When I finally had enough of the Koss P/4 Ear Buds and the foam ear covers falling off I needed to pick up a pair of cheap headphones to wear to the gym. At that point in time I was completely sick of the ear buds in general because they never seemed to stick inside my ear for very long. The only place that was open at the time was a cheap dollar store; you know the place, they sell the almost expired food, knock off electronics and strange things that you can never find any other place. I saw the RCA HP240’s for $5.00 and didn’t have much choice in the matter; the clock was ticking and if I waited until the larger stores opened or dared to venture to Wal-Mart, my day would be shot. I have to be honest here, I flat out expected these to suck but when I put them on I was really shocked at the sound quality and how comfortable they were.

RCA HP240 Neckband Headphones

RCA doesn’t really spend a lot of money on the packaging on these so they do look cheap when you see them on display. Don’t let that fool you, these do have a great sound quality and are extremely comfortable to wear, even for extended periods of time. The band goes behind your neck so it’s pretty much out of the way most of the time. There are foam covers over the ear sections and these are securely attached; to me that is a huge selling point because most of the ear buds have covers that fall off or rip. You get a four foot cord on the headphones but I have a major problem with it; it isn’t coated with anything [plastic] so I am worried about how these are going to hold up against sweat or some light rain. So far they haven’t given me any trouble but I wonder why it’s not coated with anything. As I said, RCA doesn’t spend a lot of money on the packaging so there is no mention of the cord, how to change the color caps or anything outside of the basic specs.

For those who want to know those specs about the sound here’s the info from the back of the package. Driver size 30mm, frequency response 20 - 20,000 Hz, sensitivity 108 dB, maximum input power 50mW, plug 3.5 mm gold plated and cord length 3.9 feet / 1.2 meters. To me that really doesn’t mean anything. What I am concerned with is sound and comfort. I didn’t have to have either CD player cranked up to 8 to hear the music so these might just save what little is left of my hearing since I can play it on 6 or 6.5 and hear everything clearly. The behind the neck set up is nice; I wear baseball hats when I am working out or running and sometimes the over the head headphones aren’t all that comfortable to wear or slip around but because these go behind the neck, they stay put no matter what you are doing. About the only time I had trouble was when I was doing crunches but I doubt any headphone could handle that type of exercise flawlessly.


The Useless Interchangeable Color Caps

Are people really so vain that they have to worry about these little metal slits on the sides of their headphones matching their outfit? Well, obviously they are or RCA wouldn’t have used this as a major selling and marketing tool. When you go to open the package one set of the caps are displayed on the front in the plastic cover, the matching pieces are tucked into a small bag that isn’t attached to anything so it’s pretty easy to lose them if you aren’t paying attention when you are opening it up. There are absolutely no directions on how to properly change the color caps but even someone as electronically challenged as myself could figure it out. Pop out one set, pop in the color you want and you are good to go. The down side to this is that the caps get lost or if you are popping them in and out a lot, they get loose and pop out at their own will. Stick with the color that’s in there and throw out the ones that come with it.

The Big Sound Test

When ever I get a new pair of headphones I try to put them through their paces to test their limits to see exactly what sounds best on them. This time I used both the Sony D-EJ001 and the Sony Psyc Gleam; there really wasn’t much of a difference between the two but one of them gives me the ability to really up the bass and the other has a better digital read out of tracks and time lapsed so it was a coin toss as to which CD got played in which CD player. For general music and spoke word [Eric The Pilot] these got high marks. One of the CD’s that I never leave the house without is Cradle of Filth’s Nymphetamine so these headphones had to be able to handle the fast paced beat, Dani’s screams and the guitars. There were some parts that didn’t sound all that clear but for the most part, they delivered a nice crisp sound.

Lifetime Warranty

You know, every time I write a review of headphones like this I have to laugh about the warranty that is offered. Nine times out of ten you end up paying more for shipping and handling fees than you would if you just went out and picked up a new pair. In any event, these come with a pretty sweet warranty; if they are defective or become defective you can send them back to Thomson [the parent company] for a replacement. If the same model is not available you will be sent one of equal or higher value. You don’t have to send $3.00 or $5.00 for return shipping or any type of inspection fee that some other companies require. You should hold on to the product card that is attached to the back of the package since this has the information on the warranty as well as the address that you have to send it to. Please note, there are different addresses for residents of the United States and Canada so please send them to the correct address.

The Bottom Line

So far I am really impressed with how these have performed with all the different types of music that I listen to. I can wear them when running without them coming out of place and they are so comfortable that I forget that I have them on most of the time. For five dollars [plus sales tax] I got a really nice pair of headphones that keep up with me when I am at the gym, sitting on the computer or running on the treadmill. These are suitable for almost every type of music, audio books, spoken word or for using on the computer and come with a ‘no fee’ lifetime warranty. As much as I wanted to hate these when I first bought them, as soon as I slipped them on and heard how great the sound was, I fell in love with them. I guess who ever coined the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” was right as far as these go. You can check out RCA’s complete line of electronics, accessories and gadgets by visiting their website at www.rca.com


As always, thanks for the read!

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2006 Freak369


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Koss P/4 Ear Bud Headphones
Koss P/5 Vertical Consumer Headphones


Recommended: Yes