What headphones would you get if you were me? - Blu-ray Forum

jimmyv · 11-02-2012, 07:23 PM

I read through a bunch of threads, but didn't find what I was looking for.

I'll keep this short and simple.

I have:

Panasonic TC-P50U50

Sony BVD-F7 (This link is still live... just gotta click the 'X' when the "no longer available" notice appears)

Oh so amazingly, I'm am beyond perplexed to learn that neither one of these have a headphone jack.

I am not an audio wizard and really am just interested in watching movies late with "really nice sound", meaning that it doesn't have to be some super duper 7.1 outrageous surround sound blah blah blah. I just want them to sound very nice and crisp and clean. Maybe for the total cost to fall between $50-$100 or so.

Do I need some kind of connection adaptor and/or converter to make it happen? If you were me, what would you do?

Thanks so much in advance!

pentatonic · 11-02-2012, 07:52 PM

The only way would be to use your digital audio output from your Panny since it's the only audio out available on both components. To my knowledge (and I might be wrong) you would usually find this feature on wireless headphones such as these Sonys. As for what's out there, wireless is something I know nothing (or almost) about. So if wireless is something you're ok with, search for wireless with optical input (you would connect to your optical out on the Panny) in your price range and google for reviews.

best of luck

jimmyv · 11-02-2012, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pentatonic

The only way would be to use your digital audio output from your Panny since it's the only audio out available on both components. To my knowledge (and I might be wrong) you would usually find this feature on wireless headphones such as these Sonys. As for what's out there, wireless is something I know nothing (or almost) about. So if wireless is something you're ok with, search for wireless with optical input (you would connect to your optical out on the Panny) in your price range and google for reviews.

best of luck

wow. nice find! My TC-P50U50 isn't listed, but I'm sure it will work since it is a Viera Plasma. It seems that the converter included with the kit is the real key. I found that exact one as a stand alone product for $24.95 plus $6.58 shipping. Then I could just buy headphones of my choice, wireless or not.

http://www.amazon.com/TC-P50ST50-TC-...anasonic+VIERA

Thanks for finding that so quickly.

pentatonic · 11-03-2012, 03:20 AM

What you linked doesn't have a headphone jack from what I can see (maybe I'm wrong and the 3.5 mm does work for phones but doubt it) so you still need to connect to an amplifier of some sort. Try it out but if you have no real output from the 3.5 mm jack you will need an amplifier for your headphones.

jimmyv · 11-03-2012, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pentatonic

What you linked doesn't have a headphone jack from what I can see (maybe I'm wrong and the 3.5 mm does work for phones but doubt it) so you still need to connect to an amplifier of some sort. Try it out but if you have no real output from the 3.5 mm jack you will need an amplifier for your headphones.

Hmm. See that's the type of stuff I just wouldn't know. I have to say that this all seems hilariously silly to me.
All this high tech home theater equipment I bought... in 2012, and I can't even hook up a pair of headphones.

I did find this one, which lists my exact TV model.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Headphone...I1AA9AVNXFO8VH

Would that one work as a "plug n play" for me.. as in I wouldn't be missing anything?

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.

kemcha · 11-03-2012, 10:32 AM

Jimmy, I'd get a pair of headphones that work.

pentatonic · 11-03-2012, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyv

Hmm. See that's the type of stuff I just wouldn't know. I have to say that this all seems hilariously silly to me.
All this high tech home theater equipment I bought... in 2012, and I can't even hook up a pair of headphones.

I did find this one, which lists my exact TV model.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Headphone...I1AA9AVNXFO8VH

Would that one work as a "plug n play" for me.. as in I wouldn't be missing anything?

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.

Yep, that would work since the headphone base has rca inputs that would be connected to the rca outputs of the converter. You'd be good to go

jimmyv · 11-03-2012, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kemcha

Jimmy, I'd get a pair of headphones that work.

Yes. That is a fantastic idea! I like it.

jimmyv · 11-03-2012, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pentatonic

Yep, that would work since the headphone base has rca inputs that would be connected to the rca outputs of the converter. You'd be good to go

Ok. I think I know what to ask for for Christmas. Thanks again Pentatonic.

jimmyv · 11-26-2012, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pentatonic

Yep, that would work since the headphone base has rca inputs that would be connected to the rca outputs of the converter. You'd be good to go

Was wondering... does this mean that only wireless headphones will work with that converter?

Converter

If so.. that is very odd.

In the description, it says this:

Quote:

... Compatible with all Headphones, Wireless Headphones, ....

Seems like this product would be what you would plug the wired headphones into, and then the converter would be connected to the TV.

That is the purpose of the converter so it would be strange if the headphones needed a base with rca inputs.

