Headphones - wired and wireless

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Headphones - wired and wireless - several questions

geekIT

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#199041 2-Aug-2016 09:42

My hearing is duff but my wife's is acute. She can watch TV at a sound level I can barely hear.

So I use a pair of Sony MDR-7506 headphones plugged into an aging Sony receiver - STR-DA1200ES. The receiver is wired into our old Sony Bravia KLV-46S200A, which will soon need to be replaced.

So I'm considering wireless headphones.

I'd also like to dump the Sony receiver, but I'm not sure I'll get adequate volume from wireless headphones without another receiver or amplifier.

Advice would be appreciated.

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#1602712 2-Aug-2016 09:48

Wireless headphones have the amp built in, I doubt it will make any difference.

geekIT

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#1602850 2-Aug-2016 12:50

How do wireless headphones pick up the TV sound output?

There must be a transmitter involved somewhere?

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networkn

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#1602855 2-Aug-2016 12:52

Buy a pair of Senhiesser RS165 or RS175 and you'll be set, they are fantastic.

They can either connect via 3.5mm or optical out (Which I recommend strongly).

I am unsure if your TV would support output to both simultaneously.

timmmay

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#1602860 2-Aug-2016 12:59

The wireless headphones have a unit that plugs into the TV and transmits to you, plus the headphones.

andrew027

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#1602879 2-Aug-2016 13:22

Buy your wife some cheap foam earplugs and crank up the volume.

networkn

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#1602884 2-Aug-2016 13:34

andrew027:

Buy your wife some cheap foam earplugs and crank up the volume.

That reminds me of this:

morrisk

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#1603116 2-Aug-2016 17:32

I have recently bought Bose QC35 wireless headphones and although not for TV listening I have been easily able to have them connect to my Samsung TV via the bluetooth option in the TV - works very well. No additional components needed.

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geekIT

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#1603131 2-Aug-2016 17:52

Thanks, people.

I don't think I need to consider the old Bravia TV for suitable connections.

I'm looking ahead to a new TV.

I'm assuming that just about any new TV will have suitable connections to cater for a WIFI or Bluetooth connection\transmitter.

Yes?

BTW, what's the difference between Wireless and Bluetooth?

A Harvey Norman sales guy assured me that, 'Oh my goodness me, Sir! There is absolutely NO difference! No, no, no, I can safely say that.'

Call me skeptical, but if there is actually NO difference, why the different label? Like 'Wireless' and\or 'Bluetooth'?

'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.' Voltaire

'A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.' Edward Abbey

sbiddle

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#1603146 2-Aug-2016 18:25

Typical "wireless" headphones normally use their own transmitter and typically use the 2.4GHz band. You can only use them with their own transmitter.

Bluetooth headphones use Bluetooth so can connect to any Bluetooth device be it a TV, cellphone, tablet, PC etc

mdf

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#1603211 2-Aug-2016 20:35

geekIT:

I'm assuming that just about any new TV will have suitable connections to cater for a WIFI or Bluetooth connection\transmitter.

Yes?

No. Oh no no no no.

I have just been through a similar process - see here. Something of a trainwreck. It is surprisingly difficult to get a headphone connection to many modern TVs. In my situation, for example, new Panasonics only have and HDMI ARC and optical outputs. There are some high end Sennheisers that might connect to this natively, but most require some kind of digital to analogue converter and/or transmitter. Some of which will cause lag in the transmission; others seems to be incompatible with Panasonic and Netflix's particular combo of audio.

I ended up switching to a Sony which works better (and actually has a 3.5 mm jack). My solution is optical out --> Telme2 Bluetooth transmitter --> bluetooth headsets. While the Sony has bluetooth, it doesn't seem to support the bluetooth headset profile, and in any event, I don't think you can connect two bluetooth headsets at once. Sounds like Samsung will support this from @morrisk's post, but you need to check things like lag, and whether you connect either a second headset or keep the TV volume on for your wife.

AFAIK, there aren't any wifi headsets (which would I guess need to use Wifi Direct).

