Customer Reviews

Panasonic RP-WF930-S 900 MHz Wireless Headphones

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I've been looking for wireless headphones for quite a while for use at college. I look at countless models from several companies. I read review after review on Amazon and other sites. Finally, I read a review on cnet.com that compared these headphones to other (and more expensive) models from Sony and Sennheiser. Of the reviewed models, it got one of the highest ratings even though it was the cheapest models. So, I decided to take a chance with Panasonic.

The results? I couldn't possibly be happier. The sound from the headphones is much better than every other wireless I have heard. I would even go as far to say that it's better than quite a few plug-in headphones. I will say that I use them for music (both from a stereo and straight through my computer), so I really don't know how well they work with television and movies, but I can't imagine it would be too different.

The range is incredible. I've walked outside my house, down the street, and into a friend's house on another road without having any interference whatsoever. In fact, interference is a very rare thing, period. I once got a little bit of whine in the background, but I quickly realized that came from the channel I was using being too close to my wireless internet channel. So, I changed the channel and everything was clear once again. Other than that, I've never had any problems, even in cement block and brick filled areas.

Comfort wise, they are not bad at all. The strap automatically adjusts to any size, so no need to mess with anything for sizing. The actual speaker section completely covers the ears, blocking out just about all other sounds and keeps the sound from being heard outside the headphones. The only problem here is that they do cause your ears to get a little warm, but that's to be expected.

The battery life is excellent and the charger/receiver is not too bulky or large. The headphones are also very easy to actually put on the charger (unlike some of the Sony models). The headphones also have a switch on them to turn them off, so just having them off the charger will not run the power as long as you turn them off. This is a feature I noticed is not on a lot of other models either.

Like I said before, I couldn't be happier with these headphones. They work like the expensive models with the price of the cheaper ones. I highly suggest them to anyone not looking to break their bank, but wanting a quality set of wireless headphones.

***UPDATE*** I noticed a lot of people have looked at this recently and I just wanted to give an update on my usage. The headphones still work very well, except my range here at college is not as good as at home. Of course, my dorm hall is all concrete block and filled with cell phones and wireless routers. So naturally, they don't work quite as well, but I would still recommend them for the price comapared to the more expensive ones.

I've owned these headphones for at least a month now, and are using them with a high-end Bose Lifestyle system. I originally got some $300 Bose headphones, but they were an overpriced disappointment and I returned them to Bose. These Panasonic headphones are wireless (very convenient) and have great range with virtually no distortion/interference. The sound is clean and pure, and they feel great on my head. In the review, they say that there is a Surround Sound processor. Well, it works, and one can clearly (even better than with my Bose speakers) hear the distinct seperation not only between right, left, and center, but also between front and rear. When it comes time for recharging (which is not often, as a charge can provide up to 20 hours of listening), you just set the headphones on their base, and that's all there is to it. Panasonic provides all the plugs and adapters one could/would need to be able to use the headphones with any system. In fact, with my system, I am driving the headphones from my Aux outputs. Since there is a Volumn Control right on the headphones, the fixed output from my Aux outputs works perfectly and it allows me to use the headphones with or without speakers. Panasonic did real well (as they usually do) on this product and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. For $59 bucks, nothing touches it or comes close to it.

Ultra comfortable headphones with some static. Remember that static is common to all wireless headphones (possibly not $300+ units...never tried any at this price range for obvious reasons mainly price). Often after longer use periods 30 minutes or over, the sound cuts out and the tuning button must be pushed to connect back. Occasionally, this will not work for long and the headphones must be turned off and on again.
I found it quite difficult to find good ratings for ANY Wireless Headphones so research on many sites before you make any choices.

THE GOOD...

Ultra comfortable with the best auto size adjustment,
Easy to use buttons,
Surround Sound mode which works well with some applications,
Good charging base and easy to put on base,

THE BAD...

Lots of static most of the time,
Sound cuts out occasionally

UPDATE...

After 6 Months of use, I would not buy this product again, who knows...interference could be coming from my old apartment wiring but this is not a great product. One plus is it has the best and most comfortable head adjustment I have tried.

Pros: Very nice sound fidelity when you finally manage to get a good signal.

Cons: Very limited transmission distance, 30 feet max. A lot, and I mean a lot of noise regardless of how close you are to the transmitter. It is off and on. Sometimes it's none and sometimes it constant even when you put the tranmitter 1 foot form the headphones. I've been disappointed. I expected a lot better from Panasonic.

