Drown out your environment without tripping on wires!
Written: Apr 22 '02 (Updated Jun 12 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great sound, well cushioned
Cons: Kinda heavy and bulky, too many knobs to fiddle with
The Bottom Line: If you don't mind the clunkiness and "fiddly-ness" of these headphones, then you will greatly enjoy the sound and wireless freedom from these headphones.
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| packdragon's Full Review: Advent AW-770 Consumer Wireless Headphones |
I bought these through Ebay and discovered that the charger wasn't working, and the Frequency Tuning Light wasn't either. I'm in the middle of settling this with the seller, but I can still review the parts of these headphones that are working, which work pretty well.
GETTING SET UP
It was easy to figure out how to plug in everything. I wanted to immediately start using the headphones after opening the box, so I used regular alkaline batteries. (They use 3 AAAs.) The tricky part was trying to figure out what all the little knobs are for. There's Volume and Frequency on the base unit, and Volume and Frequency knobs on the headphones too. I don't know if it's necessary to have that many, but considering the end result (which I'll talk about later) maybe it's all worth it.
I'm used to wireless items having "channels". The baby monitor I have at home has A and B channels. My walkie-talkies have several channels to choose from. You just set the two units to the same channels and it works fine. But these headphones don't work that way. You have to find a frequency that works for you on the base unit, then you have to tune the headphones to the base unit. That's more tuning that I really want to deal with.
Then there are all the different ways to adjust volume. There's the base unit, the headphones, and the sound source itself. I listen to music at my desk through the computer and usually find it easier to adjust volume using the computer controls. But the volume knob on the heaphones comes in handy when I'm away from my desk. I don't find the volume knob on the base unit particularly useful.
The instructions explain things step by step how to set them up, but they don't really tell you the benefits of all these different knobs. They tell you how but not why. They get the basic job done in get you started on how to use your new setup, but I'm the kind of person who wants to know why I have to deal with all these settings. The troubleshooting section of the manual is pretty basic. They cover how to figure out what's wrong when you can't get sound, and that's about it. They didn't help me at all in trying to figure out why the Ni-Cad batteries weren't working when regular batteries did. Was it the charger not working? Faulty batteries? The batteries were new, so I can only guess that it's a faulty charger. There is no "Charging" indicator light, which would be very helpful in making sure you're connected and charging correctly.
THE SOUND
Now for the important part... how well do they work? When I finally got everything working, it sounded great! Music (mostly electronica) is clear, crisp, and the bass is very good, especially for headphones. I was able to walk all the way to the other side of the office, across several walls, before I lost the signal. However along the way there were areas where there was a bit of static, kind of like going over a hill and getting a weak radio signal. When there is no music playing or if the music is low, there is an audible hiss, even when I'm sitting in front of the base unit. The hiss is always there when the headphones are on, but it's not that loud and isn't a problem for most music. I've heard similar hissing from stereo speakers.
IMMEDIATE COMFORT
The headphones themselves are the kind that fit around your hear, covering them completely. This is great for drowning out external sound. It felt really weird when I started talking with these on, it was like I had my ears plugged. The padding over the head and around the ears is very soft and comfortable. However they do feel pretty heavy on my head. I've been used to small lightweight headphones and earbuds all this time, so it's a matter of getting used to them. Also, if you wear earrings you might have to do some frequent minute adjusting to get them to sit just right around your ears. I like how the headphones adjust to your head. You don't have to manually move each side up and down, clicking into place, until you get it just right. They are self-adjusting. You just pull them where you want them, and they stay. They have just the right amount of tension in them so they are snug, but not so much that they squeeze your head. Despite their comfort, I still find them to be bulky and clunky. They won't hang comfortably around your neck (temporary resting place) like regular headphones because the earpieces are way too big and push up into your chin.
LONG TERM COMFORT
They feel pretty comfortable at first, but after about 20 minutes or so my jaw started feeling uncomforable. The headphones press against my TMJ (the jaw joint that sits just under your ear) and after awhile I have to move them around to try to find a comfortable spot. I never had this problem with the small headphones because they sit on your ear, not around it. I think if they didn't grip quite so hard it wouldn't be a problem. But then the self-adjusting headband probably wouldn't work so well then. My head isn't very wide and my ears are very small, so keep this in mind while you're thinking about buying this product.
CONCLUSION
While you're wearing one of these headphones you might look a little like one of those airport workers on the runway, or maybe Princess Leia. Coworkers grin at me when they walk past, probably because I look funny. It might also take a little figuring out to get the frequency tuning just right. But those are the trade-offs for getting great, comfortable, wireless sound. The sound I get from these is much better than any set of wired headphones I've used in the past.
UPDATE - 6/12/07
Well it's five years later and these headphones are still working. I've switched from using them at work to using them at home for video games. They still work great. The only difference now is that the black material covering the padding is starting to crumble and peel off. The padding is still fine though, it's just the material covering it. Also, there is now some audible static-like noise when I adjust the volume using the knob on the headphones. This is similar to adjusting the volume on an aging pair of PC speakers. There's a disruptive noise when you turn the knob, but it disappears as soon as you stop adjusting. The sound is still great for regular use.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
packdragon
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Member: Zoe
Location: Gardena, CA
Reviews written: 99
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
A jack of all trades: I know a little about a lotta things.
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