Solved! Listen to headphones and stereo spkrs together

[Tom Seeley]

I just found this site. It looks great!

I have an LG TV model 42LD520, a Yamaha receiver model RX-V377, a SiriusXM antenna, a Toshiba SD-K740 DVD player, a JVC XL-V261 CD player, and a pair of Polk Audio speakers. Oh, and a Roku plugged into the RV. (No brand loyalty for me!) Other the Roku, the newest device is vintage 2014 or so.

The TV sound goes through the Yamaha rcvr to the speakers by digital optical cable. The TV speakers are turned off in the LG audio settings. All other audio goes through the Yamaha receiver and the Polk speakers as well.

Most of the time, I only listen to classical music on CD, SiriusXM, opera DVD, or broadcast TV. I don't game. Once in a while I may plug a set of headphones into my desktop computer to listen to something while I'm using the computer and I'd prefer not to turn speakers on.

Mainly my goal is to buy a pair of good over-ear headphones that I could use to listen to my system at the same time my wife listens through the Polk speakers and Yamaha receiver, no matter what audio input we're listening to. I'm hard of hearing, even with aids, and if I turn the sound up far enough for me to listen she'll soon be hard of hearing too! I've used headphones with the Yamaha before, and they bypass the Polk speakers entirely, so it's either the headphones or the Polks, not both.

I've googled wireless headphones, and it appears to me I'd need to connect them to some sort of "audio out" terminals on the Yamaha. There is an "AV Out" pair of red and white terminals, but I don't know if using them to send sound to wireless headphones would bypass the conventional speakers. If it would, it'd defeat my purpose of using the headphones.

Can anyone suggest a solution, please? Thx.

 

[hang-the-9]

The AV or Monitor out may work for this, but the headphones would be playing whatever selection the speakers are playing.

Something like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IV1H1M...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= along with a bluetooth 5 set of headphones to make sure you get the lowest latency when using video. These would be OK for the price https://www.amazon.com/Cancelling-H...etooth-Wireless/dp/B082LQDT2C?ref_=ast_sto_dp

 

[Tom Seeley]

Thank you. This helps. I'd like to discuss it further with you if you would, please.

I'm not up to speed on modern technology. I know what bluetooth is but I've got some questions about the idea you suggest.

I've thought about what I want to listen to and how I want to do that. I will ask Yamaha specifically about my receiver, because I'm not sure anything will do what I want it to do. But here I want to ask you some more general questions.

If I connect bluetooth headphones and a bluetooth transmitter like you've mentioned to my Yamaha receiver, using either the audio out or monitor out, do you know if that will or will not automatically bypass the speakers? If it does do that, and I can't prevent that, then this would not let my wife and me both listen to the same source at the same time. We do want to be able to do that sometimes. Like I said, I'll ask Yamaha this question also because I can't understand their owner's manual explicitly.

Another question about the Yamaha I'll ask you and them is: IF I do connect bluetooth devices to the receiver and that does not automatically turn off the speakers (which is what I want), would it still be possible to mute the receiver speakers (which I can do now) and hear just the headphones? I want to have it both ways! 😆

Assuming I can find a combination of bluetooth transmitter and headphone that lets my wife and me both listen at one time, through the headphones for me and the speakers for her, is there any way to do this that would let her control the speaker volume using the receiver and me simultaneously control the volume I hear through the headphones? I've had pairs of simple headphones in the past that do have a volume wheel on one wire, but I don't know if the kind you are suggesting now does that.

I hope this isn't too much to ask. You certainly know a lot more than I do and I hope I can take advantage of your expertise!

Thank you.

 

[hang-the-9]

A monitor out jack does not generally cut out sound for the rest of the setup. It's there to monitor the audio in addition to sending signal to the other source. Like in a studio where you play music on speakers but also want to listen on headphones, or recording to something and listening on the headphones. Using the AUX out may turn off the speakers. Depends on the receiver work. About the separate audio controls, that should be possible with the monitor out, but again you need to look at the Yamaha manual or try it.

 

[Tom Seeley]

OK. Thx for this help understanding things.

It sounds as if you're saying I could buy a set of wireless headphones, plug them into the monitor out jacks (not the audio out jacks), and at least listen to them that way, and I might get lucky and that would NOT cut out the speakers. Am I understanding you correctly? Since I do want a pair of headphones even for when I just listen to my computer or a TV in the bonus room that's not connected to anything else, I'm willing to consider this.

IF Im understanding you correctly, I'd appreciate some suggestions for good wireless headphones that I could use this way, esp if they have their own separate volume controls on them.

Thx.

 

[hang-the-9]

OK. Thx for this help understanding things.

It sounds as if you're saying I could buy a set of wireless headphones, plug them into the monitor out jacks (not the audio out jacks), and at least listen to them that way, and I might get lucky and that would NOT cut out the speakers. Am I understanding you correctly? Since I do want a pair of headphones even for when I just listen to my computer or a TV in the bonus room that's not connected to anything else, I'm willing to consider this.

IF Im understanding you correctly, I'd appreciate some suggestions for good wireless headphones that I could use this way, esp if they have their own separate volume controls on them.

Thx.

I have not used actual bluetooth headphones, what I use are my regular headphones with a bluetooth adapter, this video may explain it

View: https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mYUbSv6FNw
For bluetooth headsets, on the cheaper side there are TaoTronics models, the link is in the earlier post. The higher end Bose and Sony ones are good.

These are good for the price https://www.amazon.com/Mpow-H21-Can...03a386851d66141cc1e21acc947a43&language=en_US

These Audio-Technicas may be a good middle ground https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Techni...9WY8RRAYY67&psc=1&refRID=GYJ63JEWR9WY8RRAYY67