Wireless headphones for bedroom TV.

Do-more

I have been looking around for a cheap solution for headphones to use with the bedroom TV after the kids have gone to bed.

I finally came up with this solution which is probably more of a hack than a BA but I figure there are probably more people in the same boat so I will post it here, the mods can decide to move or delete it if they choose.

Anyway I found this FM transmitter on Buy in Coins for $3.69, it's really intended for sending music from an iPhone to a car stereo without an aux in, but in this instance the important thing is that it is powered from a usb lead rather than a cigarette lighter socket.

I just plugged it into the earphone socket of the TV and powered it off a usb socket on the Pi3 I have connected to the TV, some TV's may have a usb socket for power or you can just use a phone charger.

The transmitter can be set for any frequency between 87.5 and 108.0 MHz in 0.1Mhz increments so it is just a case of finding a frequency where there is no radio station and picking that.

We then use the FM radios and ear buds on our mobile phones to tune in to the same frequency.

Only been using it for a few days now but it works well so far. At zero volume there is a slight buzz from the FM transmitter but it's very slight and not noticeable at other times.

DopeTech

Another item for the man drawer!

evolving_doors

Yup, fm transmitting and the auld wireless still have their place in digital land.
Try turning off the fm stereo option Op.. Switch to mono and the hiss might disappear. Also try different frequency. Also power cables touching off transmitter might interfere.

peckerhead

Gebgbegb wrote: »

Yup, fm transmitting and the auld wireless still have their place in digital land.

Meh. This is the way of the future, I tells ya.

Discodog

Another option for bluetooth headphones are the various devices made by Sony. I use the MW1, there are also the SBH50 & SBH 52. The MW1 is a one inch long device that connects to your phone via bluetooth. It offers FM radio, music via SD card, full phone call handling & you can use any headphones.

The sound quality is excellent & they can be bought quite cheaply.

Do-more

Discodog wrote: »

Another option for bluetooth headphones are the various devices made by Sony. I use the MW1, there are also the SBH50 & SBH 52. The MW1 is a one inch long device that connects to your phone via bluetooth. It offers FM radio, music via SD card, full phone call handling & you can use any headphones.

The sound quality is excellent & they can be bought quite cheaply.

It was actually whilst searching for a Bluetooth sender that I hit on the idea of using the much cheaper FM transmitter instead. I know that the sound quality should be better with Bluetooth but I was put off by pairing problems in the past and I am not even sure if you can pair multiple phones with one sender at the same time?

I played around with the FM transmitter a bit more this morning and found that if I have the TV volume up very high and then the radio volume on my phone pretty low I don't hear any hiss whatsoever. Also even though the advertised range is only 5 metres I could walk around the entire house and still get a good signal without any interference.

ThunbergsAreGo

Now if only I had a headphone jack on my TV :-(

SCOOP 64

I got this in the post yesterday, but it wont charge, it was dead when I got it , so put it on charge (24hrs). battery icon flashes like its charging, turn it on ,then it turn off's,
battery icon not charged, any one else got this with same problem?

UsedToWait

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

I got this in the post yesterday, but it wont charge, it was dead when I got it , so put it on charge (24hrs). battery icon flashes like its charging, turn it on ,then it turn off's,
battery icon not charged, any one else got this with same problem?

Eh, is it definitely battery-powered?
OP talks of powering it via USB..

Do-more

UsedToWait wrote: »

Eh, is it definitely battery-powered?
OP talks of powering it via USB..

Yes it does have a battery but whenever I use it I have the power supply connected. No idea how long it will work for just on battery power.

UsedToWait

Do-more wrote: »

Yes it does have a battery but whenever I use it I have the power supply connected. No idea how long it will work for just on battery power.

Ah right - I have a very similar device that's Bluetooth rather than FM - it has a battery too, but it must be no bigger than a watch battery - I presume it's just for if power supply is temporarily interrupted..

DavyD_83

Sounds like it could be worth a go, v cheap to set up.

I picked up Bluetooth headphones and a Bluetooth transmitter to try give my father in law a wireless headphone setup. Pairing didn't work automatically, when everything was turned off and on again, so non-runner in the end. It would be fine for me, but I really didn't want to get into explaining pairing (with only indicators being flashing lights and beeps).

There was also a noticeable delay in the audio when it was working, do you experience much of this OP?

Do-more

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Sounds like it could be worth a go, v cheap to set up.

I picked up Bluetooth headphones and a Bluetooth transmitter to try give my father in law a wireless headphone setup. Pairing didn't work automatically, when everything was turned off and on again, so non-runner in the end. It would be fine for me, but I really didn't want to get into explaining pairing (with only indicators being flashing lights and beeps).

There was also a noticeable delay in the audio when it was working, do you experience much of this OP?

I also have had bad experiences previously with Bluetooth pairing which is why I went for FM instead.

4 or 5 years ago I did have another FM transmitter in the car but it was a disaster as it seemed to transmit slightly off frequency and the sound quality was dreadful.

This one apart from the small hiss which I explained up thread how I eliminated has been great.

SCOOP 64

Got a reply from butincoins,

We know it's quite trouble if our customers received the defective items, so we did test all of our products strictly before sending out, things always happen unexpectedly.

Pls note that:Voltage:5V
Distortion degree: 2%
Working time: 3 hours

Would you please kindly use it more times? And tell us more detailed information? Are you sure everything is under the normal condition and you have used it in the proper way?

Had it charging on and off for 2 days also tried different chargers still dead,
whats distortion degree 2% ?

mcgovern

I have the same one as in OP for a few months, won't keep a charge anymore, so have ordered a ROIDME to see if its any better.

SCOOP 64

mcgovern wrote: »

I have the same one as in OP for a few months, won't keep a charge anymore, so have ordered a ROIDME to see if its any better.

Getting a refund on the FM transmitter, so looked into the ROIDME you mention,so ordered that instead,its dearer €10.15, but got a good write up, see how it goes.