The Technics RP-WF920 RF headphones are, as the name suggests, cordless headphones. Pretty easy to realize that with the letters "R" and "F" in it’s name. Instead of being the normal infrared based, they use a "Stereo Frequency Modulation System" (AKA Radio Waves to you and me), to transmit the sound from the transmitter to the headphones.
Before I get too much into it, I think you should know the specifications (As quoted from the manual)
General
Carrier Frequency – 863-864 MHz
Transmitting Distance – 60-100 m
Frequency System – 20-22,000 Hz
Distortion Factor – 1% (At 1 kHz)
RF Transmitter
Power Supply – DC 12V, 150mA (Uses mains power)
Dimensions – 193x95x40mm
Weight – 220g
RF Headphones
Power Supply – DC 3V (AKA 2xAA batteries or the supplied Ni-Cd batteries)
Dimensions – 225x95x40mm
Weight – 250g including batteries
Ni-Cd Batteries
Typical Charging Time – 8 Hours
Typical Operation Time – 25 Hours
The transmitter is a nice oval based unit, with one LED on the front, one aerial (Screws in), and a flap at the top where the two Ni-Cds can be charged. On it’s back there’s the power socket, the lead to plug into the audio source, and the tuner. Both units have the tuner built in, and it’s use is solely to fine-tune the signal and to get rid of any interference. The aerial seems to be a bit flimsy, and could quite possibly break off in some sort of accident.
The lead is a typical 3.5mm plug, and it plugs into a headphone socket. I advise that it gets pluged straight into the sound card rather than into the speakers, as I had some trouble with mine.
The headphones are of the closed type, with the battery compartment taking up the left earpiece, and the right is dominated by the power button, the volume control and the aforementioned tuning control.
On first impressions, the headphones look nice, albeit in black only. The actual ear padding is fabric based, rather than the cheap leatherette and foamy plastic styles that I have seen so much elsewhere. Heck, the fabric even feels good!
Almost as standard, the headphones come with one of those headband adjustment elastic devices, to keep your head comfy. Unfortunately, this is a bit weak, and could have used a more stronger elastic inside. The size of the phones don’t help either, being a few centimetres wider than average, and combined with the slightly flexible plastic used to make the solid headband itself, causes major slippage around the head, and the possibility of dropping them. No dancing around with these on!
The Ni-Cd batteries should be put into it’s charger straight away, so when you need them they are ready (Shame they didn’t arrive pre-charged). I ended up using some Energisers. The total operation time on them ended up far higher than the Ni-Cds that came with it, at roughly 120 hours in total! The Ni-Cd times as quoted in the manual were pretty accurate, although an hour short of the full 25. I tell you, if you go to a weekend long Lanparty, use the Energiser (Other brands available) ones to save the bother of having to charge and wait without sound. On the other hand, for normal home use, if you average at about 8 hours a day usage of these headphones, that’s roughly 3 days use, and you can leave them charge while you sleep, ready for the next day.
The sound quality of these headphones is not perfect. Although during musical performances and gaming it can hold it’s own against others, during the silences is where it falls short. There is a light background hiss when there is nothing happening. Although this happens on almost every pair of headphones available, these seem to amplify the sound more than others.
Another sound based problem is, yet again, when there is no sound at all. After a few minutes of silence, the transmitter switches off automatically when there is no sound from the source, and when this happens, the headphones yell white noise loudly into your ears. A nice idea for a feature, but unfortunately, it would be served better if used on the headphones instead of the transmitter, as that will save battery life and my hearing instead of attacking with static.
The range of the system is quite far. It may not be as far as wanted, but it does the job. Walking around the thick walled house here, there is great reception, with only minor problems when moving the head at certain angles when far away from the transmitter. The possibilities of this are endless, ranging from listening to music in bed, to going to the toilet while listening to a DVD.
I tested the range without walled interference the only way I know how – Hang the transmitter out of a window, and walk up the street listening to a Winamp playlist until I can’t hear it any more. In my tests, aside from the strange looks from innocent bystanders, I managed a quite healthy 83 metres before pure static. Admittedly, the sound does start to cut out minorly at 60, but that’s probably because of a pole in the way of the line of sight.
Overall, these Technics RP-WF920 RF Wireless Headphones are handy for listening around the house or Lanparty, although the minor design flaws reguarding static and the need for a large head to wear it makes the phones a "Luxury" item rather than a "Must Have"…
