Review by Stephen Goode of Hifi Gear
Since my time with Hifi Gear, I have reviewed a number of high quality Sennheiser products (including the luxurious and sophisticated Momentum model, and the space-age and intricately designed HD700's). I recently decided to 'cut the cord' with conventional headphone set-ups, and experience a wireless quality headset. The Sennheiser RS 220.
Aesthetics
The first thing to note about the RS 220 headphones are the two pieces of apparatus it consists of. A sleek and shiny transmission tower, which niftily holds (and charges) the headphones when placed on to it - and the light and equally attractive headphone set. The transmitter has a variety of input connections, including optical, coaxial, and phono (a phono-to-jack adapter is also included).
The headphones possess an exceptional amount of comfort. The velvet-covered cups, in conjunction with the soft padded headband make these a genuine pleasure to wear. Even when worn for hours at a time - comfort is not compromised. An added (although seemingly obvious) comfort factor is the lack of cabling. Whether you're listening to some music at home, or using them to watch a film and don't want to wake any one up - an irritating wire is something you won't miss.
Music
The RS 220's transmit an entirely uncompressed sound wirelessly, and while the sound quality isn't as good as some of its wired counterparts - it is better than some of its other wired counterparts. When listening to Falling In Reverse's new album 'Fashionably Late', I was extremely impressed with how clear and detailed the harmonies in 'Rolling Stone' sounded through the RS 220's. The rap verse in the same song furthered my impression as every word was easily audible (despite a fair amount of speed being delivered by the vocalist).
"I was extremely impressed with how clear and detailed the harmonies in 'Rolling Stone' sounded through the RS 220's"After warming them up a little, I decided to switch to Krewella's 'Killin It'. The headphones immediately shone by providing a clear and clean rendition of the introduction; a transition of white noise, to a crunchy and thick low pass filter over a female vocal sample. The RS 220's provide intense playback and bring across the desired intensity of the vocalist the second she begins singing. The verse is ominous, and clean and the headphones bring that across brilliantly. Once the drop becomes known, the crunchy and complex synth sound is extremely evident, being delivered by the RS 220's (although not quite to the level of the Momentums) extremely well.
Movies
I then took the headphones to a BluRay player, via optical and sat down to watch The Avengers. Skipping to the scene where Loki attempts to make the crowd bow to him, I was able to judge the quality of sound mainly on the thuds of punches, whirring and buzzing of Hawkeye's electronics, and the various conversations that take place in this scene, and the ambient sounds of New York that are pleasant when these things aren't going on. Thuds were extremely hefty sounding, and brought across cleanly by the RS 220's, as were the softer details of Hawkeye's equipment and background traffic/sirens. Skipping further in to the film, to the point where Tony Stark's suit has 'seen some mileage'; the failing thrusters sound exceptionally realistic through the headphones. The RS 220s provide clean and detailed playback through all aspects of the film, including loud and dense sounds like Hulk tearing through a building, right down to the delicate sound of Loki tapping Tony Stark's chest with his scepter and the 'pop' then twinkling of glass falling as Stark is thrown through it.
Conclusion
I used the headphones through jack-to-phono, stereo phono and optical connections respectively, in order to assess the ability of the headphones. While I do not believe the RS 220's match a pair of wired headphones at the same price range - the added benefit of not being restricted by wires almost makes up for it, as the sound is still exceptionally well delivered. If you're looking for a pair of wireless headphones, I can not recommend anything higher than the RS 220's
