Good Quality Wireless Headphones

The range of technology available in headphones these days can be absolutely baffling. This is no different whether you're choosing headphones for an MP3 player, a smart phone, or anything else.....and, if you're looking for a pair of wireless headphones, presumably because you want to avoid interfering with other people's activities while you listen to your mobile device or computer, you'll find you have an ever more baffling selection of technology, models, prices and quality available to you. If you're entering the field for the first time, it can be hard to know where to start, and that is the object of this article. We want to give you a simple guide to three reliable models of wireless headphones to make sure that, despite the absence of a cable, you will still get a good quality signal and an enjoyable auditory experience. While you can pay from as little as $20 for a pair of in-ear headphones to literally thousands of dollars for what's become known as an audiophile pair of headphones (i.e. the kind of headphones which experts and fanatics like to buy to ensure as good a reproduction as is physically possible), we're going to suggest three models in the price range around $100. This isn't a definitive guide, but it should certainly help you if you're a beginner in the field.

You basically have a choice of two different systems when you're looking to buy wireless headphones: radio-frequency (RF) or infrared (IF). This is a very fundamental choice you have to make, but fortunately not a difficult one. In general, RF sets are more reliable and more versatile because you can leave the room - you don't have to have a line of sight between the base station and your headphones. Obviously this is also practical when you want to use a headset - the standard RF system in this situation works well, and you might be wondering why when anybody would ever buy an infrared set! The answer is that if you have other people's RF equipment nearby, you may find that it interferes with yours. This can happen, for example, in an apartment block where you have users operating different equipment in adjoining rooms. In these cases you may get a slight hiss on your own equipment as result of other people's systems working nearby. Despite the limitations of infrared, which are mostly around the fact that you can't be out of line of the base station, you'll never get interference from other people's equipment. Having said that, the range of an IF set is only about 30 feet.

As we mentioned above, radio-frequency headphones use high frequency radio waves so they can operate out of line of sight of the base station. This means they also have much greater range than an infrared set, but once again the choice will depend on your personal circumstances.

For many users perhaps the best option is a third choice known as digital RF or Bluetooth. This is the wireless frequency used by smart phones, and although users tend to report that there is no difference in sound quality between digital RF and regular RF, it's certainly true that digital RF is more versatile, in that it's used on more devices, and possibly less subject to interference.

Obviously both headset and base station need a power source, and this is provided by plugging the base station into a power socket, and using it as a charging cradle for the headset. When you remove the headset from the charging cradle, the signal is transmitted between the base station and headset by the infrared or radio wave signal.

So no doubt you're thinking this all sounds very simple. And in theory it is! However, the problem is that there still a huge range of headphones made by many different manufacturers, and all available in a vast price range. You might expect, and you'd be right, that the same equation that applies to many other electronic devices is true here as well: that is to say, to some extent you get what you pay for. However, since most people won't be wanting to pay over $1000 for the highest possible level of reliability, sound quality, and comfort, our objective is to provide you with a selection of headphones you can use in the knowledge that they're the best available in the midprice range of around $100. We should emphasise, that if you're looking for miniature in-ear headphones, you can pick these up for around $29, but whether or not you'll get a good listening experience is anybody's guess. In the headphones market, the name of the manufacturer is probably one of the most important aspects of a guarantee of quality. We like a company called Sennheiser, a privately owned enterprise which has been manufacturing electronic goods for 60 years. The whole philosophy of this company is one we applaud: it has a good environmental record, and protects its labour force with excellent working conditions in every country in which it operates - which isn't just the Far East, since it has manufacturing bases in the United States, Germany, and Ireland.

If you're looking to choose a pair of wireless headphones, you basically have a choice between lightweight, small, and by implication poorer sound quality headsets, sometimes so small they can fit inside the ear canal, and headphones which are designed for the listening enthusiast (or audiophile), with big earmuffs, excellent sound reproduction, high quality technological features and - naturally - a high price. We shall look at what most people require - something in the middle of this spectrum of choice. You can also obtain noise cancelling headphones which are excellent when you are listening or working in a noisy environment. But how do you choose between different models available?

So, you are looking for a cable free experience and you want wireless headphones. You want to pay something in the midprice range around $100, and you want decent sound quality. Well, we believe that Sennheiser's RS range of wireless headphones will fill the bill ideally. There are many models in the RS range but one that stands out as an ideal compromise between price and quality is the RS 120 model, which sells for around $70 on Amazon.com. The RS 120 is ideal for both hifi and television, as well as other electronic devices, and has attracted many favorable comments on the quality of the sound reproduction. All of the bass, mid-range and upper ranges seem to have accurate and crisp reproduction. The headphones are comfortable, and because the system is RF based, they have a wide operating range which allows you to roam around while wearing the headphones. On a practical level, the batteries last for 10 hours, and the reviews on Amazon.com repeatedly comment on the fact that the charging system is simple and easy-to-use. Users have also commented on the elegant ergonomic design of this equipment and overall awarded the RS 120 a four-star rating. You may find - if you're a technological expert - that the automatic gain control can sometimes interfere with your choice of volume setting, and produce a slight hiss as it does so, but this is a very minor problem, since very little music recorded these days will trigger the automatic gain control.

Now, if you're looking for something smaller, the Sennheiser MM 100 is a portable lightweight headset with noise cancelling system which retails at around $150. This is an ideal system for mobile phones or MP3 players, and being Bluetooth enabled, it's ideal for smart phones. While there is a limit to the quality of sound you can achieve with headphones as small as this, the critics are once again in agreement that Sennheiser has achieved just about the highest level of quality possible for a device of this size. Users on Amazon.com review these headphones very favourably indeed, speaking of them as being amongst the best that they have come across, with only some minor complaints about the comfort of the headset itself rather than the quality of sound reproduction through the loudspeakers and headphones. The system connects very effectively and reliably to the base unit, and reception continues even when you're in another room because of the RF broadcasting system. Some critics have suggested the bass isn't quite as good as it could be, but this is a feature of all small systems such as this, not a manufacturing or technological defect, and having tried the MM 100 ourselves, we reckon that it's just about as good as you can get for the price and size.

To complete our review of recommended products we suggest a set of wireless headphones from Sony, the DR-BT 22 headset, which is a wireless headset that has received a rating of four stars on Amazon.com from satisfied users. It uses Bluetooth, which is a more sophisticated form of radio-frequency communication, and maybe this explains, at least in part, the high level of sound quality that has been a feature of all the reviews on Amazon.com. Users also speak of rugged construction, the lightweight quality, and the comfort of this headset design. Best of all, they report excellent sound quality with good distribution across the whole of the sound frequency band. The DR 22 retails for about $60, so it certainly represents a combination of very good quality and lightness of construction. Finally, though, if you are in any doubt about exactly what it is that you need or want, perhaps the best way to resolve your dilemma is to go and look in a electronics store, and get some personal advice from an assistant. Otherwise, the models that we have recommended here should meet all your requirements, and you can buy them all online.