You Say Headphones, I Say... "What? I Can't Hear You?"
May 25, 2014 6:49 PM   Subscribe

Is there some sort of setup using both wireless headphones and stereo receiver with surround sound whereby two people can watch TV together at different volumes?

My in-laws like to watch TV together on a fairly standard setup (satellite TV connected to a stereo receiver with surround sound - a Yamaha RX-V371.) However, my father-in-law has enough hearing loss that in order for him to make sense of the audio he has to have the volume cranked to extremely high levels, such that my mother-in-law, and anyone else also watching, almost can't bear to be anywhere nearby.

My mother-in-law's initial idea was to have him use a pair of wireless headphones with the receiver, however as soon as they're plugged in all audio output goes to them, and no audio can be heard through the existing surround speakers. Is there any setup whereby he can use wireless stereo headphones (preferably with adjustable volume - and if you happen to know of a good sturdy pair you can recommend, please feel free to share), and everyone else can simultaneously listen through the surround speakers at a reasonable volume?
posted by Rewind to Technology (3 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
these people make exactly what you want...

http://www.tvears.com/
posted by jcworth at 7:13 PM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]


One helpful thing to know would be how the TV is connected to the stereo receiver. Is the connection just a standard analog cable using RCA plugs or a phone plug? If so, then that's easy to split and send a separate line out to a headphone set. If it's digital, then I'm no expert here, but maybe there's a good way to split things there too.

For headphones, I'd recommend these. Comfortable in my opinion, and great audio quality. An added bonus is being able to buy more pairs of headphones to connect to the same base, should you need that kind of setup in the future.
posted by Old Man McKay at 9:56 PM on May 25, 2014


Have they tried having close-captioning on the screen too? I find I can have my tv a lot quieter if I can read the words at the same time I'm listening.
posted by Margalo Epps at 7:29 AM on May 27, 2014


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