Dolby Headphone options

satisian · 07-08-2006, 1:32 PM

Am debating whether to get corded or cordless Dolby Headphones for a plasma based home cinema setup. Have seen the posts in this forum and looks like the Philips HD1500 are favorite for cordless at £250ish from Europe.

Anyone have experience with the Creative HQ2300D (£60-ish) or the Sharkoon X-tatic (£90-ish) corded digital dolby headphones?

All views appreciated.

honglong · 10-08-2006, 10:34 AM

Hi,

I actually have the Philips HD1500 wireless headphones downstairs hooked upto my DVD player and i would love a 2nd pair for upstairs (hooked upto a mac mini via an M-Audio Transit) but they are impossible to buy now.

I tried the pioneer se-dir800c and they sound ok, but not a patch on the Philips and i think the headphones are the problem, because when you plug other headphones into it, the sound improves.

So, i have decided on an external dolby headphone adapter and go wired upstairs.

I bought the Creative HQ2300D from ebay about 2 months ago (£25 ish delivered, refurb from Creative) and it sounds pretty darn good. The sound with movies is excellent. Its ok with music but not amazing. If you upgrade the headphones the sound is even better, I have 2 pair of wired headphones, Sennheiser HD 205 (£30 from currys) and a pair of Goldring DR150. The creative decoder sounds better with the Sennhiesers (most likely the Goldring need a good amp to perform well).

I have ordered a JVC SU-DH1, which is an external; decoder which runs on 2 AA batteries and is supposed to be the best one you can buy (not like there is much of a choice) but i got it for £60 off ebay delivered from the US (it should arrive here sometime next week).

I tried some friends headphones which are 5.1 and have lots of speakers and they suck to be honest.

I have tried most wireless surround headphones and the best ones are Sony (VPT) and Dolby Headphones. Dolby Headphone is by far the best. Steer clear of anything with SRS on it and anything with lots of speakers in the headphones.

Dolby Headphone rules!

Hope this is useful!

Kilian Collins · 10-08-2006, 10:47 AM

http://www.preissuchmaschine.de/psm_...=27&image1.y=6

Seems like you can still get the Philips HD1500 wireless from Germany for around the €300 mark. I got mine (wired version no longer available) from Technik Direct and they were great.

pannivas · 10-08-2006, 10:49 AM

this is very good place to get the Philips SBC HD 1500 U/00

http://www.technikdirekt.de/main/en/...ml?fillspace=1

got mine today. Havent hooked them up yet, but one thing that impressed me was the packing made by Technikdirekt.de. Very good and carefull packing.

I will connect my headphones on my htpc and possible maybe write a quick review about them in the next couple of weeks.

Kilian Collins · 10-08-2006, 12:07 PM

Hi Pannivas, does your model come with a remote control which I think the new models have.. Also is the transmitter that is pictured on the Technik website located on top of the processor or can it be placed anywhere close by. Thanks

pannivas · 10-08-2006, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kilian Collins

Hi Pannivas, does your model come with a remote control which I think the new models have.. Also is the transmitter that is pictured on the Technik website located on top of the processor or can it be placed anywhere close by. Thanks

i havent yet set it up. But i did open the package and had a quick look to check if i was missing any cables and here is what the package had included (from a quick look)

1) EU power cord
2) Toslink cable
3) Coax Digital Cable
4) RCA cables
5) Remote Control and batteries
6) Manual
7) Headphone Amp
8) Headphones

also 2 sets of recharable batteries for the headphones.

i think the transmitter is hard mounted there (not sure though). I will let you know about that when i get home and set it up (Can' wait by way).

Kilian Collins · 10-08-2006, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pannivas

i havent yet set it up. But i did open the package and had a quick look to check if i was missing any cables and here is what the package had included (from a quick look)

1) EU power cord
2) Toslink cable
3) Coax Digital Cable
4) RCA cables
5) Remote Control and batteries
6) Manual
7) Headphone Amp
8) Headphones

also 2 sets of recharable batteries for the headphones.

i think the transmitter is hard mounted there (not sure though). I will let you know about that when i get home and set it up (Can' wait by way).

Thanks for that. I'm interested to see how this newer model performs. I have the old wired version and I'm thinking of upgrading to the wireless version. Enjoy !!

satisian · 10-08-2006, 8:26 PM

Ordered the Creative HQ2300D a few days ago to try the cheaper option for now and see how inconvenient the cable is. Just arrived today, will test next week and provide impressions.

Kilian Collins · 15-08-2006, 9:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pannivas

i havent yet set it up. But i did open the package and had a quick look to check if i was missing any cables and here is what the package had included (from a quick look)

1) EU power cord
2) Toslink cable
3) Coax Digital Cable
4) RCA cables
5) Remote Control and batteries
6) Manual
7) Headphone Amp
8) Headphones

also 2 sets of recharable batteries for the headphones.

i think the transmitter is hard mounted there (not sure though). I will let you know about that when i get home and set it up (Can' wait by way).

Do you know if the processing unit does actually incorporate a headphone amplifier for wired 'phones or is it just converting the signal to Dolby Headphone. If it's not an amplifier I wonder would you get any substantial improvement in sound for wired headphones if you added one?

honglong · 15-08-2006, 10:58 AM

the philips unit has 2 headphone outputs on 6.3mm jacks for wired headphones.

Kilian Collins · 15-08-2006, 11:30 AM

Sorry, I didn't explain myself better. I do have the Philips unit with the wired outputs only. I'm wondering if the unit has an amplifier or is it just a processing unit like say an ipod or a cd player with a headphone jack, that would benefit sonically from having a dedicated headphone amplifier added into the chain. I'm thinking of getting something like a Sennheiser HD600 or HD650 which benefits from an amplifier and I'd like to know if the HD1500 has one already or not.

hottstuff · 15-08-2006, 1:40 PM

Anyone tested the philips , against the seinheiser HD650 ?
Just in regards to sound quality , which is better.
I'm looking for an allrounder , mostly stereo cd, mp3.

But would like to try dolby headphones for DTS and 5.1 , do they really give you an OPEN 5.1 in ear sound?

honglong · 16-08-2006, 5:13 PM

Kilian Collins: The philips is an amplifier/processor. An ipod/MP3 player also has its on amplifier (Op-Amp) otherwise you'd have no volume.

Hope this helps!

Kilian Collins · 17-08-2006, 4:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honglong

Kilian Collins: The philips is an amplifier/processor. An ipod/MP3 player also has its on amplifier (Op-Amp) otherwise you'd have no volume.

Hope this helps!

Thanks Honglong. I'm thinking of the Sennheiser HD600 or HD650. The 650 I undertsand has an impedance of 300 ohms abd is hard to drive, and therefore improves with the use of a dedicated amplifier on top of say an ipod or a cd player with a headphone out. I'm wondering if a dedicated headphone amp would make much difference with the HD1500. I can't demo as there are no retailers near me. Im curious as to whether the HD1500 has the limited amplifying power of say an ipod or is it more powerful and wouldn't benefit much from an additional amp.

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