Sony MDR-DS4000

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8 out of 8 people found this review helpful

4.5 stars

"Noise free and ergonomically great design"

by khammo01 on July 29, 2005

Pros: Simulated 5.1 surround, automatic on/off, digital optical pass-thru, lightweight and comfortable

Cons: Doesnt recognize Dolby Surround when plugged into my sound card digital port, occasional buzzing, touchy power switch
Summary: I have the Japanese retail version of these phones. This is a great product. Good range, unintrusive base station, automatic charging (just return the headphones to the base station), auto-on (just put the headphones on your head to activate a slide switch). The base response is a bit lacking, but you're probably interested in the product for its lack of wires.
The batteries seem to last forever. I've never had them go flat when I was using the headphones. The phones are lightweight and have a volume control on the right side. There is no physical power switch, so you can't accidentally leave the power running.
They are IR-powered phones, so line of sight is needed, which is frustrating sometimes. But IR delivers better sound quality. Also, the signal is delivered via digital protocol, so there is ABSOLUTELY NO crackle or static when you move out of range.
Sometimes when I'm wearing the headphone the sound cuts off, invariably due to the auto-power switch built into the headband. If I wiggle it around, it comes back. The contacts might be easily soiled.
Also, the device delivers excellent simulated Dolby Surround when a suitable Dolby Surround signal is input. This works great when plugged into a DVD player, but when I plug into my computer it won't recognize a 5.1 input signal no matter how I configure my sound card. This means that the signal will be processed as regular 2.0 stereo, which limits the perceived depth. Whichever the case, there are only two drivers - these are not true 5.1 headphones. They also accept an analog input.
the unit also includes a digital optical passthru connector, which is great for plugging in components to both the headphones and an amplifier, for instance.

I got mine in Japan for about 200USD, and I think USD200 is a reasonable price to pay for these phones.

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Sony MDR-DS4000: $479.99

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Amazon.com Marketplace	$479.99	See Site

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