issue for me... I mostly listen to trance and movie soundtracks... as well as movies of course.
 
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Richdog said:
He was talking about a new revised "220s"model though... those are the 2012 model right?



Ok thanks Sonny I had looked at wired to wireless solutions but never seen this mixamp mentioned... only the Bluetooth solutions.

I found the Astro GamingMixAmp 5.8... is there a better solution than this? http://www.astrogaming.com/mixamp™-pro/3AM99-HBU9X-975.html

As for wired cans... I really love the look of the Sennheiser HD598 and apparently they sound awesome too. http://www.head-fi.org/products/sennheiser-hd-598

Are the Fidelio X1's noticeably better?

PS: Bass is not an issue for me... I mostly listen to trance and movie soundtracks... as well as movies of course.
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first of all

http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/audiophile-headphones-wireless-digital-rs-220

there is no RS220s just the RS220, I think the other poster missed out a ' before the s.


Second of all there are 3 MIXAMPS to date, the original wireless 5.8 MIXAMP which is no longer available new (second hand and ebay only) then a 2012 model and then a 2013 model, both the newer models are WIRED and designed for gaming consoles tbh more than anything else.

It only takes a TOSLINK input so you need to use it with an optical out on whatever you are using.

You then have a transmitter and a receiver, so you will have a wire coming from the headphones into the receiver.

source > optical out > mixamp transmitter > mixamp receiver > wire > headphones


the mixamp can only take certain signals like dolby digital 5.1, it won't accept DTS or PCM, I believe stereo should be fine but I've never tried it.

I own a 5.8 wireless mixamp and use it with my PS4, it's mainly a console gaming device but it could be adapted for music/movie use.

It has superior sound quality to the newer 2012 and 2013 models even though it's wireless (go figure).

Do you game on console at all? If you do then I would get this to cover all the bases, if not then it's a bit of a ghetto setup for music/movies but it does work and it is good but you will have a receiver hooked up to you.


To answer your question about Fidelio X1's and HD 598, the Fidelio X1 is cheaper, has bass (which is extremely rare for open cans) and is on a similar level to HD 600 and HD 650 (they cost 2 times as much as the HD 598), has better build quality, easily replaceable and removable cable.

Basically the Fidelio X1 trumps the HD 598 at everything apart from looks, although IMO the Fidelio X1 is a good looking headphone in it's own right just very Princess Leia (big driver and housing) so it's only an indoor can, you would look stupid walking around outside with it on.

I think the 598 is the better gaming headphone due to lack of bass but the Fidelio X1 is no slouch for gaming.

I own HTF 600 (bassy), HD 595 (the 598's older brother and my competitive gaming can), HD25-1 II's (my portable can - used by all the top dj's around the world) and my Fidelio X1's were dispatched today (from flubit for £140, if you want an invite let me know it gives you a discount on everything at amazon basically).

I am now selling the HTF 600's (in members market due to getting Fidelio X1's).

The only downside to the Fidelio X1 is that the ear pads aren't removable, so if you don't take good care of them you may need to send them back to phillips for repair or rip them off and then glue new ones on. TBH that isn't really something you need to worry about they should last 5-10 years easily if you look after them. By then someone on head fi will have came up with an elegant solution for replacing them.

So think of the Fidelio X1's as being a £300 can available for £140 and the HD 598's as a £120 can available for £165. The RS 220 is probably on a similar level to my HD 595's which can be had for £70-£75 second hand but for £400 due to all the wireless stuff being nicely built in and high quality, etc.

Your paying through the nose to get something that is nice, elegant and built in, rather than bodged together ghetto style like a wireless mixamp would be.
 
Hmm, so basically go ghetto and have the same or less wireless quality than an RS180... or get an RS180 and have it all neatly integrated for the same sound quality as Id be getting from the wired cans (with receiver) anyway, until I (if ever) plugged them in.

Guess I'll just have to have a think on it and see which wins out for my potential usage.

Thanks Sonny, very helpful info. :)
¨
EDIT - Plus an invite to Flubit would be great please. :)
 
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I would be willing to bet that a wireless MIXAMP plus Fidelio X1 would beat a RS180 for sound quality very easily.

Probably the RS220 too.

It would be ghetto in the sense that you would have a wire running onto a wireless receiver which you would then slip onto your jeans or put in your pocket or rest on the sofa/table beside you. It's a messier setup since it has a receiver and a wire on you whereas it's built into the sennheiser headsets at the expense of sound quality albeit they are good sets.

It wasn't really intended for music/movies but for gaming (has mic inputs) but can be used as such easily you just don't plug in a mic.

It only has one optical input though.

What are your sources? is it a blu ray player? or what?

I would rate them as this

EASE of use - Sennheiser wins hands down
Sound Quality - Fidelio X1 with wireless mixamp

You could always just get a DAC/AMP and a 5m wire for the Fidelio if 3m is not long enough, wireless setups just don't compare to wired and wireless headsets with built in wireless don't compare to ghetto setups like that one i'm talking about using a separate wireless system.
 
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Can't find that Astro Mixamp 5.8 anywhere for sale... not even on Ebay. Meh. :( If anyone finds it please let me know in trust. ;)

PS: Sonny thanks for the Flub! :)
 
oh it's very sought after so if it goes up for sale on ebay it usually gets bought.

it's the best MIXAMP ever made and it's getting harder and harder to procure, I have found several on ebay over the past few months, you need to keep checking every couple of days.

some people put them up for buy it now for really cheap and they get snapped up fast.

I paid £74.50 for mine on ebay and I saw a better version go for a few quid more the next day (included 2 receivers instead of one as well as a headset, etc).

If you see one for £75 or under BIN buy it quick make sure it's the right one though 5.8 MIXAMP and not the wired models.
 
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