Acoustic Research Wireless HD Headphone review

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Acoustic Research’s new 2.4 Ghz wireless headphones offer true 2.1 Sound that is usually so good, you won’t miss using your regular surround speakers. You’ll get the 2.4 Ghz wireless transmitter, a stereo cable, stereo Y adapter cable, AAA batteries, and an AC power adapter. You will have the option of using the batteries or the power adapter for either the headphones or transmitter, and will likely want to use the adapter with the transmitter. It is very easy to power on and connect with the headphones, but if you forget to turn it off after you’re done, you’ll find you have to wait a bit the next time you go to use it.

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The transmitter’s input is for a 3.5mm cable, and you’ll find you can plug in your MP3 with ease. You can also choose to connect the device directly to your receiver’s stereo RCA jacks or simply plug it into the headphone jack.

The headphones are very comfortable from the moment you put them on. There shouldn’t be any adjustments needed. The volume controls on the left earpiece are convenient, as is the power button and power jack.
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You would think there would be a loss of depth in the sound when you have headphones on, as opposed to having surround speakers set up slightly behind your head on either side. Impressively, you may find that you hear more out of these than you would otherwise. Watching a movie and hearing someone walk behind you, left to right, you can feel the footsteps around you, making it a very immersive experience.

There is an occasional loss of signal, and though it doesn’t happen often, is a distraction. That’s a shame, because the quality of the sound itself is excellent. The other complaint is the fact that both the headphones and transmitter use the same type of input for the AC power cord, of which there is only one. So even if you do decide to plug in your transmitter, you’ll need to either buy an additional power cable or unplug the transmitter often. This may not be a big issue, depending on the setup, but it would have been nice if it had been better thought out.