Optical audio and headphones question

[LaziDaze]

I am looking at the Samsung NU7100 58" TV and I have a question about the model. I see by the specs on the model that the old RCA audio out ports have been eliminated and replaced with an Optical Audio (Toslink) out. My question is can the Optical out be used (with a RCA adapter) for wireless headphones without cancelling the TV speakers.  I need to be able to use headphones because of severe hearing problems but my spouse wants to use the normal TV speakers at the same time.

Our current setup is with a 10 year old Vizio using the RCA audio out to feed Sennhieser HDR120 wireless headphones.  The headphones have their own volume controls and the TV volume can be adjusted (including mute) without affecting the volume on the headphones. Can this Samsung model be set up the same way?

TIA for any responses.

[Anonymous]

The optical audio out will not provide this functionality. There is an option in the Accessibility features that allows a Bluetooth connection for hearing impaired users. This is from the User Guide:

Listening to the TV through Bluetooth devices (for the hearing impaired) Settings General Accessibility Multi-output Audio
You can turn on both the TV speaker and Bluetooth devices at the same time. When this function is active, you can set the volume of the Bluetooth devices higher than the volume of the TV speaker.

This function may not be supported depending on the model or geographical area.

When you connect Bluetooth devices to the TV, Multi-output Audio is activated. For more information about connecting Bluetooth devices to the TV, refer to "Listening to the TV through Bluetooth devices."

[LaziDaze]

Thanks for your reply but according to the seller's specs, the model that I am looking at does not have BT.  Even if it had BT, I had tried this type of connection in the past and it worked but there was an echo effect caused by a latency delay between the TV audio and the BT audio.  Keep in mind that while I am listening on the headphones, I am still hearing the TV audio leading to the echo effect.

You said that the optical audio out would not provide this funtionality - could you clarify that statement a bit.  Are you saying the optical out plugged into a optical-to-RCA adapter will not properly feed the headphones?  Or are you saying that the use of the optical out will cause the TV speakers to shut off?

[Anonymous]

Using the Optical Audio out will cause the speakers to stop working. I was in error about the bluetooth on this model.

[LaziDaze]

SamsungLou - Thanks again for your reply. Is this true for all  Samsung TVs or is that feature (or non-feature) only on this model. It sounds like a minor issue but in my case the wireless headphone connectivity is a buy or nobuy issue.  Can you recommend another model or do I have to look at other brands?

[Anonymous]

All of the optical audio connections will perform in the same manner.

[LaziDaze]

Just to update my original post:

I wound up buying the 55" NU8000 Samsung model because of the fact that it has bluetooth, wired LAN input, 4 HDMI ports (one with ARC) and Bixby voice communication as well as just being a better TV.

I paired the TV with a bluetooth headphone and this gave me the needed volume adjustible audio without turning off the TV's speakers. The only problem ws that the bluetooth headphone had the latency lag that I had suspected.

After spending several hours experimenting with different hookups and settings, I discovered a quirk in the TV that solves my problem completely. I discovered that if you push in the Toslink cable only partially in you can get the optical signal without losing the TV speakers.  The plug is in probable about two thirds of the way in and it seems to hit a bit of resistance to get in to go all the way in. There must be some sort of a switch that cuts out the speakers when you push the cable all the way in.  I have the optical cable plugged into a optical to RCA adapter which feeds the Sennhieser RF wireless headphones and all is well.

I don't know if this is just a lucky quirk on my TV or the optical cable itself but I figured I would pass it on to other Samsung owners with the same issue.

[Sendong]

Definitely you can use an RCA to optical adapter. Once you that, just make sure that Digital Output Format on the TV is set to PCM. No need to disable the TV speaker on sound output because optical port is always enabled. However though, you will be needing to adjust the volume of the headphone through the headphone it self.

[LaziDaze · Accepted solution]

Sendong

I got the optical to RCA adapter and it does work. The problem was that when the cable is plugged into the optical output, the speakers are disconnected (as stated by SamsungLou).  This did not achieve what I was trying to do. I wanted the headphones to work as well as the speakers because the headphones are for me (I have impaired hearing) but the speakers must be on at the same time for my wife.  I guess that the Sansung engineers never thought of the possibilty of a need to have headphones working with speakers at the same time.  Maybe they should reconsider and make a change in their future firmware.

But, after much experimenting, I discovered that if you don't plug the optical plug in all the way - you can get the speakers and the headphones to work at the same time.  This works exactly the way I wanted - my wife can adjust the speaker volume to a comfortable level and I can adjust the headphone volume individually by using the volume control on the headphones.  ALL IS GOOD - HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE!!!

[useruVPHX9mbor]

We bought a new Samsung tv.  I am hard of hearing so we also bought Artiste headphones.  We plugged the optical cord into the optical plug and nothing happens.  No sound at all.  We had Sennheiser headphones that worked fine with regular tv but on Netflix and Prime no sound.  Does anyone have any idea what we are doing wrong.