... or perhaps I am just confused. It wouldn't be the first time.

nergal1959 · 12-01-2012, 11:42 PM

I'd get SONY studio moniter headphones (the best I could find) to get REALLY good sound-my setup with my SONY 40 inch BRAVIA screen, SONY blu ray player & YAMAHA HTR 5550 I feel that when watching ANY movie it is @ LEAST as good as the Samuel Goldwyn theater in Hollywood which is supposed to be THE most technically accurate cinema in the world, if not BETTER ( in other words said theater/cinema is as GOOD as MY system but certainly NOT any better than it! (bragging intended)

crackinhedz · 12-02-2012, 07:39 PM

Hopefully Im not too late to the Party...

First, you have to understand that the Digital to Analog converter linked to previously in this thread will only accept a PCM signal...you would need a converter specifically with a Dolby Digital decoder built in for 5.1 Dolby Digital bitstream.

Second, either way you go about it...DTS will have to be converted to PCM first. No TV can decode DTS, nor output the DTS bitstream signal. And no converter I have found yet will.

So to sum things up...

DTS has to be converted to PCM from the player...or = NO SOUND.

If your player outputs a "bitstream" Dolby Digital signal, your D/A converter needs the Dolby Digital decoder, or = NO Sound.

If you can ensure your Player outputs a PCM signal, then the converter mentioned previously would work. But if you throw in a Dolby bitstream signal you would need the converter I listed.

DTS has to be converted to PCM from the player first, no matter what.

Hope that helps, I have a Panny plasma with only optical out and this is how I have my wireless Sennheiser headphones.

Hope this helps.

crackinhedz · 12-02-2012, 07:46 PM

This is the D/A converter I use, the quality is excellent. No complaints.

But, I have my Dishnetwork and WDTV set to output PCM only.

If one of the devices was sending a Dolby bitstream signal, or even over the air broadcast with Dolby Digital...I would get no sound from the optical output from the TV. Then I would need the Gefen converter with built in Dolby decoder.

jimmyv · 12-03-2012, 06:37 PM

Crackinhedz,

Not too late to the party, cause I haven't pulled the trigger on any of this yet.

But uh... after reading through your post twice very carefully, I am more confused now than ever.

All that stuff about DTS to PCM with a bitstream signal may as well be typed in Korean.

If you were me and just want to sit about 10 feet from a panny plasma with quality sound in your ears only... what item(s) exactly would you buy?

That FiiO D3 converter and headphones, and that's it?

jimmyv · 12-04-2012, 07:26 PM

Can anyone confirm that if I buy that FiiO D3 converter from Crackinhedz link and headphones of my choice, I will be good to go or will I be missing a critical piece to the puzzle.

Any help to confirm exactly what I should purchase would be very appreciated. This still feels like a fuzzy dream that couldn't be true when I think about all the shennanigans I have to go through to get this sound to my ears from my brand new blu ray home theater system. Cant even believe it.

crackinhedz · 12-08-2012, 06:27 PM

There are two ways in which audio is transferred from the player to the receiver/TV.

Bitstream = audio is sent to the receiver or TV encoded, then the Receiver or TV has to decode the audio.

PCM = audio is decoded inside the player first, then sent to the Receiver and or TV. (No decoding necessary)

so whatever device receives the Bitstream signal, needs to have the necessary decoders. Unfortunately no TV that I know of can decode DTS. If you send a Bitstream DTS signal to the TV, you will get no sound.

This is why DTS will need to be decoded inside the player first! (PCM)

If you send Bitstream DTS to the TV, you get nothing. TV cannot decode DTS.

Next, the TV optical output deals with two formats only. PCM & Dolby Digital. Some TV's output Dolby Digital as a Bitstream signal, usually from an "over the air" source and possibly from cable/satellite box. If you buy a Digital to Analog converter with no Dolby Digital decoder, you get no sound from the optical output to your headphones! Everything would need to be PCM from the player/cable box first.

I know this stuff is confusing, but if you read through the amazon reviews you will see a lot of negative reviews of people saying "this thing doesnt work, I get no sound" yadda yadda yadda. This is because they did not understand this concept either.

Now, if you intend to listen through wirless headphones from a receiver, then you do not need any converters, you would simply connect the wireless headphones (base station) to the headphone jack on the receiver.

If you intend to listen through headphones from the TV optical out, then you would need the Digital to Analog converter.

If you can ensure all audio going to the TV is PCM, then the basic D/A converter would suffice. BUT, if by any chance a dolby digital bitstream signal is sent from the optical out (for instance from an Over the air broadcast), then you need the converter with the Dolby Digital decoder.

What is your setup? what devices do you have? (cable box, satellite? over the air antenna? receiver?)

jimmyv · 12-09-2012, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

What is your setup? what devices do you have? (cable box, satellite? over the air antenna? receiver?)

