Solved! Wireless headphones - how to switch between that and built in speaker of TV?

[feetsdr]

Helping out a friend that's hard of hearing. He has an older Sony 45" or so TV. It has a 3.5 mm headphone jack AND optical audio output jack.

He wants to get wireless headphones (under $100? care to mention a favorite?).

I can set that up no problem - the wireless headphones typically come with a transmitter that can either plug into the 3.5 or optical jack from what I was seeing.

That's all good. But then, when someone else wants to watch the TV and have the sound come through the speaker(s) built into the TV... it seems they'd have to pull out the jack on the back of the TV to get the internal speaker to work again? Like the old transistor radios - plug in the earphone, the speaker turns off. remove the earphone, speaker turns on.

Can't even put an extension cable in that jack on the back of the TV to move the make / break connection for the wireless headphones more accessible. Its the mechanical removal of the jack from the back of the TV that controls internal /external speaker control?

Don't have a way to test the optical jack.

Basically, is there a way to control internal speaker volume and external headphone volume separately?

THANKS!!

 

[feetsdr]

Oh, forgot to ask... again, this is an older Sony TV (8 years old?) . For what they do, it works fine - they have cable TV and I set them up with a chromecase on 1 of the HDMI ports. They are happy with the TV.

But is getting a new TV the answer? Are newer TVs better at allowing seperate volume control of both headphones and internal speakers?

 

[americanaudiophile]

Plugging in the optical cable isn't like using a headphone jack. It won't automatically turn the TV speakers off or on. Problem is that you usually have to turn the TV speakers off in the TV menu to get the optical output to turn on. Check the TV menu or manual to see if theirs does that.
New TV won't help unless you can find a TV that allows you to turn on the optical output and leave the TV speakers on. Wireless headphones always have their own volume control built into the headphones.
The way around this is to get them an HDMI input selector with audio extraction. Connect both the cable box and stick to its' HDMI inputs. Connect its' HDMI output to the TV. Connect its' audio output to the transmitter for the headphones. Now the TV and headphone volumes are independent.
Another option is to split the optical audio output of the TV and connect both a soundbar and headphone transmitter.

 

[feetsdr]

Thanks! HDMI input selector with audio extraction!!! Nice. another box / different way to switch between TV and Chromecast. But seems like it'd work.

split the optical (or even the 3 1/2" jack). I have low end tv needs like this friend. How would you typically control a soundbar's volume? a wireless remote? Could the existing TV remote do that? (oh, but lowering the TV volume to get the soundbar off would lower the volume on the headset too...).

 

[americanaudiophile]

Every soundbar comes with its' own remote volume control.
The optical output of the TV is fixed volume and so is not affected by the TV remote. The volume of the soundbar and wireless headphones are independent of each other.