Solved! I need help with setting up Bluetooth Headphones on an older Samsung Plasma TV and Blu-Ray Player.

[JohnnyNeutron]

Greetings

I'm a cord-cutter that needs help with setting up Bluetooth Headphones on an older Samsung Plasma TV and Blu-Ray Player so I can hear my TV while on my treadmill.

Both of these older Samsung units are pre-Bluetooth. There are many youtube.com videos on how to use inexpensive little gizmos to bring your older technology into the Bluetooth universe, and thus far I’ve purchased a Portable Bluetooth Transmitter and a Digital to Analog Audio Converter, but cannot make them work.

The Blu-Ray Player is the central control unit for the entertainment system.

I'm convinced that there must be a way to get this to work, but I'm just too daft to figure it out myself. Please help me find an answer.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

2011 Samsung 51” Plasma TV Model: PN51D8000FFXZA
2010 Samsung Blu-Ray Player Model: HT-D6500W
TiVo Roamio DVR

 

[americanaudiophile]

The only simple solution is to connect the DAC to the Tivo optical output. Set the output to PCM stereo in the Tivo menu. That will only get you audio for the Tivo to the headphones but you would have the option of having the HTS working at the same time or just not turning the HTS on.

If you wanted audio from the TV apps as well then it get more complicated. You would split the optical audio output of the TV and connect the DAC/BT to one output and the HTS to the other. If the DAC will only accept stereo then you would have to set the TV to output PCM stereo. There are DACs that will accept a bitstream 5.1 input. That way you would not need to reset the TV to get surround sound when you don't want to use the headphones.

To get sound from the BD player too is a lot more complicated. You would need to get audio from the front speaker output of the HTS into the BT transmitter and be able to turn the front speakers off.

You would need a 2pr speaker selector. The front speaker output of the HTS connects to the input of the selector.
The speakers would connect to one output and a speaker to line level converter would connect to the other. The BT transmitter would connect to this converter.

You would select stereo as your mode on the HTS.
Use the speaker selector to turn off the front speakers (if you want to) and turn on the connection to the Converter/BT transmitter.
The volume control of the HTS will affect the volume going to the transmitter so if it's set too loud you will hear distortion in the headphones.

 

[hang-the-9]

They way to get it work is using what you got, an adapter for whatever audio out your TV has to bluetooth. I use one, it works fine although has some lag unless you use both the transmitter and the headphones with low latency tech like aptx. This is the one I am using, connects to the optical out on the TV https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RYQ2DD7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[JohnnyNeutron]

The only simple solution is to connect the DAC to the Tivo optical output. Set the output to PCM stereo in the Tivo menu. That will only get you audio for the Tivo to the headphones but you would have the option of having the HTS working at the same time or just not turning the HTS on.

If you wanted audio from the TV apps as well then it get more complicated. You would split the optical audio output of the TV and connect the DAC/BT to one output and the HTS to the other. If the DAC will only accept stereo then you would have to set the TV to output PCM stereo. There are DACs that will accept a bitstream 5.1 input. That way you would not need to reset the TV to get surround sound when you don't want to use the headphones.

To get sound from the BD player too is a lot more complicated. You would need to get audio from the front speaker output of the HTS into the BT transmitter and be able to turn the front speakers off.

You would need a 2pr speaker selector. The front speaker output of the HTS connects to the input of the selector.
The speakers would connect to one output and a speaker to line level converter would connect to the other. The BT transmitter would connect to this converter.

You would select stereo as your mode on the HTS.
Use the speaker selector to turn off the front speakers (if you want to) and turn on the connection to the Converter/BT transmitter.
The volume control of the HTS will affect the volume going to the transmitter so if it's set too loud you will hear distortion in the headphones.

americanaudiophil,

Thank you so much! The "2-Pair Speaker Selector Switch" coming off the Blu-Ray Player and splitting off between the speakers and the DAC/BT sounds like the perfect solution to my problem. I'm going to try this option, and if/when it works I'll update this post with the results.

Thank you again for the excellently detailed and informative guidance. If you can successfully explain a complex HTS solution to a block-head like me, then you must be alright!

JohnnyNeutron

 

[JohnnyNeutron]

They way to get it work is using what you got, an adapter for whatever audio out your TV has to bluetooth. I use one, it works fine although has some lag unless you use both the transmitter and the headphones with low latency tech like aptx. This is the one I am using, connects to the optical out on the TV https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RYQ2DD7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks hang-the-9, I'll check that out too.