Wow thanks for all the info! I just have the 2 devices listed at the top of this thread. Panny plasma and Sony blu ray. Nothing else.

One person recommended this:

Optical out from TV>Fiio D3>RCA to mini>Fiio e6

Then plug headphones into the E6

Seems like it could work that way with any headphones.

Or just get the converter and headphones that have volume control.

crackinhedz · 12-10-2012, 09:44 PM

Does your Bluray player audio play through the TV if needed?

Im thinking all you need is the standard D/A converter...no need for the one with Dolby decoder.

Also, you do not need the RCA to mini, or the Fiio6...a good set of wireless headphones should come with an RCA base station which connects to the D/A converter.

jimmyv · 12-11-2012, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

Does your Bluray player audio play through the TV if needed?

Im thinking all you need is the standard D/A converter...no need for the one with Dolby decoder.

Also, you do not need the RCA to mini, or the Fiio6...a good set of wireless headphones should come with an RCA base station which connects to the D/A converter.

not sure about your first question, but it sounds like we've come full circle. i'm back to just needing this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/Son...SIN=B009I1O2BU

crackinhedz · 12-11-2012, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyv

not sure about your first question

Your Bluray player is your sound system correct? Looks like one of those HTiB systems...meaning, the audio is decoded inside the player/sound system. Does your TV output any sound when you watch Bluray?

Quote:

i'm back to just needing this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/Son...SIN=B009I1O2BU

Yes, I believe that is all you should need.

11-02-2012, 07:23 PM	#1
jimmyv Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jul 2012 Location:SoCal, USA Trading Score:22	What headphones would you get if you were me? I read through a bunch of threads, but didn't find what I was looking for. I'll keep this short and simple. I have: Panasonic TC-P50U50 Sony BVD-F7 (This link is still live... just gotta click the 'X' when the "no longer available" notice appears) Oh so amazingly, I'm am beyond perplexed to learn that neither one of these have a headphone jack. I am not an audio wizard and really am just interested in watching movies late with "really nice sound", meaning that it doesn't have to be some super duper 7.1 outrageous surround sound blah blah blah. I just want them to sound very nice and crisp and clean. Maybe for the total cost to fall between $50-$100 or so. Do I need some kind of connection adaptor and/or converter to make it happen? If you were me, what would you do? Thanks so much in advance!

12-02-2012, 07:39 PM	#12
crackinhedz Super Moderator Member since:Feb 2007 Home Theater Gallery:10 Blu-ray reviews:8 Trading Score:19	Hopefully Im not too late to the Party... First, you have to understand that the Digital to Analog converter linked to previously in this thread will only accept a PCM signal...you would need a converter specifically with a Dolby Digital decoder built in for 5.1 Dolby Digital bitstream. Second, either way you go about it...DTS will have to be converted to PCM first. No TV can decode DTS, nor output the DTS bitstream signal. And no converter I have found yet will. So to sum things up... DTS has to be converted to PCM from the player...or = NO SOUND. If your player outputs a "bitstream" Dolby Digital signal, your D/A converter needs the Dolby Digital decoder, or = NO Sound. If you can ensure your Player outputs a PCM signal, then the converter mentioned previously would work. But if you throw in a Dolby bitstream signal you would need the converter I listed. DTS has to be converted to PCM from the player first, no matter what. Hope that helps, I have a Panny plasma with only optical out and this is how I have my wireless Sennheiser headphones. Hope this helps. Last edited by crackinhedz; 12-02-2012 at 07:52 PM.

12-03-2012, 06:37 PM	#14
jimmyv Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jul 2012 Location:SoCal, USA Trading Score:22	Crackinhedz, Not too late to the party, cause I haven't pulled the trigger on any of this yet. But uh... after reading through your post twice very carefully, I am more confused now than ever. All that stuff about DTS to PCM with a bitstream signal may as well be typed in Korean. If you were me and just want to sit about 10 feet from a panny plasma with quality sound in your ears only... what item(s) exactly would you buy? That FiiO D3 converter and headphones, and that's it? Last edited by jimmyv; 12-03-2012 at 06:41 PM.

