Solutions to connect headphones to TV LG55NANO81 while also playing from (internal) speakers

[MPenten]

Heya,

I am trying to figure out a way how to play audio from headphones at the same time as from speakers/soundbar etc. As it seems, LG55NANO81 does not outright have the option, also due to lack of headphone jack.

I am even open to buying a soundbar (or amp?) or something that would output to headphones while, playing, or similar solutions, but I don't know if it's possible.

One of our family members is getting older and hearing is getting worse, so we'd prefer not to have the TV blasting at 40% volume instead of 10%.

[dalekphalm]

Check the back of the TV to see what kind of audio outputs it has.

 

Likely it will have:

A pair of RCA Stereo jacks (L/R)

TOSLINK Optical

 

From those you can adapt or connect to headphones in one way or another.

 

Likely your best choice, if budget allows, would be a nice pair of wireless headphones. The base station for the headphones may include multiple different input types (Eg: some of them will support TOSLINK). And whatever analog options the base station has, can be converted into Stereo RCA if needed (Eg: A 3.5mm stereo to RCA breakout cable).

 

Wired headphones can also work with an adapter, but will be way more annoying since you'll have to have a big-ass headphone cable (or an extension) that runs from the TV to the person watching it. Wireless is far superior here if possible.

 

Can you post a picture of the audio IO on the back of the TV? Also the TV Model Number would be useful too.

[circeseye]

3 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

Check the back of the TV to see what kind of audio outputs it has.

 

Likely it will have:

A pair of RCA Stereo jacks (L/R)

TOSLINK Optical

 

From those you can adapt or connect to headphones in one way or another.

 

Likely your best choice, if budget allows, would be a nice pair of wireless headphones. The base station for the headphones may include multiple different input types (Eg: some of them will support TOSLINK). And whatever analog options the base station has, can be converted into Stereo RCA if needed (Eg: A 3.5mm stereo to RCA breakout cable).

 

Wired headphones can also work with an adapter, but will be way more annoying since you'll have to have a big-ass headphone cable (or an extension) that runs from the TV to the person watching it. Wireless is far superior here if possible.

 

Can you post a picture of the audio IO on the back of the TV? Also the TV Model Number would be useful too.

nano81 has

HDMI 4

USB 2

Digital Optical Audio Out 1

Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 0

Analog Audio Out RCA 0

Component In 1 (shared)

Composite In 1 (shared)

Tuner (Cable/Ant) 1

Ethernet 1

DisplayPort 0

IR In 0

SD/SDHC 0

 

so only earc and tos for audio out

the only difference with the nano81 models is the stand

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, circeseye said:

nano81 has

HDMI 4

USB 2

Digital Optical Audio Out 1

Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 0

Analog Audio Out RCA 0

Component In 1 (shared)

Composite In 1 (shared)

Tuner (Cable/Ant) 1

Ethernet 1

DisplayPort 0

IR In 0

SD/SDHC 0

 

so only earc and tos for audio out

the only difference with the nano81 models is the stand

Thanks! I just realized the model number was in the title

 

TOSLINK Out is really his best bet. You could go the HDMI route but that's a pain in the ass the OP would likely want to avoid.

 

The OP has two options here:

1. Get a Wireless pair of headphones that includes a base station that has TOSLINK input.

2. Get a regular Wireless headset and pair it with a TOSLINK to analog DAC

[MPenten]

Thanks. The model number was also in the body

Do you have any recommendation for TOSLINK headphones? I tried searching and cannot find any reasonably priced (250-300 dollars - at that point it may be beneficial to even buy a new TV that can handle speaker + bluetooth, like SONY), if I can find them at all, everything i can see is classic 3.5mm jack.

Also, just to point out, I tried to connect 2.1 speaker setup via TOSLINK DAC (https://www.amazon.com/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-Optical-Toslink/dp/B00KNNSKV0) and, well, I could not control the audio volume afterwards. Not sure if bad TV or bad DAC.

[dalekphalm]

3 hours ago, MPenten said:

Thanks. The model number was also in the body

Do you have any recommendation for TOSLINK headphones? I tried searching and cannot find any reasonably priced (250-300 dollars - at that point it may be beneficial to even buy a new TV that can handle speaker + bluetooth, like SONY), if I can find them at all, everything i can see is classic 3.5mm jack.

Also, just to point out, I tried to connect 2.1 speaker setup via TOSLINK DAC (https://www.amazon.com/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-Optical-Toslink/dp/B00KNNSKV0) and, well, I could not control the audio volume afterwards. Not sure if bad TV or bad DAC.

TOSLINK isn't affected by your TV volume. Anything that uses TOSLINK will need to have it's own independent volume control (Any wireless headphones will have this).

 

If you already own that Prozor TOSLINK to RCA DAC, then you can literally buy any pair of Wireless headphones, as long as they come with a base station w/ either RCA or Aux (3.5mm) input. If the latter, you'll just need to buy some cheap adapter cables.