This is the second pair of Wireless headphone that I have purchased. The other was from Radio Shack and cost about the same. I didn't have the noise problem and the distance range was far greater. They broke after 8 months. The Panasonic has better sound fidelity.

As many have said, noisy artifacts of sound. My 900 Mhz portable phone sounds better.

Many have said these are comfortable, but beware! They are NOT adjustable, so if you don't have the same size head as the other reviewers, you may find loose fitting headphones annoying

I wanted wireless headphones as I got tired of unwinding the cable from everything, especially my chair :-) I wanted cheap headphones and decided to give this model a shot despite the mixed reviews. I now regret it. The reasons are the same: audible static (noticeable in quiet compositions, sometimes gets really loud for few moments), may lose signal so you have to press tuning button, weird charging patterns (the light would never go off after first charging, once stopped working soon after charging), uncomfortable on the head (I got used to them, but still less than I'd like to).

For listening in a cubicle at work they are bearable to good (so I'm going to keep using them), but NO chance to use them for any serious hi-fi listening.

900MHz is an old technology. I owned my first 900MHz wireless headphone from about 10 years ago. Apparently, things have not improved by much. The audio quality of these headphones reminds me those really old radios from 20 years back. There are constant audio artifacts from interference such as hissing, high-pitched whines, etc.

If you accept the the fact that you are dealing with an old technology, I suppose this pair of headphones is not too bad. If you want hifi, well, you will be disappointed. The following is a list of pros and cons.

Pros:
1. Very comfortable headphones.
2. One button auto-tuning. You don't need to perform constant manual tuning like other wireless headphones.
3. Decent sound quality if you manage to ignore the audio artifacts such as the hissing and whines.

Cons:
1. Custom rechargable batteries. Don't you hate it when the manual tells you to get your batteries replaced by a dealer? Right! The total cost of replacement will probably make it infeasible.

2. Uses 900MHz wireless technology. See above. Well, I searched around for headphones using other technologies and only found infrared implementations. In this my understanding that infrared does not travel across walls, so the headphones are only useful if you are in line of sight of the transmitter.

3. Useless surround sound feature. Note that this is not Dolby Surround Sound, which decodes Dolby Surround encoded soundtracks. The surround sound feature of this headphones just makes your music sounds muffled as if you were playing it in a large room with very bad acoustics. Mercifully, this feature can be turned off.

In conclusion, buy this pair of headphones if the convenience of wireless is an overwhelming consideration, otherwise pass on it.

The headphones are great. I live in an apartment and I had to choose between watching television and having the air conditioner running. The AC is so loud that I would have to set the volume on the TV so loud that I was annoying the neighbor. Problem solved! I maybe should recommend that my neighbor get some of these headphones too - that way I won't have to listen to his music!

I was lead to these headphones from a review on CNET.com. They only liked two moderately priced headphones (less than $100). The other pair they liked were Senheisers (at $100) and the review was nearly identical to this pair. They charge quickly and sound outstanding. I have hooked them directly into my stereo receiver to watch movies and since they have A/V inputs (and wireless headphones have their own amplifier in them), I have hooked the A/V inputs directly into my xbox to play video games. (YOU DON'T NEED A HEADPHONE JACK TO USE THESE).

The bass is not terribly deep, but for headphones it is acceptable and the clarity and quality of the sound is outstanding for the price. The surround sound feature is poor, but the regular stereo mode will give you plenty of great sound.

As for the tranmission, as long as you are sitting somewhat still they transmit fine even in other rooms of your house. Moving around (ie. walking from room to room) will cause interference.

I am writing this review after smashing this product into many pieces. The static that cut in and out didn't bother me so much. The strange noise that came in and out that sounded like someone was playing with an old radio and adjusting the frequency didn't bother me that much. What led me to smashing this product was it constantly tuning out. It would tune out, I would press the tune button, music would resume. 1 second later it would go out again. Just as I'm getting into the music and the game that I'm playing I would lose the music which was very aggrivating for me. I was pleased witht he feel of the headphones, I even liked them when they worked for me. But I need something reliable and good quality. Panasonic did not provide me with said product, so I will go elsewhere for my headphone needs or wait till a better wireless technology arises for headphones.