These appear to be discontinued; 4 stars and 3 reviews on Amazon, and out of stock on B&H photo.
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010COM92
Mono?
Really?
Exactly what I’ve been looking for, but I can’t help but think my fading hearing still deserves stereo…
Edit: found this while searching because I didn’t believe it was actually mono, AssitedAudio had this little tidbit of info in their description:
PLEASE NOTE: Infrared headphones are not recommended for use with a Plasma screen TV or in rooms with fluorescent lights. Plasma screen TVs emit IR radiation that can interfere with reception in IR headphones and IR remote controls. All IR headphones are affected by the IR radiation of Plasma TV screens and fluorescent lights.
Is there a way to enable the TV speakers vs headphones remotely, or at least easily?
This seems useful for watching TV while my wife is sleeping if it can be turned on/off without being unplugged or something.
This should be great for my husband who likes to get up @ 3am to watch old TV shows on MeTV (and wake me up in the process). He won’t notice they’re mono. Yay!
I have an old Jensen Linx that I have hooked up to the cable box in the bedroom. It’s broadcasting all the time, I just turn on the reciever when I need it. And cuz its hooked up to the box, its unaffected when I mute the tv.
Is there any reason that this would be better than a $15-20 pair of wireless headphones? I mean, other than you wear it under your chin instead of on your head?
Any comments on how these compare to the TV Ears of song & story? My audiologist speaks highly of TV Ears, and even uses them herself, but there’s quite a price difference.
Since woot’s having its woot-off, I’ll be real quick here.
First, business:
product sheet (I needed to clarify that the “broadcast distortion” meant the limit of its range. Doesn’t have much else:
However, a bit more at their general FAQ for TV listening systems:
Finally, a mini-review for the 100 and 100J (comparing Williams Sound vs. Sennheiser with general overview of such headsets), stating “the 100-J also has a 2.5 mm output jack to accommodate additional assistive listening devices, such as induction neck loops that work with hearing aids. Please note, if you intend to use the Sennheiser Set 100J infrared TV listening system with a telecoil (“T“) switch hearing aid, you must purchase the optional Sennheiser EZT100 induction neck loop.”
https://www.audiolinks.com/articles/infraredtvlisteningsystemsreview/
Now for the part most of you can skip:
My apologies (I know, moderator already told me I’m the most apologetic person of all time) for the long entries/exchange I had during the battery Christmas revolt. I shouldn’t have taken one more peek, and then I should have just turned the other cheek. In short, I value your opinions in helping with buying things (or not) here (or elsewhere) and my primary drive regardless is feeling I can help to chip in a fair share, regardless of what people think (and secondary motives). I’m sorry (oops) about being able to do less recently, we’ll see. I also figured that I can’t take the quality posts to heaven (as referred to in the back and forth), and figured it was for good will, nothing more.
That being said, to follow TheGuruGuys post from about a week ago, I pleasantly found out today that it’s “good to be a member” so to speak. Thank you, Colonel–life is a bit better. As before, have a good holidays/new year in case I don’t get back here (work hasn’t stopped tonight). So much for quick. Thanks y’all.
I imagine this depends solely on your TV. For example, I have a Samsung DLP, and have a cheap pair of wireless headphone plugged in to the back of the set. When I want to use the headphones, I go into the TV menu, and select under Audio Options the “Internal TV Mute” choice. That, for me, turns off the TV speakers and allows the audio to go to the headphones. (I have over 50% hearing loss, so the only way I get to watch TV at night with a sleeping toddler and a cranky wife is via headphones.)
Potential buyers really need to read this info: http://www.sennheiserusa.com/serviceandsupport_faqs_tv-listening. It seems the these IR units have trouble with plasma screens, LCD HD TVs, and fluorescent lights.
My local performing arts center uses this brand but they are “RI 250J mono DirectEar” any idea if these would work on their system? It would be nice just to bring our own rather then messing with checking our a pair when we go watch plays or listen to speakers etc.
We use IR equipment just like this (same brand and style, but with the ability to pick from 2 channels) in federal court for assistive listening and/or interpreting. So long as you maintain line-of-sight with the IR transmitter array the reception is crystal clear. However, the farther away you get the more directly you have to face the transmitter (though in court I’m talking 40-50 feet away, but then again, their transmitter panels are the size of laptop screens so it might extrapolate).
Here’s the thing though… a few years ago they switched a few of the courtrooms to compact fluorescent lights and sure enough they became far more susceptible to hissing. Also happens when they use plasma screens, although this is rare since they almost always use projectors. Now they’re going to some even newer lights because the flickering and audible buzzing was terrible.
So what do we do in these cases? Use our portable RF based equipment that utilize a band of frequencies specifically set aside for assistive listening. Now why don’t we just use these all the time? Because with many courtrooms in close proximity the potential for cross-interference is quite increased, albeit unlikely, and a distant second… the possibility for eaves-dropping of sealed court proceedings. IR signals don’t penetrate through walls so no problems with that there.
So, to answer your question… if you’ve already got a lot of RF activity going on, particularly within the spectrum of the headphones you plan to use, then using IR headphones might provide a cleaner signal, or just as importantly, avoid the chance of your headphone system’s transmissions messing with your wireless LAN, cordless phone, garage door opener, or whatever.
Oh, and yes, these are most definitely mono. Not an issue in court, but less than ideal for movie watching. If it were me, for sporadic movies, I’d buy RF phones on the least used or least critical spectrum possible. For consistent performance of mostly speech (say the news, talk shows, sports) with very low chances of interference (except from CFLs and plasmas) I’d go with the IR.
Hope this helps!
Only slightly on-topic, but had Sennheiser earbuds that I loved. Rather rich bass on the things!
This looks really uncomfortable to wear.
I haven’t seen this asked, at least where I could recognize it… Do these work independently of the tv volume controls? When the wife and I watch tv at the same time, can she still hear tv through the normal speakers even though I’m listening with the headphones? I need the volume at a level that is very uncomfortable for her. If not, does anyone have any suggestions? The biggest problem I have is trying to hear the dialogue over the background music… either that or todays actors all mumble.
I forgot to mention - I’m an over 60 old fart so all these young whippersnapper actors of today mumble; nobody talks like John Wayne anymore…
The RI-250 transmits on 2.3MHz. The Set100J uses 95 kHz… so the answer is NO they will not work together.
It depends on your TV and how the outputs are set up. If the output on your TV are fixed then the SET100-J will work independently of the TV volume.