Advice on a headset for TV

Hi everyone, I'm after a bit of advice here...

In the bedroom I have a TV (lg 50pk590) I like to watch when in bed, however I need it loud as I cannot hear perfectly and this wakes up the missus and can wake up the kids. The TV has an optical input for audio and the red and white R and L audio inputs.

The TV is 4-5 meters away from where my head would be so I need a lead of around 4-5 meters. I also could do with a recommendation for a decent and relatively low price. Maybe £30-£50 for the headphones. Can I get a pair of headphones with normal 3.5mm audio connection and use some sort of adapter or do I need a headset that is completely optical?

Wireless could be an option but not that important.

Optical on the TV will be output, but any RF wireless headphones with optical input on the base unit will be a lot more costly. Wireless headphones with analogue input only will be cheaper. RCA output is the most common connection that is used, but any headphone output can be used if the TV has no RCA audio out.

Looking at the manual, the TV you have has no RCA audio out. The red and white ones you can see are for audio in when RGB component is used. It does have a headphone socket which can be used though.

Cheap RF wireless headphones tend not be very good though. Sennheiser make some good wireless headphones, but even their budget ones are around double your budget. There are cheap ones, such as Thomson WHP3001BK, but another member bought some for a family member who needed some cheap wireless headphones, and he wasn't too impressed with them. I don't think it's worth getting RF ones unless you can afford the better quality models.

Bluetooth is an option, but it does mean buying a Bluetooth transmitter, which will connect to the headphone socket. They're £15, so leaves about £30 for Bluetooth headphones. Somewhat sceptical that cheap Bluetooth headphones can be any good, but they should fare better than cheap RF headphones though, because RF can have interference and connection problems, which is likely to be more of a problem with cheap headphones I'd imagine. If you're not overly bothered with the sound quality, cheap Bluetooth headphones might be OK.

If you want pretty decent sound quality though, then it's better to go for wired. I know the cable can be a nuisance over longer distances, but you'll get far better quality for your money than wireless. Wireless headphones whether they be RF or Bluetooth, have many more components, which reduces the quality at such low prices.

Just get a pair of Sennheiser HD 202 for £25 and a 3m extension for another £5, connect to the headphone socket and you're good to go.

If you are curious as to how good they can be for £25.....

Cheers for the replies, however the TV 100% does not have a 3.5mm headphone socket. The manual for the TV does state the image may differ. I cannot understand why there is no headphone socket.

This is an image of how my TV looks (not my actual TV in the pic) however there is no headphone jack on mine.

If I used an optical to analogue converter would that work?

Like this?

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51x3vhBIyKL.jpg

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In theory that would work fine however I suspect it would be a fixed line level output designed for connection to an amplifier so I'm not sure how you would control the volume without putting an amp on the end of it.

How about an SMSL SD-793 II? I've seen them on the bay for £45 and it has optical in and is designed for exactly what you're doing really.

Unfortunately with audio it always pushes your budget up... but you can use this for your PC/TV downstairs also so it can be justified.

As above, the volume will be fixed. A DAC with an amp will be needed to be able to control the volume. SMSL SD793II is a good suggestion. I doubt you'd get a DAC/amp with optical input for much cheaper. No remote volume control though, so you'd have to adjust it manually first. I imagine anything with remote control would cost significantly more.

Thanks for the replies, I set the headphones up using one of the kits that I posted above, it does work but indeed the sound is fixed, It is manageable as it is fine for what I need but I would like some volume control. £45 to be able to take the volume up a little more is expensive mind.

Yes it is bit, especially if you've already got a separate DAC. You could get an amplifier and attach it to the DAC. Behringer HA400 should do the job and it quite cheap at £20.

Footyslayer said:

Thanks for the replies, I set the headphones up using one of the kits that I posted above, it does work but indeed the sound is fixed, It is manageable as it is fine for what I need but I would like some volume control. £45 to be able to take the volume up a little more is expensive mind.

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Buy a Fiio headphone amp, I think the cheapest ones are less than £10. Will give you in-line vol control and you can have it next to you on the sofa. It's what I use when I want to use a wired headphone.

Thanks for all the advice, it has been really helpful.

My headset actually has a volume adjustment on it but when turned up fully it isn't as loud as I would like. I am guessing this is the maximum volume based on the volume being fixed on the TV's input?

If so can you please confirm that an amp would indeed make the volume louder?

Yep, that's what an amp does, amplifies the signal.

Not aware of any FiiO amps for around £10 though. The cheapest they did was the E5 for around £18 many years ago. That got replaced with the E6, and now they have the A1 for £25. Battery powered though, so will need charging every so often. Behringer HA400 is mains powered.

Marsman said:

Yep, that's what an amp does, amplifies the signal.

Not aware of any FiiO amps for around £10 though. The cheapest they did was the E5 for around £18 many years ago. That got replaced with the E6, and now they have the A1 for £25. Battery powered though, so will need charging every so often. Behringer HA400 is mains powered.

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Sorry, no idea why I thought a Fiio E5 was around £10, must have confused the cost with something else I bought at the a same time.

I use a Fiio E11, needed the battery replacing after a year, uses a Nokia BL something which cost around £5. Has enough charge to last a couple of evenings. Charges over mini-USB, if you TV has a USB connector you could leave it connected to your TV to charge during the day.