Review submitted by B. Li
Author’s Rating:
I had this 970RK for 2-3 years and never have the problems as many complained in the 1-star group – noisy, poor sound quality, short battery life, etc. Each is just opposit to me in a positive way.

I have been using it in a single family house (vs. apartment building) and I always connect it to the LINE OUT of a TV, not the earphone jack, so that I can just mute the TV while listening to the headphone.

It works so well for me that I am going to buy a 2nd set of the same thing so that I can always have a one fully charged waiting there when the another I am using runs out of battery (That is why I am here today).

Hope this helps to tell why the reviewers are so wide spliting here – they may use it in different ways or locations.

Review submitted by Stephen Charles Holme
Author’s Rating:
I was hoping these would work better than the Sennheiser’s have used before. Nice looking, rechargeable, inductive charge, auto-off with the headband, comfortable. But.. the noise level is simply intolerable. There is a level of noise at all times which is very intrusive. With music its not really bad, but with dialog(as in a movie) it is truely horrible. With any quiet passage, the noise increases sharply. Some reviewers(of the 960rk) have suggested that increasing the input signal will improve this. Maybe slightly, but the dynamic range of the headphone circuit is very poor, so clipping and distortion come very quickly. Supposedly there is a noise reduction circuit(compared to the 925), but I can’t imagine what it does. The range of 150 ft is a joke-maybe on Mars. Even disregarding the noise issue, they really can’t be reliably used more than 4 feet from the based. The engineers involved with this one should be spanked. Doesn’t Sony test these things before production? It could also be that the 900 MHz band just isn’t a good one for this application. The Sennheisers(RS110) have some interference problems also, but the noise is noticeably less and the sound quality much better.

Review submitted by O. Arikan
Author’s Rating:

This product is very convenient. It turns on when you put them on (it usually takes a 10-40 seconds). However the sound quality is absolutely terrible. There is a lot of static even when I sit 10 feet from the unit with clear line of sight.

Review submitted by Howard Walker
Author’s Rating:
I was a bit skeptical of the quality of this wireless headphone after reading some of the lukewarm reviews here. I also went to Crutchfield to download the owners manual (too bad Amazon doesn’t offer this feature – it’s very helpful).

This was to be a gift for my soon-to-be 92 year old aunt. She has problems hearing certain frequency ranges and is missing out on much of the dialog on television.

She has an older Sony TV set (circa 1998) without a headphone jack, so a Sennheiser (my 1st choice) headphone was out of contention. I needed something to plug into the line out RCA connectors on the back of her set. This Sony unit seemed to fit the bill. I decided to have it sent to my home first to ensure it would work and to look for any idiosyncrasies. To my delight, I found none. Not a single problem…well, getting the headset out of the plastic packaging was a bit tough !

I followed the instructions for the setup (I have a Sony, but a newer model) – easily done, by the way. I allowed the headset to charge overnight. So far, so good. I removed the headset from the cradle and placed it on my head…Voila…sound! And not just any scratchy audio, but rich and crisp. The audio compression circuitry was working as advertised and the headphone audio adjust allowed me to turn up the volume to an uncomfortable level. Perfect for a 92 year old lady hard of hearing.

So, I gave it the range test…kinda. I gingerly stepped out of the house and walked around…perhaps 50 to 75 feet away. Not a hiccup or a dropout. I had a good feeling about this.

So, I packed it up to be sent off to California…and my dear old aunt. I used my yellow Hi-Liter to mark areas of interest and attention in the instructions (my auntie is a bit of a Luddite).

Several days passed and I called her to see if it had arrived. The USPS had not let me down. She had already unpacked it and hooked it all up following my explicit instructions (a yellow Hi-Liter makes all the difference). She was quite upset that it did not work…no green light to indicate audio was being received by the transmitter from her Sony TV.

We went round and round over the phone – double checking everything, yet the audio was still AWOL. I found her Sony TV model on a manual download site on the Internet and obtained a PDF copy of the manual. No surprises there. I might note that I had discovered that many older Sony models required the user to TURN OFF the built-in speakers of the TV set before audio would be enabled to the line out jacks. Hers was not of that vintage.

The next morning I called her, armed with printed information so we might attack the problem once again. She, quite sheepishly, admitted to me she had found the problem. Her television was turned off and she had not thought to turn it back on – and I had not thought to ask her if it was on. Oh, my! Operator error.

In any case, the headset works wonderfully. She is amazed at the sound quality. I could almost hear her ear-to-ear smile in the phone.

So, dear readers. I can only say all is well, that ends well. And if it pleases my dear old auntie, how can you go wrong?

As with nearly all products,you will sometimes get a lemon…something that slips through quality control, or a component that becomes defective after a period of time. However, in this case, I can give this headset a 10+ without a second thought.

My wife was so taken with this that she has requested I order a unit for her to use. Oh my…what HAVE I done?

Happy listening !Sony MDRRF970RK 900 MHz Analog RF Wireless Headphone

Review submitted by The Dilettante
Author’s Rating:
This looks like the most elegant product of its kind at this price tier. Indeed, the design is terrific, and they actually look nice sitting on my entertainment center unused. The problem is that they DON’T WORK.

1. Batteries: the rechargable battery (great idea) was apparently broken before I opened the box – the phones have never held a charge. Powering them with disposable AAA’s is an option, but disposable batteries appear to drain 24/7 whether the phones are being used or not. After a month of ownership, and perhaps 15 hours of use, I have fed these phones 4 sets of batteries already.

