Look Ma, No Wires.........

I started experimenting with wireless headphones about a year ago as a potential means of listening to my favorite Internet radio stations while doing things around the house, but out of earshot of my computer. I thought it would be awesome to be able to listen to my favorite commercial free Internet broadcasts while out in the garage or doing something outside, etc. Just plug the wireless headphones into the PC headphone output and have instant portable, private sound.

After several disappointing experiences with FM wireless headphones I decided to roll the dice on a 900 MHz set. The FM wireless sets I tried were pretty much just awful once I was basically beyond eyesight of the transmitter. The audio would become very scratchy and fade in and out. I got the same result out of two different manufacturers. I had pretty much given up on the whole idea until I saw this RCA 900MHz set. I reasoned that since my 900 MHz wireless telephone worked so well that quite possibly the headphones would as well. So...once again...another $65.00 experiment takes flight.

Click on this link for the technical specifications for this headset. http://www.epinions.com/511900_RCA_WHP150_Wireless_Headphones/display_~full_specs

The first thing I noticed when I took them out of the package was how heavy they were. All wireless headphones are naturally heavier than the standard ones but these seemed to abuse the privilege. I didn't really see this as much of an issue though, I'd take the heavier weight as a trade off for quality sound, no problem. I set up the base and plugged the unit in to charge overnight as the manual suggested. The charging setup is mildly chincy, the headphones dock on top of the base kind of like a cordless phone yet you still have to manually plug in the charger cord to the jack on the side of the earphones. Being a jaded electronics consumer I opened up the right side earpiece where the batteries live, fully expecting some sort of proprietary battery setup. I am happy to report finding two everyday ordinary NiCd AA's!! Kudos to RCA for that at least. I can use any of the many regular rechargeable AA batteries I have when these start to wear down.

Regrettably, that's just about all of the good news I have to share about this product. I got up the next morning and headed downstairs like a kid on Christmas morning to try out my new toy. I plugged the base into my PC's headphone jack, turned it on and then began tuning the base unit into an available frequency that would presumably connect it and the headset together. I was supposed to know when that had been accomplished by means of a small red light on the front of the base unit that would come on. This turned into a trickier task than I had bargained for. The little thumbwheel that you are supposed to dial it in with is more sensitive than Richard Gere. I started slowly rotating the itty bitty wheel up..in a nanosecond the little red light flashed on and then back off again. Hmmm. I ever so slowly crept the itty bitty wheel back down toward the spot I'd just passed that engaged the little red light. In a nanosecond the little red light flashed on and then back off again. and again. and again. Rinse. Repeat.

I am now having flashbacks of the two FM Wireless Headsets. I now rotated the wheel slowly all the way through its entire range of motion, there appears to be only this one infinitesimal spot where it is truly able to find peace. O.K. fine, the light is now glowing at me approvingly. Now, I only have to fine tune the headset to the base unit. I am to accomplish this by means of rotating the small thumbwheel on the bottom of the left earpiece. I will know when it is tuned in to the base unit correctly by means of a small red light near the top of the left earpiece. D'oh. Yes, this thumbwheel is every bit as sensitive as the one on the base unit. Just the slightest twitch apparently unnerves it.

All the controls for the headset are on the left side. You have an ON/OFF switch, a Volume thumbwheel, the charging jack, the lovely tuning thumbwheel and the little red light. You must of course blindly learn the positions and operation of the controls since you operate them while wearing the headset. Now what I'd like for you to do is take a wild guess which of the two controls are situated very closely to each other on the bottom of the earpiece? Yep. The little volume wheel and the little tuning wheel. Would it have killed them to put either one or the other wheel on top? Naturally while you are fumbling around trying to turn the sound up or down you inadvertently slightly bump that oh-so-sensitive little tuning wheel, instantly filling your ears with glorious static at whatever volume the unit happened to be at.

I mentioned before that the first thing I noticed was that these were heavy. That was before wearing them. After wearing them I came to realize that they are heavy and uncomfortable. Believe it or not, the cushioned foam earpieces that presumably would go around your ears are small and ROUND. Yes, I said ROUND. And I said small. How small and how round you ask? Exactly 1 1/2" inches across the inner opening. No, I am not kidding. How round? Perfectly round. Not the slightest hint of any oblong-ness to the shape whatsoever. Now, friend, I ask you earnestly..do you have 1 1/2 inch tall, CIRCULAR freakin' ears? No? Well, the good folks over at RCA apparently do!! Something mighty fierce ugly has been dippin' into that gene pool.

So, these things are heavy and they press the tops and bottoms of your ears into the sides of your head (unless you are an RCA associate). Oh, one other small, rather insignificant detail. You look like a goober. Wearing these, I mean.
They are huge. The only way they could look any funnier is if they had had a huge extendable chrome antenna sticking up out of one side. Since it looks like I'm stuck with these things I may just have to figure out a way to mount one and go for walks wearing the headset, corduroy pants and a polyester shirt.

Unfortunately, this has all been the good news. The bad news is that this headset really does not transmit much further or with any more reliability or signal strength than its FM predecessors. I really do not understand why I can walk to the corner a block away and still get signal on my 900 MHz telephone handset yet have to be careful how I turn my head to avoid loosing the signal on this 900 MHz wireless headset 40 feet away. The sound isn't bad when the headset and base unit do actually get together for a visit. Not awesome by any stretch of the imagination, but O.K. by comparison to the other inadequacies of this product. I even tried this unit with my regular home stereo, television and DVD player just to be sure it wasn't a problem with my PC's sound card. Same results no matter what device.
RCA...Really Crappy Audio???


Bottom line? When these things wind up on the clearance rack for $15.00 (and they will) consider it.