I went TV shopping on the basis of picture quality and smart features, just assuming I could sort the audio out the way I wanted later. Lesson learnt. You will probably need to do your homework on the particular models you are looking at and either ask questions or test yourself. If you're in Wellington, I'd highly recommend going and talking to Rob at JBHifi's Wellington store. Really knowledgeable and helpful guy.

morrisk

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#1603239 2-Aug-2016 21:44

Can confirm that my Samsung TV bought 6 months ago was very easy to connect to my Bose headphones - just went to the sound menu - the TV found the headphones quickly and paired. Had options of having just the headphones with sound or both TV and headphones together. I don't think it is anything specific to the Bose headphones but that any bluetooth headphones would work.

geekIT

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#1603411 3-Aug-2016 10:54

mdf: Great post and info, thanks very much. That's clarified the situation enormously.

BTW, I don't need provision for two headsets - my wife does well enough on her own. She can hear a mouse pass wind at 30 paces.

I didn't know there was such a thing as a dedicated, standalone Bluetooth transmitter, which is what your Telme2 gadget sounds to be.

Actually, I'm beginning to think I should dump my Sony receiver (which, as well as the ability to drive a turntable, CD player, DVD player etc etc, has a 5 or 7 channel surround sound speaker system that I've never used because of my wife's super sensitive ears) and buy a simple wired-to-TV amplifier that can drive a Bluetooth transmitter as well as wired cans, just in case I need to swap from wired to wireless.

So I might consult with your mate at JB HiFi.

morrisk: Thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind. Actually, I already have a pair of Harmon Kardon bluetooth headphones. I bought them to work off my Samsung Galaxy 10.5" tablet, so I can watch movies while I'm gyming. But their volume or clarity aren't particularly brilliant. So I wasn't planning to use them with any new TV.

'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.' Voltaire

'A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.' Edward Abbey

mdf

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#1603433 3-Aug-2016 11:25

geekIT:

... buy a simple wired-to-TV amplifier that can drive a Bluetooth transmitter as well as wired cans, just in case I need to swap from wired to wireless.

I haven't seen one of these either unfortunately (and I was looking).

What you might be best off with is a TV with a dedicated 3.5mm headphone jack. You can then plug in either a 3.5mm extension cable (for wired headphones) or a simple RF transmitter (Sennheisers are good by all accounts, but Jaycar has some cheaper options too) for wireless. I've gone down the bluetooth route for a couple of reasons (the first TV didn't have a headphone jack and I already had a compatible bluetooth headset), but it is fiddly and seems to rely on using the optical out to reduce lag. If I had my time over I would have gone with a Sony from the start and the type of set up I've just suggested.

I've just checked my Sony's menu and it has an option to either switch off the TV speakers or leave them on when a headphone jack is plugged in (so the headphones won't necessarily override the TV speakers), which sounds exactly like what you're after. Can't 100% say it actually works, but there is an option in the menu for it.

geekIT

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#1603730 3-Aug-2016 17:12

mdf, which model Sony did you buy?

BTW, have you seen this website?

http://www.howtogeek.com/219326/how-to-add-bluetooth-headphones-to-your-hdtv/

'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.' Voltaire

'A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.' Edward Abbey

mdf

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#1603819 3-Aug-2016 19:49

geekIT:

mdf, which model Sony did you buy?

BTW, have you seen this website?

http://www.howtogeek.com/219326/how-to-add-bluetooth-headphones-to-your-hdtv/

Sony KDL50W800C. Ask for a deal and JB Hifi will usually come down a bit from the list price. Its only 1080P (the Panasonic I had previously was 4K), but at 50 inches I couldn't really tell the difference anyway. Unfortunately the largest size TV that would fit the built in TV cabinet (came with the house) was 50 inches. I think the real sweet spot for TVs is about 55 inches. Not ridiculously expensive but lots of the features found in higher end models (4K, HDR etc).

Android as a TV operating system has a lot of promise, but I found it niggly in quite a few places - things like manually selecting which apps are pinned to the home screen and the UI being all over the place. Certainly see why the reviews knock it as "not quite there" yet.

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