I’m posting this in GQ rather than Cafe Society because it’s not about TV programs. Feel free to move it if deemed appropriate.
I have a Vip622 dual receiver and a Sony KDSR50XBR1 HDTV.
My Mom is now living with us and her hearing is not the best.
I need to hook up a set of wireless headphones for her to use so my wife and I don’t lose our hearing.
My TV manual says the audio outputs on the back of the Sony are only active if the TV speakers are set to OFF. That’s not going to happen unless I invest in a Tuner/Amp and I don’t want to do so at this point.
I want to know if there’s any reason I can’t use the L/R audio outputs on the back of the Vip622 receiver to feed the wireless headphone transmitter. I know I might need a RCA plug to miniature phone plug adapter, depending on which headphone set I buy, and that’s not a problem. I’m more interested in knowing if the output from the back of the Vip622 is suitable.
It depends on the headset. The audio connections on your HDTV box are “line level” output, which means the signal must be amplified before sending it to speakers/headphones.
If your wireless headset transmitter has a built-in amplifier/volume control, it should work just fine. If not, it probably won’t.
The ones I had bought for my Dad to use before he passed away, should have kept them instead of giving them away, had a volume control on the headset itself. The TV in use at the time had no rear connections so we plugged the transmitter into the earphone jack. Of course that output was variable.
I’m guessing that the line level output on the Dish box is a fixed output.
Another solution, if the headset doesn’t work directly would be to get a cheap pair of amplified computer speakers with a headphone jack. Plug the speakers into the HDTV, and then the headset into the jack on the speaker. This will silence the speakers, and the headset will work just fine.
You mean plug the speakers into the Dish Vip622, not into the TV, right? The speakers on the TV must be switched off to allow use of the TV’s rear audio connections. At least that’s the case if the manual is correct.
Right. The computer speakers will accept a line level signal from the HDTV box and amplify so the headphones can be used. And yes, the audio from the HDTV will be fixed level, so you will need some way to control the volume.
The key thing, if you are going out to purchase a wireless headset, is to look for the words “amplified” or “amplifier” on the box. I’ve never used wireless headsets, so I don’t know if this is the default or not.
Yes, this works fine. I use a pair of RCA (the brand) wireless headphones with my Dish DVR, that are connected to the RCA Audio L/R outputs on the DVR. The headphones came with a handy RCA to Stereo wire, so I didn’t need to get any extra wiring.
The headphone volume control works independent of the TV volume. The inbuilt headphone amplification is loud enough that you cannot listen to it at full volume.
Just connect the wireless headphone input to the extra RCA L/R outputs on your DVR.
Here’s one pair of headphones (Sennheiser RS130) that will work:
Make sure to select a pair of headphones that use RF wireless and not IR wireless.