12-08-2012, 06:27 PM	#16
crackinhedz Super Moderator Member since:Feb 2007 Home Theater Gallery:10 Blu-ray reviews:8 Trading Score:19	There are two ways in which audio is transferred from the player to the receiver/TV. Bitstream = audio is sent to the receiver or TV encoded, then the Receiver or TV has to decode the audio. PCM = audio is decoded inside the player first, then sent to the Receiver and or TV. (No decoding necessary) so whatever device receives the Bitstream signal, needs to have the necessary decoders. Unfortunately no TV that I know of can decode DTS. If you send a Bitstream DTS signal to the TV, you will get no sound. This is why DTS will need to be decoded inside the player first! (PCM) If you send Bitstream DTS to the TV, you get nothing. TV cannot decode DTS. Next, the TV optical output deals with two formats only. PCM & Dolby Digital. Some TV's output Dolby Digital as a Bitstream signal, usually from an "over the air" source and possibly from cable/satellite box. If you buy a Digital to Analog converter with no Dolby Digital decoder, you get no sound from the optical output to your headphones! Everything would need to be PCM from the player/cable box first. I know this stuff is confusing, but if you read through the amazon reviews you will see a lot of negative reviews of people saying "this thing doesnt work, I get no sound" yadda yadda yadda. This is because they did not understand this concept either. Now, if you intend to listen through wirless headphones from a receiver, then you do not need any converters, you would simply connect the wireless headphones (base station) to the headphone jack on the receiver. If you intend to listen through headphones from the TV optical out, then you would need the Digital to Analog converter. If you can ensure all audio going to the TV is PCM, then the basic D/A converter would suffice. BUT, if by any chance a dolby digital bitstream signal is sent from the optical out (for instance from an Over the air broadcast), then you need the converter with the Dolby Digital decoder. What is your setup? what devices do you have? (cable box, satellite? over the air antenna? receiver?) Last edited by crackinhedz; 12-08-2012 at 06:31 PM.

11-02-2012, 07:52 PM	#2
pentatonic Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Jan 2009 Location:Montreal, Canada Blu-ray collection:570 DVD collection:1 Blu-ray reviews: 6 Trading Score:158	The only way would be to use your digital audio output from your Panny since it's the only audio out available on both components. To my knowledge (and I might be wrong) you would usually find this feature on wireless headphones such as these Sonys. As for what's out there, wireless is something I know nothing (or almost) about. So if wireless is something you're ok with, search for wireless with optical input (you would connect to your optical out on the Panny) in your price range and google for reviews. best of luck

11-03-2012, 03:20 AM	#4
pentatonic Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Jan 2009 Location:Montreal, Canada Blu-ray collection:570 DVD collection:1 Blu-ray reviews: 6 Trading Score:158	What you linked doesn't have a headphone jack from what I can see (maybe I'm wrong and the 3.5 mm does work for phones but doubt it) so you still need to connect to an amplifier of some sort. Try it out but if you have no real output from the 3.5 mm jack you will need an amplifier for your headphones.

11-03-2012, 10:32 AM	#6
kemcha Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2009 Location:Michigan, USA 4K collection:18 Blu-ray collection:344 Blu-ray reviews:18 Trading Score:32	Jimmy, I'd get a pair of headphones that work.

12-01-2012, 11:42 PM	#11
nergal1959 New Member Member since:Oct 2012	I'd get SONY studio moniter headphones (the best I could find) to get REALLY good sound-my setup with my SONY 40 inch BRAVIA screen, SONY blu ray player & YAMAHA HTR 5550 I feel that when watching ANY movie it is @ LEAST as good as the Samuel Goldwyn theater in Hollywood which is supposed to be THE most technically accurate cinema in the world, if not BETTER ( in other words said theater/cinema is as GOOD as MY system but certainly NOT any better than it! (bragging intended)

12-02-2012, 07:46 PM	#13
crackinhedz Super Moderator Member since:Feb 2007 Home Theater Gallery:10 Blu-ray reviews:8 Trading Score:19	This is the D/A converter I use, the quality is excellent. No complaints. But, I have my Dishnetwork and WDTV set to output PCM only. If one of the devices was sending a Dolby bitstream signal, or even over the air broadcast with Dolby Digital...I would get no sound from the optical output from the TV. Then I would need the Gefen converter with built in Dolby decoder.

12-04-2012, 07:26 PM	#15
jimmyv Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jul 2012 Location:SoCal, USA Trading Score:22	Can anyone confirm that if I buy that FiiO D3 converter from Crackinhedz link and headphones of my choice, I will be good to go or will I be missing a critical piece to the puzzle. Any help to confirm exactly what I should purchase would be very appreciated. This still feels like a fuzzy dream that couldn't be true when I think about all the shennanigans I have to go through to get this sound to my ears from my brand new blu ray home theater system. Cant even believe it.

12-10-2012, 09:44 PM	#18
crackinhedz Super Moderator Member since:Feb 2007 Home Theater Gallery:10 Blu-ray reviews:8 Trading Score:19	Does your Bluray player audio play through the TV if needed? Im thinking all you need is the standard D/A converter...no need for the one with Dolby decoder. Also, you do not need the RCA to mini, or the Fiio6...a good set of wireless headphones should come with an RCA base station which connects to the D/A converter.

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