Wiim Headphones

[joffy1780]

I would love to see Wiim produce a pair of wireless headphones, but with a wifi receiver as well as Bluetooth so you could use it directly with the Wiim home app. You could then also stream to them from other Wiim devices, thereby utilising their inputs to listen to the TV or turntable for example.
I was thinking something along the lines of a Sennheiser HD560s with wifi, powered by 1 or 2 CS43131s.
They could be tuned manually to your own taste with the PEQ or Wiim could offer preset tuning to potentially mimic various popular headphones or Harman curve for example.
This could replace my Wiim Sub idea @WiiM Team @WiiM Support

 

[Griff]

I would love to see Wiim produce a pair of wireless headphones, but with a wifi receiver as well as Bluetooth so you could use it directly with the Wiim home app. You could then also stream to them from other Wiim devices, thereby utilising their inputs to listen to the TV or turntable for example.
I was thinking something along the lines of a Sennheiser HD560s with wifi, powered by 1 or 2 CS43131s.
They could be tuned manually to your own taste with the PEQ or Wiim could offer preset tuning to potentially mimic various popular headphones or Harman curve for example.
This could replace my Wiim Sub idea @WiiM Team @WiiM Support

Not sure I would want to walk around with a WiFi receiver strapped to the side of my head if you wanted decent run time the battery may be a tad heavy as well .....

 

[slartibartfast]

Not sure I would want to walk around with a WiFi receiver strapped to the side of my head if you wanted decent run time the battery may be a tad heavy as well .....

You can wear a tin foil hat under it

 

[Wiimer]

It could be a "WiiM mini Mobile" with a built-in headphone amplifier. It is a small receiver that allows you to wirelessly convert the wired headphones you already have.

In addition to traditional Wi-Fi, it supports LE Audio (LC3) connectivity with Ultra; it can also connect to powered speakers that do not have Bluetooth.

 

[joffy1780]

Not sure I would want to walk around with a WiFi receiver strapped to the side of my head if you wanted decent run time the battery may be a tad heavy as well .....

Is it much different to a Bluetooth receiver strapped to the side of your head?

 

[joffy1780]

It could be a "WiiM mini Mobile" with a built-in headphone amplifier. It is a small receiver that allows you to wirelessly convert the wired headphones you already have.

In addition to traditional Wi-Fi, it supports LE Audio (LC3) connectivity with Ultra; it can also connect to powered speakers that do not have Bluetooth.

That would probably be better, to be honest.

 

[sral]

A really old one...so sorry for that Keeps jumping in my mind nearly every time mobile audio is theme.

View attachment 7546

Aren't these the AKG k1000's?

 

[Wiimer]

That would probably be better, to be honest.

I think the WiiM headphone, which is 100g lighter and 50% less expensive than the Sonos Ace, would be a blast when it is released. It may require next generation batteries.

Ear cuff earbuds like the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds would also be interesting.

 

[d6jg]

Has anybody ever produced a pair if WiFi headphones? I think not.
All the headphones available these days seem to be Bluetooth. Admittedly Sennheiser do have some RF ones, but I'm not aware of any that use WiFi - there must be a reason.

 

[Wiimer]

Has anybody ever produced a pair if WiFi headphones? I think not.
All the headphones available these days seem to be Bluetooth. Admittedly Sennheiser do have some RF ones, but I'm not aware of any that use WiFi - there must be a reason.

Yes, probably a technical problem.

What I do know is the "HED UNITY headphones". Also, Sonos Ace seems to have Wi-Fi connectivity with Sonos Soundbar.

 

[joffy1780]

Has anybody ever produced a pair if WiFi headphones? I think not.
All the headphones available these days seem to be Bluetooth. Admittedly Sennheiser do have some RF ones, but I'm not aware of any that use WiFi - there must be a reason.

I haven't seen or heard of any, no. The reason is probably that no-one as cool as me has thought of the idea yet.....or possibly weight/size constraints.
Someone has to be the first to bring WiFi headphones out, wouldn't it be great if it were Wiim?

 

[d6jg]

I haven't seen or heard of any, no. The reason is probably that no-one as cool as me has thought of the idea yet.....or possibly weight/size constraints.
Someone has to be the first to bring WiFi headphones out, wouldn't it be great if it were Wiim?

Or more likely that because they would be effectivley tethered to your home WiFi there isn't perceived to be much of a market.

