Open-air Cordless Hi-Fi / Music & Movie Headphones - MDRIF140K product reviews

Many years ago - back when "The Playstation" was a big, ugly grey brick still fresh on the market - I was lucky enough to score a pair of the first consumer-line version of these headphones - the MDRIF-120's... they were comfy, didn't get tangled around the keyboard while I worked (being wireless, that's a given really), but most importantly... they felt comfortable and did a great job of keeping my ears warm in winter.

Now, many years down the track, and my poor 120's have finally given up the ghost. They just stopped working, right in the middle of watching an episode of Survivor... dead. Silence. Nada. I was so upset, I simply HAD to tweet about it. (Yeah yeah, sad sack I know, but hey... it's the modern thing to do - bleat your woes to an anonymous mass of listeners... apparently.) Well, one of those listeners was Sony NZ... who ever so kindly said "Cry not, loyal fan... for we shall give unto thee and new, updated set, and you shall have warm ears and good, wireless sound once more!" OK, they didn't say that at all... it was more like "DM us your details, we're feeling generous! We'll hook you up with some new ones." Yeah, that sounds closer... still, the sentiment was the same, eh guys.

So, the new 140's arrived and I looked at them in confused wonder... They looked very different - no spring-loaded strap to stop them sliding down your head... smaller ear-cups, the battery compartment was built into the earpiece and the controls were so discrete it took me a second glance to make sure they were all there... but when I tried them on, they still felt pretty good! The biggest difference was the transmitter though... it looked identical to the original except for one key difference... no power button on top! This, I have to admit, was strange, and a little worrying to me, because I don't like leaving a transmitter on all night draining power without any need.

Either way... I finally figured out the battery compartment (Read the manual? What language do you speak, stranger, for I know not the meaning of these words!), discovered the spring-loading is built into the single head strap, and away I went... HUZZAH! I hear voices in my head... yes yes, AFTER I hit the play button, not before! This model, as should be expected, was even better than the previous model... though I did find the sound was quieter, a lot quieter... so I have to wonder why? Surprisingly, I managed to fix this very simply... I unplugged the new transmitter and went back to my old one - with the power button - and regained all the lost volume and clarity, and the ability to shut it off for the night simply. Sorry Sony, but the TMR-IF120 id superior to the TMT-IF130 - hands down.

Overall, I am SO glad to have wireless sound again... and the new headset - though weird-feeling for the first few hours - was very easy to get used to and rapidly became amazingly comfortable. I can't really fault them on anything except I wish they had larger ear-cups so they blocked outside sound out a bit better - THAT would put them right up there with pre-sliced bread, I tell ya! Many thanks to the generous - but still anonymous - team on the end of the SonyNZ Twitter feed, for their most welcome gift.