Stereo Wireless Headphones
Headphones are nothing new, they have been around for years of course, but the main drawback was always the wire connections between the headphone and your sound system. These days you will still find corded headsets around but they have been overwhelmed by the shear diversity of stereo wireless headphones and no wonder. No wires, no cords to get tangled with, no need to sit within two feet of your stereo system – portable wireless headphones are the way to go for sure.
You have the complete freedom to move where you will, so long as there are radio signals bouncing around you can receive the transmission. This type of headphone comes with a transmitter which is plugged into your stereo system and a receiver that is built into the headset. This gives you your own personal radio station with only you receiving the transmissions.
Although there are dozens of manufacturers of stereo wireless headphones there are only two types of system used and you need to understand the difference.
RF stands for radio frequency and is the means by which any radio channel is transmitted. IR mean infra red this is a light based system and works by sending a light beam that carries the radio signal. The obvious drawback is one of ‘line of sight’. If the IR transmitter plugged into your stereo sound system cannot ‘see’ the receiver in your headset than the signal is lost. This means that IR headsets are only really of use when sitting in one room. Therefore the RF stereo wireless headphones take most of this market and if you want true mobility its these headphones that you will want to be looking at.
If you are a music fan and that’s what you mainly want to use headphones for then a good set of stereo headphones should do the trick. However if you are buying a set of wireless headphones for listening to TV then take a look at the surround sound versions. These make watching your favourite action movies a dream, you can have all the sound you want without disturbing a living soul. Rich, lush Dolby surround sound beamed right into your head is an awesome experience, however true to say, it not to everybody’s taste. Some think that the sound is too much over the top and distracting.
Another great feature of some stereo wireless head phones is their ability to cancel out ambient noise around you. Nose cancellation wireless headphones work in a very clever way by monitoring incoming ambient sound and creating another sound wave exactly 180 degrees shifted so that the incoming noise is cancelled out. Think of the incoming sound waves from outside noise that you don’t want as ripples in a pond. If all the valleys of the ripples could be filled the water would be flat yes? That’s a simple analogy as to how noise cancelling wireless headphones work. The good news here is that you do not need to have the volume turned up high to cancel out ambient clatter, which protects your eardrums from potential long term damage.
You will probably come across sound isolation wireless headphones in your research, these are different to noise cancellation. Usually these headsets are in ear wireless headphones or earbuds that fit tightly deeper inside the ear canal making a very snug fit and isolating incoming sound from thr outside. Wireless ear buds are particularly sort after by joggers and sports people.
A word about frequencies, most good makes of stereo wireless headphones will allow at least three different radio frequency bands. That’s to make sure that should your next door neighbour have the same headphones then you can switch frequency so that you listen to your music while they listen to the football! Watch out for the range too. Decent wireless headsets should carry the frequency around the house and through walls and will be good for around 350ft or so outdoors so check before buying so you don’t run out of range.
Use’s of these wonderful gadgets abound. You may be making the purchase to use on your stereo system but don’t forget that they can be used on more or less any type of multimedia device. Wireless headphones for tv are now widely used and they are also popular with computer users. ‘Wireless head phones for pc’ is a common internet search term and those headsets destined for computer use can be bought with an integral microphone, particularly useful if you talk with friends on Skype or similar. Portable devices such as iPods can also benefit from wireless rf headphones and wireless headphones for mp3 are very popular. Bluetooth wireless headphones are also becoming popular given that so many portable devices now offer Bluetooth connectivity.
Most stereo wireless headsets use rechargeable batteries, often NiMH type, which simply means that they can function for longer. Typically over twenty hours is not unusual.
Like anything in life you get generally what you pay for and wireless headsets are no exception. The higher the price tag it usually follows that the performance will be better particularly in the sound quality department.
Well known manufacturers of wireless stereo headphones abound and include some big names like Sennheiser, JVC and Sony. There are many more that also make excellent headsets Acoustic Research, Motorola, RCA, Bose & Soundstorm are big in this market and well worth taking a look at. While not wishing to take anything away from any manufacturer their is no doubt that Sennheiser wireless headphones are extremely well sought after on and around the net today.
If you are buying your first set of stereo wireless headphones take your time and look at these suppliers first, you won’t go far wrong with any of them.