 

[joffy1780]

The Amp is work in progress, the Ultra is scheduled. So a next hot shit has to be driven through the village...
I bet the wish is that such "WiFi headphone" has an integrated streamer. If no space for a screen the solution might be virtual reality glasses.


View attachment 7547

'hot shit through the village'.... interesting expression

What is the issue with putting ideas out there, anyway, this is a forum after all?

 

[joffy1780]

Or more likely that because they would be effectivley tethered to your home WiFi there isn't perceived to be much of a market.

They could be easily linked to your phone as well, using your phone as a hotspot.

 

[jfbuk]

Non-Bluetooth wireless audio transmission using the 2.4Ghz band has been available for some time from Avantree

Audiplex 2403s

The Avantree Audiplex 2403s wireless transmitter receiver wirelessly streams audio from a musical instrument or other audio sources to multiple speakers.

avantree.com

 

[d6jg]

Non-Bluetooth wireless audio transmission using the 2.4Ghz band has been available for some time from Avantree

Audiplex 2403s

The Avantree Audiplex 2403s wireless transmitter receiver wirelessly streams audio from a musical instrument or other audio sources to multiple speakers.

avantree.com

Didn't know that. Do you know what codec / bandwidth it is capable of - I can't find that info anywhere?

 

[jfbuk]

Do you know what codec / bandwidth it is capable of - I can't find that info anywhere?

I don't I'm afraid. When I asked Avantree a support question on a different product previously they were pretty responsive.
support@avantree.com
I did find this

Setting Up a "Silent" Backyard Movie Theater | Avantree

Trying to set up a Backyard Movie Theater but worried that you might disturb your neighbors? Here are a couple of solutions for you!

avantree.com

 

[Griff]

Is it much different to a Bluetooth receiver strapped to the side of your head?

Bluetooth headphones are generally receiver only. The wifi headphones i have seen available have a base station wifi transmitter and the the headphones have the WiFi receiver. For a WIIM headphone it would have an embedded WIIM board in it which is a transmitter and receiver. If you have a multiroom the WIIMs, headphones and wired, would have to chat away in the background constantly while the music is being transmitted. This is in addition to the Internet streaming direct to the headphones from the streaming services and all the other system to Internet traffic. That's quite a bit more traffic than Bluetooth and may indeed be worth a small tin foil hat

Qualcomm are messing around in this area. From what little i understand the qualcomm based headphones connect to the wifi network and the source is on the same wifi network. This gives it the range and allows high res files to be streamed and the device size down.

I think PSB were also looking at high res from the internet a while back using the MQA backed bluetooth codec with compression but that was high bandwidth bluetooth to the headphones and i think there was a whole new OS involved. Not sure if you had to have a Basestation on the same wifi network as well, was not very interested, it lost me at MQA. This was some time ago as well, so not sure where they got to.

Long version of my initial thought and could obviously be out of date.

 

[joffy1780]

Bluetooth headphones are generally receiver only. The wifi headphones i have seen available have a base station wifi transmitter and the the headphones have the WiFi receiver. For a WIIM headphone it would have an embedded WIIM board in it which is a transmitter and receiver. If you have a multiroom the WIIMs, headphones and wired, would have to chat away in the background constantly while the music is being transmitted. This is in addition to the Internet streaming direct to the headphones from the streaming services and all the other system to Internet traffic. That's quite a bit more traffic than Bluetooth and may indeed be worth a small tin foil hat

Qualcomm are messing around in this area. From what little i understand the qualcomm based headphones connect to the wifi network and the source is on the same wifi network. This gives it the range and allows high res files to be streamed and the device size down.

I think PSB were also looking at high res from the internet a while back using the MQA backed bluetooth codec with compression but that was high bandwidth bluetooth to the headphones and i think there was a whole new OS involved. Not sure if you had to have a Basestation on the same wifi network as well, was not very interested, it lost me at MQA. This was some time ago as well, so not sure where they got to.

Long version of my initial thought and could obviously be out of date.

https://www.streamzmedia.com/
Not sure these will ever be released, but seems it is possible.

 

[Griff]

https://www.streamzmedia.com/
Not sure these will ever be released, but seems it is possible.

I especially liked this quote from the website

Safe Vehicular Entertainment
Streamz makes riding a bike or motorcycle, or driving a car safer with its sight/hands free voice control.