Sony MDRIF140K Entry Wireless Infra-Red Headphones

I've just bought these headphones and, after a few days use, I give them a resounding "hhhmmm, ok I suppose, I probably wont send them back". My requirements were for something relatively small and comfortable to use for listening to music and cricket commentary at my pc but without be chained to my desk by a wire. Oh yes, they had to be affordable as well! (For me that means sub £60). After lots of research it was clear there was going to be compromise. I immediately dismissed all the large, industrial looking headphones modelled on building-site ear defenders, so that left a very small subset. I also dismissed Bluetooth headsets that didn't include a transmitter, as I wanted a complete solution. At this point there were few headphones left and all had mixed reviews so no clear stand-out choice. The least worse appeared to be these Sony's, so I went for them.

On opening the box my initially thought was "wow, they look smaller in the picture!" (more of an `oh-no' wow than an `amazing' wow). My next thought was that the build quality wasn't great. Also I didn't realise that the headphones took a single AAA battery (oh yes, batteries not included!) - I must have skimmed over that detail, every set of wireless headphones I had ever seen have been rechargeable, so I just assumed...! A single AAA really isn't great, they hold very little power and, as the vast majority of battery chargers only charge batteries in pairs, it pretty much rules out using rechargeables. Strange design decision, given that Sony make heaps of mobile phones, it's not like they haven't got people who know about batteries! To power on the headset there's a nasty maplin-style clunky slide switch. Would a nice soft-touch push switch really affect the price? It would have made it easier to quickly toggle the power for those (music interrupting) conversations you get at your desk. It would have also made it easier for Sony to add a power-save feature (i.e. to auto power-down if the headphones receive silence for 5 minutes). Using a single AAA battery, they could really use a power save.

Still I plugged them in and they were working in no time. I tried keeping the transmitter under my desk but unfortunately this was a complete no-go, you only get sound if there is a direct line of sight between the transmitter and headset (and they probably have a range of 8ft or 10ft).

Regarding sound quality, as other reviewers have said, if you don't ramp up the volume(s) on your source devices you will get a lot of hiss. However, if you do this you may experience audio clipping so you may need to compromise here. My expectations here weren't high; they are wireless after all, but even so, they aren't great. Fine for cricket commentary but if you are a music lover you wouldn't choose these as your primary source for listening to music.

Good Points
* Light
* Easy to set up, plug'n'go

Bad Points
* With princess leia style head cups, they are a bit big
* Headset uses a single AAA battery
* No re-charge point, it's assumed the batteries are disposable
* Very directional
* Sound quality not great
* Build quality not great
* No auto-power off

So, in summary quite a few negative points but they do basically work, and the competition isn't great so they won't be going back. Sony may be a cookie bunch and make strange strategic design decisions but their quality can generally be relied upon. Make no mistake; these are Sony in name only. If I was to buy again I would look into Bluetooth options a little harder, (but may still end up going for these). I am quite frustrated at the lack of choices for PC-centric wireless headphones (with a USB powered transmitter that doubles up as a recharge station). Why is it so hard to create a decent pair of reasonably sized wireless headphones for a reasonable price? Seriously, how hard can it be?

WE HAVE THREE OF THESE HEADPHONES INFACT WE HAVE ONE OF THE OLDER MODELS THEY ARE ALL 5 STAR.

BEFORE I BOUGHT THE FIRST ONE I CHECKED THE BUYERS ADVICE SITES (SONY`S AS WELL) AND THEY ALL SAID TO TURN YOUR TV VOLUME UP FAIRLY HIGH OR LIKE US JUST OVER HALFWAY AND YOU GET NO HISS AND YOU SAVE ON BATTERIES AS THE HEADPHONES VOLUME IS SET FAIRLY LOW

INFACT IF YOU SET TO JUST OVER A THIRD ON YOUR TV VOLUME YOU WILL GET NO HISS
WITH THE HEADPHONE CONTOLS ON A FAIRLY LOW SETTING

YOU WILL ONLY GET A HISS IF YOU HAVE YOUR TV VOLUME CONTROL IS DOWN TOO MUCH AND YOUR HEADPHONE CONTROL IS UP TOO MUCH AND THE LAST TIME WE DID THAT WAS SIX YEARS AGO.

My Dad has hearing problems and is old, so trailing wires are unsafe. These have fantastic sound and he is very, very pleased with them.