Sennheiser - Wireless Stereo Surround Sound Headphones w/ transmitter (RS 170) Sennheiser - Wireless Stereo Surround Sound Headphones w/ transmitter (RS 170)

Pros: Wireless
No hiss
Clear sound
Surround sound option which is exceptional for movies
Bass boost option
Comfortable
Light
Pretty
Only option available for its target market, budget, features, price etc

Cons: The sound quality lacks the wow factor in music.
Bad quality bass boost
Volume is enough with a PC or amp but otherwise a bit on the lower side
Controls are pathetic
Not portable, transmitter needs to be plugged in the socket to use these headphones
Light weight transmitter, too light

Other Thoughts: These are my first pair of headphones, previously I only listened to Audioengine A5 with DS2 stands and my Monster Turbine IEMs with E11 amp.
My computer has a Xonar DX sound card.
So, a comparison:

Highs
Audioengine 10
MT 9
RS 8

Lows depth
Audioengine 10
RS 9
MT 7

Lows tightness
MT 10
Audioengine 8
RS 6
RS with Bass boost 4

Lows quantity
RS with bass boost 10
MT 9
AE 8
RS 6

Mids
MT 10
RS 9.5
AE 7.5

Wow factor in music, for fun
AE 10
MT 9
RS 7.5

Clarity
MT 10
RS 8.5
AE 6.5

Clearness
MT 10
AE 8.5
RS 7

Earphones have been tested with iPad 3 and e11 while the other two with my xonar dx.

Surround Sound
Music 7.5
Movies 11/10

Bass Boost
Music 6/10

Range
Decent to okay ish in my small house, sometimes sound gets cut in certain areas

Comfort 8.5

Not tried gaming on them

Overall I recommend these if you want above average to slightly below audiophile headphones which are wireless and comes with these features. They sound decent with no hiss.

Features 9.75

Overall as a package 9.75
Overall for sound quality 7.5
Overall 8.5

The mids and vocals are where they shine and completely destroy my Audioengine speakers. But they don't have the wow or fun factor of those speakers, which is partly present in my earphones to a greater extent as well. These aren't bad, but could have been better still though that might cost much more.

Pros: Extremely clear and easy to hook up. My father who has only one eardrum with about 60% hearing in the one ear can listen to most tv shows and understand all that was said. It pretty much comes ready to used in any country with the different power adapters.

Cons: A little high priced.

Pros: Overnight Delivery by Newegg - Thank you! 5 Eggs for that.
Lightweight and very comfortable ear pads.
My first set of Headphones since I was in high school so I have nothing to compare these with, but they sounded great.
My 19 yr old son said he's a "Sennheiser snob" because other headphones don't compare, so I went with his experienced recommendation and am very pleased.
I'll be buying an additional set of headphones (w/out transmitter) for movie watching.

Cons: Very Comfortable, but a little large for my head. Might be designed more for men?
Agree with other reviews about button location and lack of raised indicators. I kept turning them off when I was trying to turn the volume down because the power button is located between volume up and down. I just took them off to adjust. I'm sure I'll master it soon enough.

Other Thoughts: The reason I sought out headphones, and not just any headphones, was because of my neighbors Surround Sound system completely fills my enitre house (upstairs condo that is) with unbearable, vibrating bass. I am hoping (praying) that these headphones will help me to keep the peace (literally) with my neighbor and at the same time, allow me to enjoy movies & music without being an inconsiderate "explitive deleted". I haven't had the chance (just got the headphones yesterday) to try them out for effectiveness at blocking out the movie theatre level bass, but I've enjoyed them so far.

Pros: Amazing sound, Comfortable, charge lasts all day, very good range.. I can go downstairs to wash dishes and still listen to music from my computer.

Cons: I have had no complaints at all with this device.

Pros: Wireless, excellent sound (even compared to wired), base station that doubles as the antenna and charger, replaceable batteries, comfortable, zero interference or static.

Cons: My ears get a bit warm after a few hours of use, but I find that to pretty standard with a closed headset.

Other Thoughts: I was a little worried about getting static or some sort of interference on a headset that costs over $200, but I get absolutely none. I highly recommend these headphones.

Pros: -great sound when the static isn't there
-wireless
-increible range
-comfortable
-I'm having a brain fart of what its called when the headphones block other noise
-nice surround sound and base
-easy recharge

Cons: -has some electromagnetic interference
-big and hard to lay down in comfortable
-ears get overheated
-have to turn on both headphones and base and its a hassle
-lightweight base that's easily knocked over (already have done so once though it returned unscathed though my wall can't say the same)

Other Thoughts: also setup was difficult do the the electromagnetic interference after an hour tinkering with different positions I finally go rid of all the static and now it is amazing. Also there are two easy manufacturing changes I'd make
1. I'd make the buttons on the headphones out of a rubbery material thats more tactile. It's not hard to find the buttons it just takes a second
2. I'd put a sticky material like whats on the bottom of my mouse pad on the botton of the stand so it doesn't get knocked over

Pros: to start off wow. Just wow. I spent about 10 minutes to hook the up and they're awesome. I don't have any problems with the buttons so far I've had them for 5 minutes and have memorized the buttons. I haven't tested the full range but I've been in a room with solid concrete walls on all sides that 20 feet away from the station and threw the floor and no trouble

Cons: set up takes a little longer then id like.

