Which Wireless Headphones are Best for TV?

Wireless or Bluetooth Headphones for TV have become more and more common as we’re now spending more time at home; a pair of good TV Headphones gives you the ability to watch TV at the volume you like without disturbing others in your household.

For instance, if the parents are working while the kids are watching TV, a couple pairs of TV headphones would allow the kids to Enjoy TV without Disturbing the Parents, and the parents can have meetings without disturbing the kids (kids’ ears are covered by the headphones, duh!)


Oh, and in case you’re wondering… YES, it’s possible to connect two or more pairs of Wireless Headphones to one TV.

How to Connect Two Headphones to One TV?

How to Connect Three or More Pairs of Headphones to One TV?

A pair of TV headphones can also be the Perfect Companion for people with Hearing Loss; it essentially “gets the TV audio closer to your ears” so you can hear the TV audio better without having to turn the volume level way up.

So, How to choose Wireless Headphones for TV? What are the Best Headphones for Listening to TV? How can you tell the good ones from the not-so-good ones?

In this article, we’ll break down and walk you through the most important criteria for picking out a pair of Wireless or Bluetooth TV Headphones.

1. Things you Need to Know before Going out to Get One.

2. A little Bit about Audio Lag and How to Solve it.

3. What type of Audio Output Port does your TV Have?

4. What's your Hearing Condition?

5. What to Do if TV Doesn't Have Audio Output? What if I can't Reach the Audio Output Jack?

6. Form Factor: What Type of Headphones do you Like?

7. What about my Own Bluetooth/Wireless Headphones?

8. Can I Use Headphones and TV Speakers at the Same Time?

1) Things you Need to Know Beforehand – Does your TV have Built-in Bluetooth?

Before everything, you’d want to check if your TV has Bluetooth built-in or not. If you do, you can pretty much just take an existing pair of Bluetooth headphones and pair it to the TV directly.

If you don’t, you’ll need a Bluetooth Audio Adapter. Also, if you’d like to have the option to connect two or more pairs of headphones to the same TV, you’ll want a Bluetooth audio adapter as well; TV’s built-in Bluetooth can only handle one pair of headphones at a time.

2) A little Bit about Audio Lag and How to Fix it.

An important criterion when it comes to Wireless TV headphones is AUDIO LATENCY. Most wireless technologies will have some sort of audio lag, causing the visual and the audio to be off sync.

So, How Do I fix the Audio Delay on my Wireless Headphones you ask?

To “counter” this issue, TV Headphone manufacturer usually provide a Wireless Adapter alongside the TV headphone, this can more-or-less guarantee perfectly synchronized audio and visual when you use them.

Another thing you should know is that some Bluetooth TVs also come with a feature that can “adjust” or “correct” the audio synchronization when you connect a pair of Bluetooth headphones, so please be sure to check with your manufacturer before making a decision.

Either way, as mentioned above, we’d still recommend going with a Wireless (or Bluetooth) Adapter + Headphones Combo because:

a. It guarantees perfectly synchronized audio.

b. It usually gives you the ability to add at least another pair of headphones to it.

c. They’re usually more stable and easier to use than TV’s built-in Bluetooth.

Example of Headphones + Adapter Set:

3) What type of Audio Output Port does your TV Have?

If you’re using a Wireless/Bluetooth Adapter for the headphones, the adapter will need to be plugged into your TV’s audio output port, so to make sure that you purchase a product that’s compatible with your TV, please check on your TV’s user manual and see which type of audio output port you have.

There are 4 main types of audio output ports:

• a. HDMI ARC or eARC: All new TVs should have this; it provides the best audio quality compared to others. However, not a lot of Bluetooth/Wireless Audio Transmitter Adapters nowadays support ARC so you’ll likely have to go with another choice listed below.
  
  
• b. Digital Optical: Also known as SPDIF or TOSLINK, it is the most common type of TV audio output in the past 10 years. While the audio quality is far below ARC HDMI, it is still much better than everything else. Also, most Wireless TV Transmitters support this format.
  
  
• c. 3.5mm AUX: Usually labeled as “Headphones” jack. It is “Analog” format and is very common prior to the 2010s. The only downside is these are usually quite small and may take a while to find them. Most adapters support 3.5mm Auxiliary.
  
  
• d. Red/White RCA: The oldest of all, comes with two pins; one for the left, the other for the right. Please note that ONLY THE PORTS LABELED “AUDIO OUT” CAN WORK; other RED/WHITE ports are only for input only and will not work. Most adapters also support this format.
  
  

4) What's your Hearing Condition?

Are you hearing impaired? What's the degree of it? 

There are various TV Headphones in the market that are Catered towards Hearing Impaired Patients; some headphones allow you to adjust the Equalizer (enhance bass or treble etc.), some allows Balance Adjustment (make one side louder than the other), and some are just... louder!

Don't hesitate to ask the manufacturer, they might have just the right product for you!