Imagine you want to watch a movie at full volume. But other members of your house are in sleep. You also love to wear headphones. Whatever the reason is, connecting a wireless or Bluetooth headphone set to your TV is not so easy.
Put your headphones in pairing mode. Turn on the Bluetooth function on the TV. Then, scan for nearby devices. After the scan, you can see your headphones in the list of devices to connect to it. Select your headphone and then click “pair.” Once paired, it will appear on the “Paired Devices” list.
It would be best if you connected your wireless headphone to your TV via Bluetooth, or you could connect the headphone’s transmitter to the TV through a 3.5 mm or optical cable for connecting wireless headphones to your TV. Instead of the Television, you can also connect your headphones directly to the media streaming source.
Wireless headphones are best for personal listening. But what are the options? How do they stack up against each other? Now, we will show how you could pair almost any wireless headphones with any TV—also, here are some tips on pairing them with any media device.
Various Methods for Connecting Wireless Headphones to a TV
There is a lot of methods to connect a TV with headphones. Dedicated wireless headphones and Bluetooth headphones are the most common wireless headphones options for home theaters. These types of wireless headphones have their pros and cons. However, connectivity is easier with dedicated wireless models. Let’s have a look, how these two connection systems prosper against each other.
Dedicated Wireless Headphones (Best Option)
As we said, most of the TV still doesn’t have Bluetooth. Connecting Bluetooth headphones with this type of TV is hard. However, there are various headphone options. In this situation, investing in a dedicated wireless set would be the best approach Avantree HT280 Wireless Headphones (on Amazon).
Dedicated wireless headphones are also known as RF (radio-frequency) headphones. Typically it comes with a base station, which allows you to connect directly to the TV via 3.5 mm analog cable or via optical cable. The included base acts as a pre-set wireless antenna to connect to its unique signal for the headphones. In other words, this base automatically connects the wireless headphones to transmit signals from your TVs.
Dedicated wireless headphones also give you a large range. Some of them provide you with a range of up to 300 feet, so long as the signal will unobstructed. If you go to the bathroom or the kitchen for a snack, it will not stop the audio streaming from your running movie or other streaming media!
If your soundbar is connected by using analog or optical ports on the rear side of your TV, you will have to swap them. If your soundbar is connected via HDMI or another type of port, your wireless headphones will remain connected, and they will continue to work. But it would help if you needed to swap the audio output on your Television.
Bluetooth Headphones (Better Option)
Like the Sony MDRXB650BT/B (on Amazon), it may be a bit trickier when it comes to connecting to your TVBluetooth headphones. Newer TV models, which are available on the market today, have Bluetooth features.
In most TVs, both TV and wireless headphones need to be set in “discovery” mode. Your TV will automatically detect your headphones and will ask you to confirm the selection before syncing. Some TVs have a Bluetooth feature but don’t seem to pair with the headphones because of the default settings of the TV.
For turning on the Bluetooth feature, the most TV set will require you to go into the “Settings” menu. Read your specific TV manual book for exact instructions on enabling Bluetooth service. (as ex: you to enable Bluetooth via their “Engineering” menu in Samsung TV.) Once this Bluetooth feature is enabled, you have to restart your TVs and return to the “Sound” menu as well.
What If the TV Does not Have Bluetooth Capabilities?
How, if A TV doesn’t have a built-in Bluetooth feature, it will need to invest in any Bluetooth audio transmitter TROND Bluetooth V5.0 Transmitter Receiver (on Amazon).
Most of the adaptors are rechargeable. Battery-powered devices connect to the TV’s 3.5 mm analog jack or optical ports or take power from USB ports.
If your TV isn’t new, you may not have these types of ports. You’ll need to invest in conversion cables that allow you to connect to the RCA jack instead. With this built-in Bluetooth feature, you will need to place your headphones into pairing mode for the audio transmitter to detect them properly.
Pros of Bluetooth Headphones:
- Bluetooth audio transmitters are available at a cheap rate. Some models have low price than dedicated wireless headphones, which means this may be a more affordable option for some.
- Financing in a Bluetooth audio transmitter means that you can keep using your favorite headphones with your TV.
Cons of Bluetooth Headphones:
- Bluetooth headphones bend to be rather limited when it comes to connectivity distance. Most are limited to thirty feet.
- Audio latency can be an issue, which depends on the quality of your purchased Bluetooth audio transmitter. Cheap models bend to suffer the most, so investing in quality (and often more expensive) transmitters is essential.
Connecting Bluetooth Headphone to Other Media Devices
Some media streaming device has included Bluetooth features. These devices, such as the most popular streaming sticks, like game consoles.
Streaming Sticks
Amazon Fire TV
- Cinematic experience - Watch in vibrant 4K Ultra HD with support for Dolby Vision, HDR, and HDR10+.
