BEYERDYNAMIC RSX 700
12 February 2009
Wireless headphones aren’t the most common piece of kit in the home recordist’s arsenal but by gum they’re handy when you have a pair. A friend who had a couple of similar pairs for composing in his tiny Bondi Beach flat first introduced me to this concept years ago. Being a unit comprised mostly of shonky floorboards, asbestos and decaying render-work, one could hardly crank up the main monitors after hours, so headphones were the only option. A couple of pairs of wireless cans made late night composing a tenable scenario – plus there were no cables to trip over on overly humid, beer-soaked sessions. A number of wireless headphones have hit the market recently; including these little numbers from Beyerdynamic… must be something in the air.
The RSX 700 headphones use the 2.4GHz spectrum and provide wireless listening at distances up to 20 metres before fidelity begins to degrade. The cans are quite light at 290 grams and the cups are an enclosed design that manage to blot out a good degree of extraneous outside noise. They’re reasonably comfortable, without clamping onto your head like some kind of bi-valve mollusc.
The RSX 700s use a tiny (95 x 72 x 15mm) transmitter unit that doubles as a charger for the two supplied AAA NiMH batteries housed within the left-hand cup. The transmitter houses a single button for swapping between channels while a large LED display lets you know the channel number in use. Controls on the actual headphones include a channel select button and two volume control buttons – plus and minus – astoundingly simple to use. All cables are provided for hooking the cans up to either mini-jack or RCA audio outputs, and a 1/8-to-1/4-inch adaptor is also provided.
In use, the 700s sound fine – no buzzing or hissing as I moved about the room, nor when wandering past the office’s wireless router or cordless phones. Audio did, however, cut out completely if I sat my mobile on top of the transmitter – a silly move really. Overall? A nifty set of cans.
Brad Watts
Price: $539
Hills SVL: (02) 9741 4393 or www.hillssvl.com.au
RESPONSES