Home Cinema headphones - Worth upgrading to Sennheiser 165/185?

mattius1989

mattius1989

mattius1989

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I'm currently using a set of Hyper X cloud headphones running off a long cable extension from my LG OLED TV's line out. These being a rated budget set at the time, would I get a much better movie listening experience upgrading to either the Sennheiser 165 or 185? They seem to lose their way at full whack.

The 185s are open backed but a lot more expensive. Does being open backed help much for movies? I don't have to worry about people hearing the sound around me so leakage isn't an issue.

I'm basing my choice off of the Rtings recommended Home Cinema headphone list so I'm open to any other suggestions.
 
HyperX Cloud (HXC) is a good headset, but the issue with using any headphone from the TV's line out, is that it's going through the TV's internal amp, which in pretty much all cases with modern TVs, will be pretty poor. Adding a DAC from the TV's optical port will help, but as that bypasses the TV's amp, you'd get no volume control. You'd need a DAC/headphone amp for that, but even then you'll need to rely on controlling the volume with a knob. Not many cheaper ones have a remote control.

Big difference in price between the RS165 and 185, but they are aimed at different users. RS185 are almost certainly going to be a noticeable improvement, but I think they are more aimed at music than TV/movie use, hence why they are open back. If you're looking for headphones for just TV/movie use, RS175 are possibly the best choice. £100 cheaper for a start and they have a surround sound effect feature which will likely help create a better experience when watching movies.

RS165 and 175 look to be the same headphones, with the difference being that the 175 have surround sound effect and the base has a built in DAC. If you went for the 165's, then you'd really need a DAC as well to bypass the TV's poor quality headphone out. That doesn't mean a costly DAC is needed though. A simple DAC can be bought cheaply for about £10.

Whether the RS175 at around £185, are worth the extra over just adding a SMSL SD793II DAC/amp for £50 and putting up with a cable and manual volume, depends on the user.

If you do decide to go for any of them, get them from a place where you can return them if you feel they are aren't worth the money.
 
Thanks for the detailed response.

I think I should explore a DAC before I splash out on a new set of headphones. Do you have any other DACs you can recommend longisde the SMSL? Thanks.
 
Well you need one with a headphone amp, otherwise you'll have no way to alter the volume. You'll just get line level signal, which will be pretty loud. That rules out the cheap DACs for around £10. You also need optical, which rules out the FiiO E10K, which is a good DAC/amp. That's USB only.

The SD793 II seems to have gone up. I'm sure it was £40 at one point. I don't think there's much else that doesn't cost more money, which is unnecessary really for TV use. Remote control would be handy, but I don't think there's anything below £100 that comes with one.
 
I have ordered the rs175's the issue i have is my hearing is bad and turning up the tv is not an option that other family members enjoy, hopefully the 175's will be a vast improvement.
 
Marsman said:
Well you need one with a headphone amp, otherwise you'll have no way to alter the volume. You'll just get line level signal, which will be pretty loud. That rules out the cheap DACs for around £10. You also need optical, which rules out the FiiO E10K, which is a good DAC/amp. That's USB only.

The SD793 II seems to have gone up. I'm sure it was £40 at one point. I don't think there's much else that doesn't cost more money, which is unnecessary really for TV use. Remote control would be handy, but I don't think there's anything below £100 that comes with one.
Click to expand...
I decided to order one you originally recommended and it's arriving today.

As a rule, would you max volume the DAC and control the headphones with their cable volume control or max out headphones and control the volume with the DAC? Had a look on a few forums and can't find a definitive answer.

Thanks for all your help.
 
HyperX Cloud having inline volume control is something I wasn't aware of until you mentioned it. :o

I suppose using the inline volume is much easier than adjust the DAC/amp volume. If you're looking at the best way and disregarding ease of use, then max volume on the inline control and then control the volume with the DAC/amp. Reason being is that inline volume controls can introduce noise. When they are at max volume there is usually no issue, it's when they are used to reduce the volume that noise can be heard.

Of course though, best way is often not the easiest way; and people often go for the easiest way of doing something. :p

If you get no noise issues with the one on the Cloud's, then just go with whatever is best for you.

I wouldn't max the DAC/amp volume though. Not a good idea to do that with any amp. More chance of running into distortion near max volume.

Maybe have the inline volume right up, then set DAC/amp volume as high as you will want it, then take it a bit lower with the inline volume if need be.
 
Thanks very much.

It came with a long inline volume control section with a female line out for the headphones to into.

On that note: I use an extension cable my to reach my TV's headphone port. I envisage using it to reach the DAC and it is really long and of fairly basic quality. Will I see a benefit in moving to a shorter high quality cable?
 
Well, having tested the DAC this evening, I can safely say there has been a marked improvement. Whilst obviously louder, it sounds cleaner and a lot more detailed.

Thanks for the help.
 
Marsman said:
HyperX Cloud having inline volume control is something I wasn't aware of until you mentioned it. :o

I suppose using the inline volume is much easier than adjust the DAC/amp volume. If you're looking at the best way and disregarding ease of use, then max volume on the inline control and then control the volume with the DAC/amp. Reason being is that inline volume controls can introduce noise. When they are at max volume there is usually no issue, it's when they are used to reduce the volume that noise can be heard.
Click to expand...
Some noise is smallest of problems of inline volume control:
As series resistor based they act just like increasing output impedance lowering damping factor.
While at first small effect at some point effect of decreasing damping factor becomes more like exponential with sound quality going to free fall.
 
I'm really glad I came accross this thread - can I hijack it a little please?

I have the senheiser HDR 170s which I use to listen to TV, films and music once the wife goes to bed so as not to disturb her. Due to the limitations of my Onkyo, no phone output, the headphones are plugged into the phone port of the TV and with some menu changes etc I can get them to work but there has always been some underlying feedback especially once there is a pause in the playback. Perhaps using the optical out from the TV into a DAC will solve/improve my listening experience?

Would welcome your viewpoint and advice - thanks in advance.
 
Yeah, always best to use a DAC rather than the TV's headphone out. Amplifiers in TVs suck. OK for it's own speakers, terrible for any headphones. Line out or digital out bypasses that.

No need to spend a lot. DAC for around £10 or so off the jungle site should do the job. OP went for an SMSL SD793II, but that's a combined DAC/amp, which is more costly. He needed the amp because his headphones are wired. You don't need the amp with wireless headphones, just RCA output from a DAC.
 
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