5 Ways to Connect Wireless Headphones to TV

Having a fairly new model TV, I expected it to have built-in Bluetooth support so I could connect my wireless Bluetooth headphones. But, I was proved wrong after spending multiple hours messing around with TV settings and the manual.

However, after digging up the internet I actually found multiple ways to connect wireless headphones to your TV, even if it’s an old CRT TV which I am going to share with in this post. Let’s get into it.

1. TV’s built-in Bluetooth support

Bluetooth is the best way to connect your wireless headphones to your TV. Many TVs don’t have Bluetooth support enabled by default but it can be found in the service manual.

All TVs have a hidden service menu that technicians use to enable/disable features and fix issues. However, accessing the service menu isn’t really that easy. You will need the specific service menu code of your TV brand.

Not to worry though, you can search for service menu code for your TV on this website. They have service menu codes for LCD, LED, Plasma, and even CRT TVs of all brands. Use the search bar at the top to enter your TV brand and model.

1. Once you are inside the service menu, look for Bluetooth section inside the Options. Usually inside the Engineering menu (for Samsung TVs at least).
2. Enable the Bluetooth option and restart the TV.
3. Go to sound options of your TV and you should find the Bluetooth option under the sound output section.
4. Use this option to search for your headphones and connect.

Although this solution didn’t work in my case, but people do find the Bluetooth option through the service manual.

2. Using a Bluetooth audio transmitter

A simple Bluetooth audio transmitter can give your TV Bluetooth support. It’s a tiny chargeable device that plugs into the 3.5mm audio output jack of the TV and gives it Bluetooth audio transmission capability. Afterward, I just had to connect the two devices and boom, music to my ears.

These Bluetooth adaptors are available in abundance and you can get it for as low as $5. However, I will recommend you to buy a quality product if you are going to use it for watching TV. Audio latency can be a huge issue when picking up the right transmitter. Even a slight latency can really kill your experience.

My recommendation would be to go for Trond Bluetooth Transmitter. It has two-way audio transmission and you won’t notice any latency at all. You can easily get a similar high-quality Bluetooth audio transmitter.

3. Take advantage of any secondary devices

If you use any other device along with your TV, check if it has Bluetooth support. Devices such as media streamers or gaming consoles usually have Bluetooth support to transmit audio over Bluetooth.

For example, Roku has a jack on its remote where you can plug in the headphones to listen to audio wirelessly. And both Playstation and XBox have Bluetooth support to transmit audio.

Chromecast can also be made to transmit audio via Bluetooth. You just need to connect your headphones to the phone/laptop that is working as Chromecast controller.

4. Use an RF wireless headphone

If all the above methods don’t work for you, you might like to consider buying an RF (Radio Frequency) wireless headphone. These headphones have a wireless transmitter that connects to your TV’s audio output jack and sends audio to the headphone using radio frequency.

Of course, they come with their own advantages and disadvantages. Their main advantage is their huge range, as you can listen to the audio up to 300ft. Additionally, they are also quite cheap, even the best RF headphones are under $80.

The problem with RF headphones is that their audio quality can be affected by other electronic devices that are working on similar radio frequency. Usually, they work on radio frequency anywhere between 900 MHz to 3200 MHz. So the devices such as cordless phones, microwave, and even another RF headphone can mess with the audio quality.

However, if you can keep such devices away from the RF headphones, then they can be a perfect alternative to Bluetooth headphones that is actually more powerful and cheaper.

If you’re convinced to give RF wireless headphones a try, then I’ll recommend you to try out Sennheise RS175 that’s both affordable and offers reliable features.

5. Use Infrared wireless headphone

Infrared headphones are a good alternative to RF headphones as they face no audio quality degradation no matter how many interfering electronics are nearby. Their setup process is same as RF headphones, you attach a transmitter to the TV audio output jack and the headphone catches infrared signals to receive audio.

However, you may have to separately buy an infrared transmitter if your TV does support infrared output or the headphones don’t come with one. Infrared IR Audio Transmitter is a good infrared transmitter if you need one.

The problem with infrared headphones is that you need to make sure nothing physical comes directly between the headphones and the transmitter. Which means, you cannot move to another room while listening to your favorite show. Although someone passing by between you and the transmitter won’t cause any problem.

Infrared headphones are also known to offer best sound quality and never face latency issue. You can also connect a single transmitter to multiple headphones. Best of all, you can easily get a high-quality infrared headphone for less than $50. Just check out this XO Vision Infrared Headphone, for a low price you get comfortable headphones with reliable features such as auto shut-off and volume controls.

Overall infrared headphones are great alternative wireless headphones that offer high-quality audio for a cheap price with a tiny drawback. As you will be using them with your TV, you should have no problem making a clear connection while sitting in front of the TV.

Conclusion

Bluetooth connection is the best way to go thanks to its reliable connectivity. So you should try to focus on first three methods in this post. Like me, if you already have a Bluetooth headphone, then investing in a Bluetooth transmitter is a sound choice.

However, the affordability and quality sound RF headphones and infrared headphones have to offer should not be neglected.