I suffer a hearing loss that has rendered me deaf in my left ear and needing amplification for my right ear. I can actually hear sounds in my left ear but they are so distorted as to be unintelligible. I need my audio loud to hear it enjoyably even with a hearing aid. Others in the house don’t.
Acoustic Research AW-772 Headphones
I got these at Best Buy without doing much research – just read the specs off the box. Since I was mostly going to be listening to TV I didn’t think I needed great sound quality. I ended up hooking it up through a stereo switch to my TV (high def), my computer, and my iPod. Sound quality got more important. A little about the product first, though. These are relatively large and heavy headphones with a very good gel pad to seal them around even large ears. Their frequency response is rated at 20 to 20,000 Hz. They use a 900mhz wireless RF frequency so line of sight is not necessary. They have automatic PLL tuning and three channels to choose from to get away from RF interference. I find their quoted range of 150 feet to be a little high for my setup. About 80 feet and I get too much noise for comfortable listening. The docking station for recharging the NiMH batteries is also the transmitter. The charging is done inductively and you have to be careful to get the headphones in the cradle correctly to get a charge. The charge light on the headphones tells you when they are right. It takes about 8 hours for a charge. Hookup is simple using a brick for power and the provided cable for stereo input. Because of the way I wired them I had to use adapters. There is a volume control and an off/on switch on the headset, also there is a button to effect connection with the transmitter, I ended up using the middle channel and once they were coupled I haven’t had to do anything more to them.
Now about the sound quality. The volume is plenty loud enough for me and the pads fit snugly enough that there is no sound leakage – in or out. I have my iPod docked in a Bose SoundDock so I can be pretty critical of the sound comparison. The sound isn’t as crisp as from the SoundDock, but the difference between these headphones and those supplied with the iPod is like day and night. It is perfectly adequate for my listening needs. The other two inputs are less critical and fine.
When moving around the house I can go to most rooms and still have good sound. The headset does tend to slide around when I move my head, but most do. For the purpose I bought them I have been quite pleased over the three months I have used them almost very day.
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