Other Thoughts: for $280 I'd expect a little more but there really isn't more that I want so if these were just $200 I'd be happier but they're exactly what I was hoping for.

Pros: The sound is excellent and the build quality is great. Feel great sitting on my head, but my ears do get sweaty after wearing them for long periods of time. Prepare to fight with the misses when she comes in screaming because you didn't answer her because these do such a great job of blocking out the noise :)

Range is excellent. It is so nice to be listening to Pandora and to be able to go down and get a drink without having to take off the headphones. Wireless is the only way to go now for me.

Cons: No battery life indicator.
No alternative way to use them if the battery does die.

Other Thoughts: I purchased these from a competing site and have had them for over 2 months now and use them every single day. These are the best headphones I've ever had, but the lack of a battery indicator is very annoying.
Also, it would have been nice to give another option to use them in case the battery does die. Many a night I've gone to bed and left the headphones on my desk only to find that they are dead the next day when I want to use them. That means no headphones for a few hours.

I can see what people are taking about when they talk about the buttons. The buttons are pretty much useless, but to be honest that is not a factor to me. I use these strictly on the PC and I just use the volume control on the PC or on my keyboard. Would have been nice to have a power button by itself though because that is the only button I use.

Pros: Comfortable on the Head, Adjustable Headset, Great Sound, Decent Wireless Range, Effective Bass Boost.

Cons: Overpriced! Not worth the going rate...

As others have commented, the buttons and their placement are horrible. They should have been raised slightly so they are not flush with the ear piece and they should have been spaced out slightly. Perhaps they should have used the rubbery type of buttons like the ones that are on a TV remote control to give the user some feel to promote confidence when trying to adjust the volume, surround sound or bass boost while they are on the listeners head. Also, the transmitting base is VERY light and cheap feeling, also not very intuitive.

The surround sound is the main reason why I got this unit over the RS 160, but that was a bad move. The surround sound is a very poor feature on this unit and NOT worth the extra cost. While listening to Toy Story 3, the dialect would pan from side to side and the characters voice volume would go up and down while the rest of the background sounds would remain at their intended level.

Other Thoughts: When you hang up the headphones on the charging cradle one would think that it should power off the unit and the base. Unfortunately, the base and the headphones stay powered up during charging, which to me seems pointless.

I am an audiophile who uses protools, reason, etc. and I always record at 24-bit 192Khz. I own a pair of high end AKG's and these RS 170's are actually comparable in sound quality despite the fact that they are wireless! With that said, I cant knock these headphones completely because they are still pretty good as far as sound quality and wireless range, but I think that something in this price range should have had a little more thought in the design and placement of the buttons. Perhaps the model up is the way to go, but I wouldnt shell out the money for them at their current price point.

Pros: I upgraded from a Sennheiser HDR 130, an open back design. A definite improvement in background noise, Max volume is less than the HDR 130 but adequate, would be convenient to have more gain range to make up for low level material.
Great sound. The digital link gives a very clean sound, there is no background hiss, noises, or interference. Range is good at 40+ feet through multiple walls and just drops to silence when out of range. The charging cradle makes reliable contact ( a problem with the HDR 130). The RS 170 is slightly lighter (3/4 oz) but the smaller ear cups make it seem even lighter. Bottom line - it's comfortable to wear for long periods. The RS 170 is a closed back design so isolation from outside noises is considerable which can be good but you may not hear the telephone or people talking to you. The headset uses stock NiMh AAA cells which you can swap in and out easily should you use it so much it never gets a chance to charge. Volume control is digital, no pot to go ba

Cons: The user interface is just total junk.

Obviously the person who designed this never actually used the headphones. The problem is it's almost impossible to find the volume switches with your fingers when you are wearing the headphones.The switches are cheap popple switches under plastic buttons that are almost flush with the headphone shell. The button plastic is the same as the shell so there is no tactile way to find the button. If you do fumble around and find a switch you can't actually tell which switch you are pushing. It's so difficult in fact that even after prolonged practice you still can't reliably find the switches and you have to physically take the headphone off your head to visually find the buttons to adjust the volume. Major fail, especially on a headphone that cost a 1/4 of thousand dollars.

The other major annoyance is that you have to turn both the headphones and the base station on every single time you remove the headphones from the cradle. A constant annoya

Other Thoughts: In utter frustration I eventually cut and glued chunks of rubber to the Volume + and Volume - buttons. It looks totally hack but it's now easy to find and control the volume while wearing the headphones (and the on/off button since the volume buttons give me an easily findable reference point).

Sennheiser should have just put in elastomeric buttons in the first place and just eaten the 17 cent cost difference.

Changing the button placement/layout would also make a big difference.