- Home theater audio with Dolby Atmos - Feel scenes come to life with support for immersive Dolby Atmos audio on select titles with compatible home audio systems.
- Endless entertainment - Stream more than 1 million movies and TV episodes from Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Peacock, and more, plus listen to millions of songs. Subscription fees may apply.
- Live and free TV - Watch live TV, news, and sports with subscriptions to SLING TV, YouTube TV, and others. Stream for free with Pluto TV, IMDb TV, YouTube and more.
- Alexa Voice Remote lets you use your voice to search and launch shows across apps. Plus, control power and volume on your TV and soundbar with a single remote.
Amazon allows Bluetooth connectivity in their devices. Amazon Fire TVs, Fire TV Cube, and Fire TV Stick allow Bluetooth connectivity (you could control it without a remote). After putting your Bluetooth headphone in pairing mode, go to the “Settings” option of the Amazon device.
Now select the “Remotes and Devices” option. Then pick the “Bluetooth” option from the list. Once the Amazon device detects your headphone, select them from the list and pair them.
Android TV
Not every Android TV box adds Bluetooth features. You have to read the specifications if this is a capability you want before buying.
If your Android TV device has this feature, the headphones pair as they could with any other Android device. After putting your headphone in pairing mode, go to your Android TV device’s “Settings” option and select the “Bluetooth” option. These steps will allow you to select your headphone and pair.
Apple TV
- Dolby Atmos for immersive, room-filling sound
- A12 Bionic chip gives a big boost to audio, video, and graphics, for even better game and app experiences
- 4K High Frame Rate HDR with Dolby Vision for fluid, crisp video
- Apple Original shows and movies from Apple TV+
- The latest hits from Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, and more
Apple TV products are congruous with Bluetooth headphones. Under the “Settings” menu, as with the Amazon Fire TV, select the “Remotes and Devices” option.
When your headphones are in pairing mode, select the “Bluetooth” option and click your headphones to pair and connect them to the Apple TVs.
Roku
- New! Disney+ and Apple TV are now streaming on all Roku devices
- Power, picture, performance: Roku Ultra lets you stream free, live and premium TV over the Internet; right on your 4K TV; Roku’s top of the line media player with a quad-core processor and our best wireless, Roku Ultra is perfect for heavy streaming in HD, 4K, and HDR
- Ultimate connectivity: No matter what you’re streaming, enjoy a strong connection with dual-band wireless or use the Ethernet port for wired streaming
- Brilliant picture quality: Experience your favorite TV in stunning detail and clarity; Perfect for HD, HDR, and 4K streaming, enjoy picture that’s optimized for your TV with sharp resolution and vivid color
- Take control of your TV: Use your voice to set personal shortcuts for one-touch control, search across channels, turn captions on, and more with the enhanced voice remote; plus, enjoy private listening with the included Premium JBL headphones and TV controls
Roku features usually depend on which type of Roku product you have purchased. Some include a remote, 3.5 mm jack, which allows to connect wired headphones to the remote and hear TV audio.
This method includes the Roku 3 and Roku 4 models. But in other models, it requires Private Listening. Download the official app of Roku on your phone. Once you installed the app, make sure that your phone/tablet and Roku streaming device are on the same internet network.
After you have been connected to these, launch the official Roku app on your phone or tablet. At the bottom of this app screen, there is a “Remote Tab.” You need to select this option.
If you previously paired your headphones to your phone, you would again need to active your headphone’s pairing mode. Also, you need to activate your phone’s Bluetooth connection mode. Then the Roku app will pop up with an icon of a headset. Press and hold this icon to complete the pairing. These steps will pair your headphones with the streaming device of Roku.
Sling AirTV 4K
- Built for Sling: Enjoy Sling on any connected device
- 4K Capable
- Google play
- Local channels
- Built for Sling: Enjoy Sling on any connected device. View local channels by connecting an AirTV, AirTV 2 or AirTV Anywhere* and an HD antenna to access local channels on any TV. *AirTV, AirTV 2 or AirTV Anywhere required. 4K Capable: Take advantage of your 4K TV with AirTV Mini. Google Play: Enjoy access to thousands of apps like Netflix, YouTube and more
For connecting the Sling AirTV 4K:
- Put the headphones in pairing mode.
- Press the Remote button and hold it on the top of the AirTV Player until the pairing screen displays. The “Searching for Accessories” screen will appear.
- Follow the on-screen prompts for completing the pairing of the device to the AirTV Player.
Gaming Consoles
The options for Bluetooth support on a gaming console are not great. For example, Xbox One does not naturally allow to connect Bluetooth headphones. Using regular Bluetooth headphones on Xbox One will require some nifty workarounds.
