STL comments on Less Wrong Product & Service Recommendations - Less Wrong

24 Post author: lukeprog 02 July 2012 01:18PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 02 July 2012 04:11:58PM 4 points [-]

Sennheiser RS 180 Lossless Digital Wireless Headphones (~$330)

These things are so wonderful, I own two of them: one for my computer and one for my TV. I waited months for them to be released - before then, lossless wireless couldn't be bought for any amount of money. Their main attributes are:

  • Lossless digital - not analog, not lossy compressed digital (unfortunately, their input is analog - as far as I can tell, digital inputs can't be bought for money)
  • Open-ear - comfortable to wear for hours (warning: leaks sound if others are present in the room, not the best idea for cubicle headphones)
  • Sounds amazing (I am not an "audiophile" but I know quality when I hear it)
  • Powered by NiMH AAAs, recharged by contacts in the cradle so you don't have to take them out (I swapped the included batteries for low-self-discharge Eneloop brand batteries, which have higher capacity - it's been years and I haven't had to mess with them since)

Aside from portability (they aren't), their only downside is that they appear to spam the 2.4 GHz spectrum fairly heavily; my iPhone and iPad have occasionally had trouble connecting to wifi while I'm wearing the headphones (I don't yet have a 5 GHz router for the iPad). This doesn't bother me because my computer and consoles are all connected via Ethernet cables (I had to string one 50-foot cable through my apartment, but it was worth it).

Comment author: Xachariah 04 July 2012 04:30:45AM *  1 point [-]

I second this recommendation. I've used Sennheiser RS120 Headphones for years and they've been amazing.

They are (according to reviews) approximately similar, but at a ~$70 price point depending on where you get them instead of ~$330.

Comment author: [deleted] 04 July 2012 02:41:51PM 2 points [-]

The major difference is that the 120s are analog (that's what "RF" means). On the other hand, at 900 MHz they won't interfere with 2.4 GHz wifi.