Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After much research, I finally pulled the trigger on 11/22/15 and ordered the top rated Sennheiser RS 175 Headphones over the ear phones with Amazon Prime for $245, with no added tax or shipping costs. These were essential for domestic tranquility with others in the house because my new SAMSUNG 4K UHDTV and Soundbar system speaker bass which you could hear all over the house even with a low volume setting of 10. These got as low as $199 for Black Friday, but I still got a good price on them. General Comments: As far as the hookup to my Samsung UN65JS8500 (see my Amazon review)......a couple of things your should know that took me about an hour to figure out which might save you some time and pain. First, I already had a Samsung Soundbar on the 4K UHDTV which ran off the single optical out from the one-connect mini box. These headphones are not Bluetooth but have their own wireless frequency transmitter direct to your headphones up to 100 meters away depending on your walls. You don't have to pair them up with the UHDTV and you can get a second pair of them for a viewing companion. They are great phones but you need to set them up special on this Samsung: 1. Split the Optical out into 2 cables if you have a soundbar. Get the Toslink Digital Optical Audio Splitter 1x3...1 input to 3 possible output devices. The VHD-TS1X3 will cost you around $25 on Prime or at stores like Fry's. Also purchase a 1 meter optical cable from your one-connect mini box to the splitter input port for about $10, Then you will have A, B, or C output ports and supplied cables from the splitter to your soundbar, headphones, and one additional device if you need it. 2. On the Samsung Menu Sound Option. Very important, as it took me an hour to figure out what settings to use as my first hookup with the headphones was dead silent and there was nobody to help me at Samsung or Sennheiser: a. Sound Mode: Up to you, but I like "Movie" for the better base in most movies and 4K series on Prime or Netflix. b. TV Speaker: Stay with SoundBar (if you have one) or TV speakers....not Bluetooth, or Optical Out options. c. Additional Settings: HDMI Out:.....set to PCM and Audio Format: also set to PCM. Headphones require PCM format on UHDTV. Once you do this, the headphones and the soundbar will both send out fantastic audio simultaneously......so you must mute the soundbar (or regular TV speakers) to eliminate any echo effect time delays....but fiber optic is so fast you should not hear any. My Audio delay is set to 100 ms with my HD Audio: OFF. You may need to play with these depending on your speaker/Soundbar setup. PROS: 1. Great sound fidelity and reproduction. No noise once you put them on. You hear voices and stereo sound effects you can't hear from standard UHDTV speakers or soundbars which adds to your viewing experience. 2. I can take them to any room in the house within 30 feet upstairs or downstairs and not miss a sound. No sound dropouts anywhere, even the garage, bathroom, or outside. 3. Fairly easy to setup once you have your optical cable or stereo audio cable setup and your sound source menu options setup properly for the Sennheiser. 4. Nice to have the transmitter post nearby to charge the headphones when not in use and red/green charging indicator status. 5. Good reference CD. I suggest you print out the entire 32 page instruction manual before you start the setup or view the PDF. You can still read every page if you double up to print 2 pages per sheet for 16 pages with landscape format. It will take you 10 minutes to read it. 6. Nice to confirm your current BASS BOOST or SURROUND SOUND setting lights on the transmitter post if within view. 7. I am still experimenting with BASS and Surround Sound settings Hi and Low for movies, normal shows, and music channels. So far, I like the just the extra BASS BOOST setting for movies. You need to experiment for yourself. CONS: 1. Headphone batteries: Swap out the supplied AAA batteries with the Energizer AAA rechargeable batteries, which charge up much faster and last a lot longer than the German supplied "ReCyko" batteries. You need 1 battery in for the left and right side headphone. Volume controls, + or -, base high/low, and surround sound buttons are on the right side headphone, which take a while to get use to. Don't use your remote or you will unmute your soundbar or TV speakers and alert others in your house and defeat your headphone privacy. 2. All controls on the right earphone. Very nice if you are right-handed or ok with your right hand if left-handed. The other problem is that the 4 main quadrants of the control circle: BASS, SURROUND SOUND, VOL -, and VOL +, are basically on a flat surface, and unless you have a mutant eye or good tactile feel on your right thumb, you really can't feel which control is which. The first few days, I had to take off my headphones multiple times to see which control I was touching. Problem solved: I got some 3/8" round soft felt tabs with a stick-on side on each control. The BASS and SURROUND tabs are a little thicker than the sound control tabs, so I could feel, where I was on the control circle. All I had to remember was the BASS was to the left of the SURROUND control and that VOL - was to the left of VOL +. Sennheiser should improve this ergonomic problem with future models. 3. Break-in pain. I have only had these headphones about 2 weeks, and even with the padding around the ears and on the top of my head, there is definitely a dull throbbing pain around my ears once I remove the headphones after about an hour of viewing. There is no way to adjust the tightness of these phones on the sides of your head. However, as others have suggested, it might take a month or so of normal use to loosen them up...or maybe you can stretch them out over a large wooden block when not in use. I may change my 4* rating to 5* in a future review update if the pain issue resolves itself or my head shrinks. We'll see.