Can't Pair Headphones to TV

[officerripley]

Have a 10-year old Samsung TV. Have been successfully using wireless headphones with it as long as they're the kind that come with their own charging dock. Old headphones (Sennheiser) died and would rather get a different brand since they last only lasted 2 years. Tried Insignia (Best Buy's house brand) since it comes with its own charging dock but it just doesn't get loud enough. Was told that even though our Tv is an old non-smart tv without bluetooth that we could still use the wireless bluetooth headphones as long as we got a bluetooth transmitter. So we got an Aluratek transmitter and snazzy Bose headphones but can't get them to pair up with the tv. I get as far as the point where the headphones tell me "Ready to connect" and then I'm supposed to be able to do something on the tv screen (select the transmitter I guess) but nothing happens or shows up on the tv screen. I keep reading--I've been on google and youtube all day--that I need to make sure the tv is set to "multi-output" in the Sound settings, but this tv doesn't have that option in the settings. Any help appreciated; thanks.

 

[SeniorBen]

Have a 10-year old Samsung TV. Have been successfully using wireless headphones with it as long as they're the kind that come with their own charging dock. Old headphones (Sennheiser) died and would rather get a different brand since they last only lasted 2 years. Tried Insignia (Best Buy's house brand) since it comes with its own charging dock but it just doesn't get loud enough. Was told that even though our Tv is an old non-smart tv without bluetooth that we could still use the wireless bluetooth headphones as long as we got a bluetooth transmitter. So we got an Aluratek transmitter and snazzy Bose headphones but can't get them to pair up with the tv. I get as far as the point where the headphones tell me "Ready to connect" and then I'm supposed to be able to do something on the tv screen (select the transmitter I guess) but nothing happens or shows up on the tv screen. I keep reading--I've been on google and youtube all day--that I need to make sure the tv is set to "multi-output" in the Sound settings, but this tv doesn't have that option in the settings. Any help appreciated; thanks.

The TV doesn't have anything to do with your bluetooth transmission; it's all in the Aluratek bluetooth transmitter. Just turn it on, put it in pairing mode, and turn on your headphones. It should connect. It might take one or two minutes, so don't give up too quickly.

(Obviously, make sure the bluetooth transmitter is plugged into your TV's headphone jack.)

 

[officerripley]

The TV doesn't have anything to do with your bluetooth transmission; it's all in the Aluratek bluetooth transmitter. Just turn it on, put it in pairing mode, and turn on your headphones. It should connect. It might take one or two minutes, so don't give up too quickly.

(Obviously, make sure the bluetooth transmitter is plugged into your TV's headphone jack.)

Yep, done all that (along with a bunch of other things) many times, still no luck. Heard from somebody on the Samsung help site that in order for wireless headphones to work, the tv set not only needs bluetooth capability, it also needs the ability to allow an outside sound source to transfer audio to TV (which he told me how to check for with no luck and which he also said an old enough tv might well not have).

So it looks like we're going to have to spring for another set of the Sennheiser and just be aware we'll have to replace them in about 2 years, sigh.

 

[SeniorBen]

Yep, done all that (along with a bunch of other things) many times, still no luck. Heard from somebody on the Samsung help site that in order for wireless headphones to work, the tv set not only needs bluetooth capability, it also needs the ability to allow an outside sound source to transfer audio to TV (which he told me how to check for with no luck and which he also said an old enough tv might well not have).

So it looks like we're going to have to spring for another set of the Sennheiser and just be aware we'll have to replace them in about 2 years, sigh.

Nonsense. If the TV had bluetooth capability, you wouldn't need the adapter.

I also have an Samsung TV that doesn't have bluetooth, and I use a bluetooth adapter to listen with earbuds — not the same brand as yours, but the same technology — and it works just fine.

You might want to take your adapter and headphones to BestBuy and have them check it. You might have a bad bluetooth adapter.

 

[officerripley]

Uh, I know my tv doesn't have bluetooth capability which is why I bought the bluetooth transmitter. As I said above, the guy on the Samsung site said a tv set also needs the ability to allow an outside sound source which sounds like mine's old enough to not have. (I looked through all the settings on the tv for the different things he & others told me that capability might be called but nothing.)

 

[OneEyedDiva]

I can't help with the technical stuff so I will ask..since this isn't working for you, is it too late to return any of the bluetooth equipment you bought? Sorry you can't get things to work Officer. I know how frustrating and disappointing that must be.

 

[officerripley]

I can't help with the technical stuff so I will ask..since this isn't working for you, is it too late to return any of the bluetooth equipment you bought? Sorry you can't get things to work Officer. I know how frustrating and disappointing that must be.

Thanks, Diva, we;ve already returned the bluetooth transmitter and Bose headphones, thank goodness Best Buy was fine with refunding our money. We've gone ahead and ordered the Sennheiser headphones with the charging dock; I don't think they're worth all the money they cost but we know they'll work with our setup so that's about all we can do. (There is an outfit here in town that you can hire to help with home theatre stuff but they won't if you're with Xfinity, our local cable company which we are unfortunately.)

 

[OneEyedDiva]

Thanks, Diva, we;ve already returned the bluetooth transmitter and Bose headphones, thank goodness Best Buy was fine with refunding our money. We've gone ahead and ordered the Sennheiser headphones with the charging dock; I don't think they're worth all the money they cost but we know they'll work with our setup so that's about all we can do. (There is an outfit here in town that you can hire to help with home theatre stuff but they won't if you're with Xfinity, our local cable company which we are unfortunately.)

I'm glad you were able to return that stuff. I hope everything works fine for you now. Speaking of Bose, there used to be commercials about how great Bose radios were with this magnificent stereo sound. My son and I went to a Bose store and I bought the radio, although I felt it was overpriced. When we got it home, my son, a studio engineer who interned and got his training at the Institute for Audio Research (NYC) agreed with me that the boom box my husband had bought for the bedroom had better sound. We took that thing back.