PlayStation 4
- Incredible games; Endless entertainment
- All new lighter slimmer PS4
- 1TB hard drive
- All the greatest, games, TV, music and more
Let’s know this thing step by step.
Be aware that PlayStations only work with some special wireless headphones. PlayStation 4 remotes also allow connecting wired headphones directly to the controller via a 3.5mm analog jack, that being said.
To switch to these wired headphones will need to go to the PlayStation Settings menu.
- First of all, go to PS4 Settings > Devices > Bluetooth Devices.
- Select the name of the headset of yours to connect.
- If it connects successfully, try to play games now with your Bluetooth headset.
If you use your PS4 to stream media, this may be an option.
This method could be unsuccessful. If you see the error message or “Cannot connect to the Bluetooth device within the time limit” screen, try the alternative steps.
You’ll need a Bluetooth USB adapter for this system.
- Insert a USB adapter into your PS4 USB slot.
- Turn on the Bluetooth headset.
- Go to the PS4 Settings > Devices > Audio Devices options.
- Click Output Device, and select the USB Headset option.
- Click the Volume Control option, and adjust it to medium or louder.
- Click Output to Headphones, and select the All Audio option.
Xbox One
![Xbox One S 1TB All-Digital Edition Console (Disc-Free Gaming) - [DISCONTINUED]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41qOqXkcmcL.jpg "How to Connect Wireless Headphones to TV?")
- Go all digital with the Xbox One S all digital edition and enjoy disc free gaming
- If purchased through Xbox all access: Enjoy low monthly payments for 24 months, no upfront cost, access to over 100 high-quality games and online multiplayer. Plus console upgrade option
- The previous generation bundle includes: Xbox One S 1TB All-digital edition console (Disc-free gaming), wireless controller, 1-month of Xbox live gold, and download codes for Minecraft, Sea of thieves and Fortnite Battle Royale
- Fortnite Battle Royale content includes 2000 V-Bucks, Legendary Rogue Spider Knight Outfit, and 2 Style Variants that unlock as in-game challenges are completed in free Fortnite Battle Royale and Creative Modes only save the world campaign not included Xbox live gold required to play Fortnite Battle Royale, Sea of Thieves, and multiplayer in minecraft (subscription sold separately)
- Pick up where you left off on another Xbox One or Windows 10 PC with Xbox Play anywhere titles like sea of thieves
Xbox One doesn’t allow for Bluetooth connectivity. However, newer models include a built-in 3.5 mili-meter analog jack on their controller; PS4 has the same. Older models do not; you’ll need to purchase a stereo headset adapter for these controllers.
NVIDIA Shield TV
- The Best of the Best. The world’s most powerful Android TV streaming media player upgraded to Android TV version 11. Enhance HD video in real-time to 4K for clearer, crisper visuals using next-generation AI upscaling. 2x USB 3.0 ports for storage expansion, USB cameras, keyboards, controllers, and more. Plex Media Server built-in, 3 GB RAM, and 16 GB storage.Connectivity Technology : Bluetooth 5.0
- Dolby Vision - Atmos. Bring your home theater to life with Dolby Vision HDR, and surround sound with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital Plus—delivering ultra-vivid picture quality and immersive audio
- 4K HDR Content. Get the most 4K content of any streaming media player. Watch Netflix, Amazon Video, Apple TV+, Disney+ and Google Play Movies & TV in crisp 4K HDR, and YouTube, Hulu, and more in 4K. Stream from your phone with built-in Chromecast 4K.
- GeForce NOW Cloud Gaming. GeForce NOW instantly transforms SHIELD TV into a powerful PC gaming rig. Play over 1000+ titles and nearly 100 of the biggest free to play games. The new GeForce NOW RTX 3080 membership unlocks GeForce RTX 3080 gaming servers in 4K HDR, the shortest wait times and longest session lengths, with RTX ON including ray tracing and DLSS graphics for supported games.
- Voice Control. The built-in Google Assistant is at your command. See photos, live camera feeds, weather, sports scores, and more on the big screen. Dim the lights and immerse yourself in your favorite show or music using only your voice. And control your SHIELD hands-free with Google Home or Alexa and Amazon Echo. Format/Container support: Xvid/ DivX/ASF/AVI/MKV/MOV/M2TS/MPEG-TS/MP4/WEB-M
- Go to SHIELD TV’s service menu. Then select Wireless and Networks or Connected Devices.
- Please turn it on. Now, wait for your headphones to be discovered.
- Once it appears, please select it and wait for the pairing to be successful.
Remember that NVIDIA SHIELD TV does not automatically switch back to the main audio output if your Bluetooth headphones are turned off. You will need to switch between the two as needed manually.
-our editorial board has reviewed this article and has been approved for publication according to our editorial policy.
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Last update on 2024-10-03
