Sony 900MHz Wireless Stereo Noise Reduction Headphones

I've tried a few RF wireless headphones for TV use now, and these are the best yet. Unfortunately, I'm starting to understand that no wireless headphones are ever going to be as good as wired models. For me, the gold standard remains my Sony Professional MDR 7506 that are wired via the headphone jack of my AV receiver. I've been told that connecting headphones to wireless rear-panel jacks may give cleaner sound that using that jack, but, very unfortunately, I've found that audio outputs on almost all affordable AV receivers are limited to stereo — i.e., any signal that reaches the receiver digitally (by HDMI from a cable box, DVD player, or smart TV [Netflex, Amazon, etc.]) is NOT output to those jacks. That makes them essentially worthless for wireless headphones. Likewise, modern receivers have a plethora of optical and coaxial digital inputs, but none of them that I can find has a digital output. The Sony phones reviewed here don't have optical inputs, anyway, but some of the top of the line models from other companies like Sennheiser do, and I now understand that these are probably usable only with TVs, which generally do have optical digital audio out. They are not of use, though in the home-theater setting in which all the components are connected digitally to a central AV receiver.With these drawbacks, then, why did I give the Sony 900MHz Wireless Stereo Noise Reduction Headphones five stars? It's because, given the limitations of this type of headphones, I suspect that these are as good as it gets. The charging system works quite well. The phones are recognized instantly by the transmitter every time. The volume control is easily reachable and its granular adjustability is laudable. The sound is not up to the quality you can get from wired headphones costing less, but that's not a reason to reduce the rating. For radio-frequency headphones, I think that the sound is as good as it gets. The enclosed phones give good noise reduction, and, very importantly, they rest softly on my head. The seals are good, the material of which the earcups is made feels good, and they simply don't cause any physical fatigue -- even when worn for hours during a movie, they're so gentle that I usually forget that they're even there..Their range is not better than the older Sennheiser model they are replacing, but their advantage is 40mm drivers for great bass (NOT overpowering, just faithfully reproduced), and the circumaural design provides isolation from surroundings that makes everything sound better to me that the on-the-ear cups of my old phones. Moreover, with my hearing impairment, I can wear my hearing aids under the Sony earcups in perfect comfort, which also helps improve fidelity. (No, the aids do not whine or squeal when worn with headphones.)

I love these things! You know how in so many movies the music in the background is so loud you miss the dialogue, especially when people are whispering to each other on screen? These earphones keep you from missing so much of the plot.....what is being said on screen.... that you lose interest in the movie. You can turn the sound on the television all the way down so that no one else can hear it, and you can adjust the volume on the earphones as loud as you want. (Careful! You wouldn't want to damage your hearing!)You want to sleep and your husband wants to watch a football game? No problem. Hand him the earphones for his ears and tape for his mouth!I'll tell you something else I like about these things. I installed them to work on the TV in the den, but let say I decide I want to watch TV in the bedroom. I can use them in the bedroom by just pushing a button on the earphones which allows me to switch to another frequency.They stay charged for hours, even if you forget to place them back on the charger. These are well worth the price!

I have been using wireless headphones for television viewing for about 12 years.Sony MDR-IF240RK Wireless Headphone SystemI actually purchased 7 of these, running two at a time in our home over the first 7 years. I would rate them at 3-Star, only because they were inexpensive at under $40 and did a good enough job for us. They lasted for about a year or two each. They run on infra red light, so will not work if you leave the room. This may or may not be good depending on how you want to use it. If you have another set in another room, then you don't want the sound to switch from one tv set to another as you leave a room and enter another. The sound was decent enough for tv viewing. I had to use a visor or headband over the headset, because the unit would fall off with the slightest turning of your head down or back. It had a fairly solid tune and wouldn't fade off until you walked away from the base unit. I would say you could be as far as about 15 or 20 yards before the sound quality started decreasing. Not too bad. But having to purchase a new unit every year was becoming ridiculous. So after a 7 years, I had to find a better headset for my next purchase, even if I had to spend a bit more.Sennheiser RS120 926 MHz Wireless RF Headphones with Charging CradleI purchased two of these units and had one replaced within the warranty period, so I used three total. I would rate them at 3-1/2-Star. Cost was $65. They ran on wireless frequency so you could hear the tv from several rooms away and between floors. The fit and weight of the headset didn't cause too much problems with keeping it on your head as we walked around. No need to use a visor or headband. The sound quality seemed a bit better than the first one, but again we only used it for tv viewing. There were some loss of sound when your head turned a certain angle relative to the base unit. It sounds like you are tuning out of range or out of frequency as the sound fades out in a hissing distortion. However, there was hardly any issues when using this unit with two different tv sets. In fact, I could tune my headset to hear what my wife was watching downstairs while I was watching a different show upstairs. It's also nice to be able to tune into the same show when we watched together. It has three preset frequency stations to allow for up to three units in the same area. After about two years, we have one unit still working, while the other two failed for the same reason. The unit still working is showing signs that it's about to fail as well. The problem is the volume dial would begin failing after several months of use. Scratchy volume control when you tried to adjust the volume. It was like the some kind of electrical contact between parts were failing and the sound would be very difficult to set. Again, I was looking for a better unit.Sony 900MHz Wireless Stereo Noise Reduction Headphones With 40 mm Driver UnitsAfter more than ten years of searching for a reasonably priced headphone to use with our tv sets, my search continues still. 4-Star rating is getting better though. This unit cost $99 when purchased about two months ago. It's currently listed at $91. The headset fit and comfort is by far better than any of the first two. The earpiece completely envelopes your ear rather than squeezing your ears on your head. There is no issue of it falling off, and the unit is very light. You can use it for hours without any issues. It has the same issue as the Sennheiser of seeming to tune out if you rotate your head. As with the Sennheiser, there are about two or three 1 to 2 degree zones in a 360 degree circle. The problem is that a tune out zone falls within an angle while you face the unit or tv. It's not like you turned away from watching, so the unit tunes out. In fact, I'll say it's a bit worse in this unit. BTW, the base unit is only about ten feet away, so the signal should be nice and strong in both instances. As I have had the unit for only a couple of months, I'm not sure if I'll have the same scratchy volume issues as I had with the Sennheiser, when trying to adjust sound level. So far though, it's the best unit of the three. It better be, as the cost is the highest paid of the three. I'll write more on this unit as I experience things to report. As we only have this one unit, I cannot report on how it handles a second unit in another room. As with the Sennheiser, it has three preset stations, but when you switch stations, nothing changes. You still hear the same tv program at the same volume and quality. I hope that doesn't mean having two units running simultaneously will interfere with each other.Update 7/14/22We purchased a replacement Sony 900mhz in December of 2021. We thought we were getting the same unit but it’s not. The new unit Amazon listing has photos of the unit we have and that of another one. Very confusing. The unit that we got has a more oval earcup and it does not cover your ears very well. It pinches down on parts of your ears. Not very comfortable but oh well. We used it for about 5 months and it cracked. The crack occurred on the wishbone piece that holds the earpiece to the headband. Sony said they do not cover under warranty or repair broken pieces even if they occur from normal use and suggested we call their US Warranty repair facility for an estimate. The piece that broke is very thing and fragile. Im sure it will be redesigned in later models.Update8/25/22Now another of these Sony headphones has cracked at the same location. I am now purchasing the Asurian 3-yr Plan you see when checking out as these things only last about 2yrs max.