I've noticed a couple of these about and thought these could be useful for watching films late night. I just want to know if anybody had used a pair before, do they offer a realistic surround experience?

Not actually used any of these Robbie but I've read a bit about them and results are usually mixed. Generally they do seem to offer a surround experience pretty faithfully but obviously problems arise in that all the speakers are directly feeding into your ears. Whereas with true surround the speakers positioning creates a believable sense of depth this is extremely hard for a pair of headphones to do. Have a look at a fairly good review, testing a few input sources(films, video games etc) on a pair of Zalman ZM-RS6F 5.1 Real Surround Sound Headphones, here

My gripe is that I've only got 2 years, not 5.1. That sounds glib but it's not meant to be. For me, you can't beat a good old pair of 'decent' Grado stereo headphones for late night movies. They make you look like you're in the 60's but the sound is very much 21C.

You've only got 2 years? You have a surprisingly well developed grasp of language for one so young ; ) (yeah I know I'm a pedantic ****)

But the point you make is one I agree with and why I'm somewhat skepticle of 5.1 headphones. Sure when you have speakers planted around a room you can have 5.1/7.1/13.1 or whatever and it works but when you have the speakers pressed against your ear, it just doesn't seem feasable. Though I have been wrong before so thats why I'm interested to hear any opinions or feedback on such headphones.

I have had a pair of Philips digital 5.1 headphones. They worked very well, although the centre channel always appeared to be between your ears not in front of you. Problem with those 'phones was that they were too tight and eventually snapped at both earpieces. When I returned them to the seller, they had reports of similar problems. But you do get a good impression of surround sound.

Duncan you say the sound was pretty good but was it good enough to the extent that you'd consider buying another (more sturdy) pair, or was it just more of a novelty experience?

I would buy another pair if they could be guaranteed to be comfortable to wear for two or three hours. The Philips ones were very tight, but I assume that was part of the design flaw. I did have to check that my system speakers were not on, the sound was that convincing. I did not think a pair of headphones could give bass as deep or as full as they could. I have never read a good review of infra-red 'phones, but these worked on digital FM channels. I would only wear 'phones if I had to though (girlfriend studying in the kitchen!).

Interesting, I might look into a pair. Obviously though not as a replacement for proper surround but for use late evening and night time.

How exactly do they recieve the 5.1 siganl though? Does the headphone port on a reciever deliver 5.1?

The 'phones come with a pre-amp which plugs into a digital out on the receiver, or from the co-ax from a dvd player. They also have stereo phono plugs which can receive a regular analogue source. I was lucky that my receiver had a digital out because looking through specs in what-hifi mag, not all do. The phones could also recreate dolby pro-logic II .

I've used Philips cordless stereo headphones with my Yamaha AV receiver - which has a feature called "Silent Cinema," which may sound daft, but actually works quite well to give a surround "impression."
As Euler noted earlier the "centre" speaker tends to sound right between the user's ears, rather than being "in front." and overall I’d say that the experience is rather similar to listening to those systems that attempt to produce surround without physical speakers behind you – in my experience these can be entertaining, but are no substitute for “the real thing.”
I’ve also used several Sennheiser surround products – modules that sit between the headphones out (or line out) and the headphones and decode Dolby pro logic. The effect of these was very similar to what I’ve just described, and I only sold them on because the Yamaha didn’t need them – They’re no longer produced, but can be found at very good prices.
Original prices over £100 – currently going for £20-40 or less if you are lucky!
There are a glut of models to be found at the moment that feed from the separate outs of a 5.1 amp and feature individual speakers within the headphones to “give the 5.1 experience.”
None that I’ve seen came from established manufacturers and I’m a little dubious about their efficacy! I’d like to try one to see though!

Mike

Cheers for the responses guys, I'm thinking about giving a pair a go. Can anybody help me out further and recommend a specific pair, hopefully on the cheap too :0)!

If you can find a pair of Philips HD 8850 - they are the same headphones as I have but with the addion of surround built in.

Mike

I have read all the postings to the last date - 06/09/05 with great interest as I am to make a purchase for use with my Pioneer PDP436XDE TV setup with a view to not upsetting neighbours. Has anybody tried the Sony MDR-DS3000 or the Pioneer SEDIR800C. Any views would be appreciated.

I have the Pioneer SEDIR800C and had them for a little over 6 months since 02/07.  The set worked fine for a few months, but then all of a sudden it does not work anymore.  Everything ‘seems’ to be working, but for some reason either the signal is not being received at the headset unit or the unit is entirely dead.  I contacted Pioneer, but all they could do was send me to a Servicing company.  The receiver appears to be working and the headset was well taken care.  We'll see about the outcome.  Regarding comfort, it's okay at first, but does wear on you after about an hour or so and the ears becomes a little red.  Good luck if you wear glasses.  As for sound, it's okay.  Can't really tell too much regarding the 'surround sound' effects.  However, good thing I got this for a gift cause I would have returned it, but still good to have if you watch late night TV.  Good luck. 

Thanks Joe. I bought the Sony's. They were very good on the optical connection but with only one outlet in my system I got tired of swopping over so I have reverted back to my stereo set.