2. Sound and Signal: As others have noted the sound quality is tinny to begin with. Voices sound ok, but any stereo sound effects are muted. Then there is the static, which is ever-present, unless I turn my head 90 degrees away from the base unit. (Since the base unit is in front of my TV, this makes viewing impossible.) But even if I could tolerate the sound quality, the signal is interrupted every 45-60 seconds by an unpleasant “wonk” sound, like a bicycle horn through a toilet paper tube. All of this is a problem at 15 feet or less. Admittedly, the sound quality does not get any worse as I move away from the base unit. Even on the other side of my house, through 3 walls, I can still “enjoy” these phones, to the limited extent that’s possible.

3. Design: While the base unit is attractive, and the earpieces are cozy, the design still leaves a lot to be desired. Most irritatingly, the phones have no “off” switch. Instead, they activate automatically when you pull them over your head, and thereby place tension on the second (inner) head band. I have a really big head, and I have to pull them down almost over my cheeks before the phones will activate. But there is enough tension in the inner band to pull them back up over my ears (where they should be) – at which point they deactivate.

I have always been one of the faithful at the Church of Sony and I stupidly bought these off-the-rack at Best Buy without checking the Amazon reviews. I will never make the same mistake with Sony products again…

Review submitted by Jstyle
Author’s Rating:
I love these headphones. I use them at night in bed when my girlfriend is sleeping and she doesn’t hear a thing. The sound is surprisingly great and the headphones are very comfortable. The line of sight is flexible – so you can be off to the side and still have reception. The headphones don’t look or feel cheap, are not too heavy and the transmitter base looks really sleek. The batteries last a long time before recharging and all you have to do to turn them on is put them on and they turn off as soon as you take them off – very cool feature. The price is great too considering the quality and features – shop around and you’ll find better prices.

The extra features of these headphones I use on occasion because they work best for specific content: The SRS surround sound works great with digital music and movies that feature surround sound. The vibration “rumble” function works great with dance and hip-hop music, movies with lots of sound effects and explosions (like Stars Wars) and video games.

One note: the sound will be as good as the source. To reduce background hiss – turn up the source audio and not the headphones volume. Meaning, if its connected to your stereo or TV – it will work sort of as an amp, so turn up the volume there first before raising the volume too high on the headphones. I have no problems with background hiss.

Pros:

- sound great (clear, loud, good bass and treble)

- comfortable

- Infrared = no tuning or inteference (within line of sight)

- SRS surround sound and bass vibration function (nice extras)

- easy on/off

Cons:

- Infrared is short range

- line of sight (lose signal quality if base view is obstructed)

- kinda bulky looking (the looks aren’t for everyone)

Overall: For the price, features, quality of sound and looks there’s no better choice if you’re looking for short-range wireless headphones.

Review submitted by J. Lee
Author’s Rating:
I have a Sony TV with an integrated infrared transmitter which I’ve used for over five years. T’ve gone through about 3 different pairs of wireless headphones and these are by far the best I’ve used. Reception is great as long as your in front of the transmitter, but that’s expected since infrared requires line of sight to transmit (unlike radio signals, which I’ve also used and in my experience introduce noise). In addition, these headphones cover around my ears instead of pressing against them which makes them more comfortable for use over longer periods (main reason I like these over the others I’ve had).

Review submitted by R. Jacobson
Author’s Rating:
I wanted to like this product. I have a set of Sennheiser RS140 wireless headphones that has fairly mediocre performance (lots of hiss and static from the radio transmission.) I was hoping that the IR technology in the Sony headphones would overcome this.

After I plugged my new Sony headphones in and gave them a try with my TV, it was a hundred times worse than the Sennheiser. The sound was mostly static, with faint hints of barely-audible dialog. The sound would improve with certain scenes on my TV, such as dark indoor scenes, but then get far worse during bright outdoor scenes (such as on the beach in an episode of Lost).

After hunting through the manual, I realized the problem: Buried in fine print, there’s a statement “Plasma displays may interfere with normal operation of this system.”

Sure enough, my Pioneer plasma TV was causing huge amounts of interference with the IR transmission. The bright outdoor scenes apparently generated IR interference, with rendered the dialog inaudible.

Saying that a plasma TV “may interfere” with operations is an understatement. This product is completely unusable with my plasma TV.

If this problem had been advertised with a warning “not suitable for plasma TVs,” I’d be understanding. However, hiding this problem in the small print is unconscionable. At least Amazon seems to have a good return policy, which will be used in this case.

Review submitted by Twinky
Author’s Rating:
I really like these earphones. Clear sound. Got shocked on the shaking setting. Didn’t realize it was on. I can live without that. I charged them once and have used them many times and still have not had to recharge them. Headset on the large size is the only reason I gave them a 4 if the headset was smaller I would have given it a 5.

Review submitted by J. Zondlo
Author’s Rating:
I love these headphones. They work great with Dvd, Tv, Radio and especially my PS2. The vibration mode rocks when playing games. There is some audible hiss when I put it into SRS mode, but hey, the price is right, and the hiss goes away when I turn off the SRS mode. Now I can enjoy myself after the kids and wife go to sleep and I can crank it up as loud as “I” want, and they have no idea. Looking for the right price on wireless headphones that give good sound? Then give these a shot. Please note too that I am only about 10-15 feet away from the transmitter when I use these, so for bigger rooms or if you want to walk throughout the house then these would probably not be for you primarily b/c there IF Wireless. Well I hope I helped someone make a decision easier on wireless headphones. And the charger works fine for me. I just take my time putting the headphones on the base and click there charging. Good luck shopping!!!