Thomson WHP3001BK Radio UHF Wireless Headphones - Black

I needed to find a wireless headphone solution for a very specificrequirement and initially spent some time looking at Bluetooth options.However, after some research I came to the conclusion that Bluetooth wouldnot meet my needs as I needed to have a wireless signal penetrate a concretewall which separates my room where my PC is and the next door spare roomwhere I would be using the headphones primarily. It didn't look as ifBluetooth would be able to do this with any reliability and so I continuedmy search for something other than a Bluetooth based solution that could geta signal through walls and/or not have to be in line of sight with thetransmitter as appears to be the case with other wireless short-rangeofferings.I spotted the Thompson WHP-3001BK wireless headphones and checked out thespecifications and reviews. I also considered the more expensive versionfrom Thompson, the WHP-3311BK but couldn't determine what the actualdifference was - other than some aesthetic design elements, so opted for thecheaper model.To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much at the price-point and wasactually very impressed with the sound quality of these headphones. Sure,the construction could be a little more solid than they are but so far, I'vehad no problems with them. From a comfort perspective, they do tend to causemy ear to ache after being worn for maybe two hours or more as the circularpads can rest on the edges of your ears. However, this might only be anissue with those intending to wear these headphones for extended periods oftime and perhaps have larger ears!As mentioned, the circular earphone cups are ringed with a soft velvet-likepad whichis quite comfortable. In addition, the headband is also generously paddedwhich makesfor a comfortable wear as far as the top of your head is concerned.The left ear cup has a rotary volume dial toward the rear edge of the cupand the auto tune button on the side. The auto tune button need only bepressed once upon initial use or upon selecting another of the 3 availablechannels on offer on the transmitter base station. The 3 available channelsare there to help provide a clear signal should any other similar units bein use or other wireless devices cause interference. Once the auto tune hasbeen pressed the unit scans for the signal from the base station which onlytakes a couple of seconds or so and that's it.The right earphone cup has the power button and LED on its outer face andonce this button has been pressed the bright LED indicates the unit ispowered up. Don't forget to switch the unit off after use to avoidexhausting the batteries as I did once! The right cup also contains therecharge socketat its lower edge and this is what mates with a pair of spring-loaded pinsin the base station to allow recharging of the set of 2 AAA rechargeable batterieswhich are supplied with the unit.The batteries themselves are an unknown brand to me and if memory serves arerated at 550 MaH (milliamp/hours). I cannot recall the official duration ofuse that these batteries provide to the headphones but I would suggest thatyou could increase this by a useful amount by replacing the suppliedbatteries with more powerful versions (I have Recyklo+ AAA rated at800 MaH I think on standby for this purpose). So far, I've used theheadphone continually for around 3 hours after a night's charging withoutrunning out of power.The right headphone cup is also where the 2 AAA batteries are housed andthis is done by removing the inner earphone grill and pad which comes awaytogether and you just snap back into place. Not the best way of housingbatteries as heavy handed or frequent opening and closing of this might leadto breakage. In theory, you need to do it only once but as mentioned above,you might want to upgrade the supplied batteries or at some point in thedistant future need to replace the batteries due to inability to berecharged.There are 3 inputs at the rear of the base station which are the mains ACinput needed to power the base station and a pair of RCA type sockets (onefor the left sound channel and one for the right for stereo input)which iswhat you connect your audio source to (or your TV if such outputs areavailable on it). Also supplied is a 6.3mm male to 3.5mm female audio jack converter for thoseaudio systems that use the larger 6.3mm headphone jack. The other convertersupplied is the most useful one for most people which converts a standard3.5mm jack (used for things like MP3 players and most standard earphones)into the RCA left and right connectors at the rear of the base station.However .....This crucial converter was missing from my unit which was very disappointingand meant I was not able to use the headphones for the primary task forwhich I had bought them. I contacted the supplier (not supplied direct fromAmazon) who apologised but alas sent me the wrong converter - I.e the one Ialready had which I didn't need. I had, though, made an error when notifyingthem of what type of converter I needed and so I cannot blame them. Idecided to cut my losses and purchased a decent quality 3.5mm to RCAconverter from Amazon for less than £4 which did the job.Just a note here for the purposes of fairness; It may well be that my unit in particular did not have the converter mentioned as in the box contents and so I would not want to imply that ALL units will be similarly affected.Given the typical types of audio sources these days that are around, I findthe choice of RCA inputs as a little odd and would've thought that a simple3.5mm input just like your TV or MP3 player uses would be far moreappropriate. All they would then need to do is to provide a 3.5mm male to3.5mm male lead of around a metre or so in length which would addressprobably over 95% of users needs. As it is, we have the 2 RCA type socketsat the rear of the base station to accept audio inputs.While waiting for my 3.5mm to RCA converter to arrive, I rummaged through myjunk drawer and found what I thought I had somewhere which was an RCA to RCAcable. I figured this would at least allow me to try out the TV as most TV'shad some form of RCA sockets. My TV had 6 which I guessed were to provideextra surround channels and with a bit of trial and error in terms of whichof the 6 to insert the 2 RCA plugs into I managed to get the sound from theTV piped through to the base station. What first surprised me was the superbquality of the sound. No interference or whistles or static - just crystalclear sound. I would say that the headphones are slightly bass heavy butthis actually makes the audio from your TV sound even better than usual asany explosions or bass heavy music gets a lovely punch to it as well as theoverall sound having a richness to it which belies the price of these units.I decided to test the range of the unit while listening to the TV by takinga walk into the kitchen. It was quite a novel experience to be stilllistening to the TV while pottering around in the kitchen! I then increasedrange and number of walls to put between me and the TV by going upstairs andinto the main bedroom which is about as far away from the TV as my modest 3bedroom maisonette would allow. Still as clear as when sat in front of theTV. Occasionally and for tiny instants of time I may experience a drop outat that range but it's rare and lasts for less than a second. Sometimes atthat range I might get the odd hiss of background static but in all honestyI am amazed at the signal penetration and quality. Also consider that mymaisonette is built from pre-cast concrete and every wall is made of thisstuff and while upstairs there is 2 walls and a thick floor between me andthe transmitter base station.Once I received my 3.5mm to RCA converter cable I tried it with my PC'searphone socket as this was the main reason I purchased the headphones. WhatI noticed right away was the signal quality isn't as good when going thisroute. In addition, I had to push up the output levels on my PC as thevolume levels were low compared to the direct RCA connection assuming you can control output levels on your audio source. I also tried the TV's 3.5mm earphone socket as well as that on my MP3 player too with the converter and also felt the signal quality and/or volume was lower. However, don't let this put you offbecause you typically just need to up the output level of your earphonesocket on your PC or TV assuming, of course, the output volume is quite low and adjustable.perhaps it's something to do with impedance or such-like of the RCAcompared to the 3.5mm - I don't know as I'm not an expert on cabling typesbut it does seem that RCA to RCA sounds better. So, assuming you get the3.5mm to RCA converter with your unit that I did not, you might want toconsider getting a straight RCA to RCA cable if you're going to be usingthis unit with your TV only (assuming your TV has an RCA type output) as youmight find the volume levels and overall quality better.Having said all that, I use my headphone via the 3.5mm to RCA converter anddespite some minor loss of signal quality, I still find the sound qualityvery good - especially at this price-point.The base station has been referred to by one reviewer as "flimsy" or such-like and it is true to say that it is very lightweight and not much to it but it's perfectly adequate for the task in my view. it doesn't really need to be stronger or heavier so don't let that put your off. The base station has moulded cut-outs into which you rest the headphones into for the purposes of recharging the batteries. You will need to place the right earphone cup into the appropriate moulded receptacle which contains the two recharge pins. Now, it is fair to say that this method of recharging the headphones isn't the most practical and it can be hit and miss as to whether you get a proper connection as you seat the headphones into their moulded indents. Sometimes you can just pop them in and all is fine. Sometimes it can be a little more fiddly to ensure the connection. So, although this aspect is a bit of a negative in terms of design, it isn't a show-stopper for me. Typically leaving them in the base station overnight will ensure a full charge although you can pop them on and remove them within less of a timeframe as there's no need to attain a full charge. In fact, my usage pattern sees me leave the earphones off the cradle (base station) for up to 3 days before I need to use the base station to charge them. I tend to use the headphones for about an hour per day and use them for 3 days without charging. I could probably go longer based on this pattern before recharging as I now see that the manufacturer specifies up to 8 hours use on a full charge. I tend to take such figures with a pinch of salt and thus I pop the units back on charge after the aforementioned time.One last piece of information which most manufacturers don't seem to include and which I think is very useful is the length of supplied cables. The mains power cable supplied with my unit is approximately 6 feet (approx 1.8 metres) long and so this might help people to determine how far from an available power outlet the unit can be situated.In summary, I really like these wireless headphones from Thompson and although there are other manufacturers out there using non-Bluetooth solutions, they tend to be more expensive and so I can certainly recommend these as they sound great and do the job.Drop me a comment if there's anything I've missed that might be of help.

Great product. Delivered on time. Clear instructions. A little bit of sound interference when using them with a Samsung TV, but in fairness, it was probably the TV or the D-A converter (read on) that was generating it. Sound quality was much better than using the TV speakers.I bought these for my elderly mother who is finding it hard to hear the TV without it having to be turned up significantly. I thought I'd describe the set-up as I'm sure others would like to do what I've done here....If the TV was only to be used by her then the headphone base would simply plug in to the headphone socket of the TV (lead is supplied for this). However, as with many TV's (particularly the lower-end ones) when plugging in to the headphone socket, the TV's speakers are cut off. Fine for just 1 person, but my father also wanted to listen to it at the same time.The only other audio output on their TV (Samsung UE32F5000 series) was a digital optical output. I therefore purchased an eSynic Digital to Analogue converter (Amazon £12.95), a TOSlink optical cable to connect it to the TV (Amazon £3.95) and a twin phono - phono lead (Amazon £3.95) for connecting the eSynic D-A converter to the headphone base station. Total cost for project was under £56.There are a couple of things to be aware of with this setup.....(1) Because the signal is via digital output, the volume level is fixed (i.e. it doesn't go up and down with the remote control). There is a volume control on the headphones and this can be used to set the headphone level. In our case the maximum volume setting was sufficient, but this wasn't anywhere near as loud as it would have been if the base station had been plugged into the headphone socket of the TV. This isn't a defect, but just a limitation of using an optical output from the TV and a D-A converter.(2) The simple, inexpensive eSynic D-A converter that I bought worked fine, but to use this the TV MUST have the ability to set the digital audio output type to 'PCM' (found under the sound settings of the TV). If the TV only outputs Dolby, then a more complex unit would be required.I hope that helps others who might need the same setup as me.