topic Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar in Android TV

Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

alanxce — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 09:32:01 GMT

I have a KD-55X8509C connected to a CT-780 Sound Bar and latest Sky Q box. My wife is hard of hearing and I am at my wits end trying to find a solution that does not involve sub-titles (most programs from catch up and other sources don't have them) so I think headphones seem like the best possible solution.

Unfortunately all my avenues of investigation so far indicate that any way I connect headphones to the equipment results in the loss of sound for the rest of the room. In these days of advanced technology I can't believe there isn't a good solution here.
I am in dialogue with Sony and have had a somewhat confusing response because I have tried their suggestion and it doesn't seem to work unless I am misunderstanding them.

This is the relevant part of their response

" you may use wired headphones to solve the issue, as you may activate the audio speaker link feature that will allow you to control the volume of the TV and the headphones separately."

So, I turn on tv speakers, that loses the soundbar, plug in headphones and get sound through them and lose tv speaker sound. Not a solution at all.

I have been wondering if there is anything coming out of the tv optical sound output and whether you can plug something into it to Bluetooth the signal to some Bluetooth headphones?

Surely it shouldn't be this difficult?

Thanks in advance for any sound advice,
Alan

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

rooobb — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 10:48:22 GMT

This knowledge base do not apply to your tv model, but it should be possible to adjust the headphone volume separately from the speaker one even if by default they are disabled when inserting the headphone jack.

https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/37009/kw/headphone%20and%20speaker%20audio

In your setting/audio menu you should see in any case an option Headphone speaker link that should suite your needs. I'm not sure 100% if it applys also to the external HT

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

Marino.Manolo — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 11:16:47 GMT

Hi @alanxce and @rooobb,

if I understand (my english...):

Settings > Sound > Headphone speaker link
Switches the TV's speaker on/off when headphones are connected.
Inside this category: Off, On

Manolo

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

alanxce — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 11:24:29 GMT

Thanks for the input but I am no further forward. Headphones in, no speaker or sound bar sound. Headphone speaker link option is set to "on" and for some reason I can't change it, not sure it would help anyway.

Can anyone comment on the audio rca output to wireless transmitter headphones idea? I have seen it highlighted as working in other TVs. But without buying all the gear I don't know how to tell if there is anything coming out of that output under normal circumstances.

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

Marino.Manolo — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 11:47:47 GMT

You can't change it when the headphone are unplugged?
RCA Output to Headphone transmitter, normally it work fine...

Manolo

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

alanxce — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 12:53:50 GMT

No, plugged or unplugged makes no difference - headphone link on and can't change it.

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

Marino.Manolo — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 13:13:13 GMT

Strange, You can try a Reboot of Android TV or to restore settings:

How do I perform a (soft) reset or Power cycle on Sony's Android TV?

How do I perform a factory reset on Sony's Android TV?

Manolo

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 17:06:34 GMT

@alanxce wrote:

No, plugged or unplugged makes no difference - headphone link on and can't change it.

Hi there

Forgive me for butting in here. Just reading the problem. The 'Headphone Speaker Link" option is only enabled once headphones have been connected to the TV, via the 3.5mm jack. Reading through your replies, it is not clear to me on how you have connected your headphones.

Can you confirm if your headphones are indeed connected to the standard 3.5mm headphone jack on the TV. Also, do you have a model number of your headphones too?

Cheers

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

alanxce — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 18:31:53 GMT

Thanks for jumping in. I can confirm that i am plugging them into the 3.5mm jack on the side of the tv.

They are only a pair of Sennheiser in the ear phones but I can get sound through them as mentioned earlier, but to the detriment of all other sound from the system.

I have done the soft reset to no effect, not going for the factory reset as I have one of those seemingly rare beasts that haven't required one in 10 months of ownership.

I have a set of wireless headphones arriving tomorrow which have a transmitter that I will plug into the RCA audio outputs to test that avenue out, maybe last chance?

Watch this space.

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

alanxce — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 08:51:31 GMT

Wireless headphones arrived - epic fail.

If I was smart (which I am clearly not) I would have checked the tv for some RCA outputs before ordering something that depends on them. There aren't any and using the 3.5mm jack only presents the same problems as before,

That was last throw of the dice for me, the set clearly isn't compatible with headphones under these circumstances and I have to say I am very disappointed with Sony and their utter lack of support. Do they not have any technical expertise in the area of the TVs they produce?

Needless to say I have no further response from them since I queried their initial comeback.

Thanks to all those who tried to help here, shame we couldn't have arrived at a more positive outcome.

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

Marino.Manolo — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 21:24:36 GMT

The TV doesn't has an RCA Out but is possible to use an adaptor SCART > RCA (SCART available is both IN and OUT).

Sorry for misunderstanding (I thought only it works fine or not and not on the TV connections, connections that I know well).

All because of being too focused in responding in English. For me it's still hard.

But the problem of Jack 3.5 mm remains, a problem that is not normally present.

Manolo

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

alanxce — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 07:36:11 GMT

Thanks for your response Manolo and don't worry your English is great.

I was fortunate to have the a Scart plug/Adaptor to hand which goes into here:

 / AV 1

• Connect with a SCART cable. When you

connect an analogue decoder, the TV

tuner outputs scrambled signals to the

decoder, and the decoder unscrambles

the signals before outputting them.

No signal coming out of it that the wireless transmitter could detect. I was expecting to find the good old fashioned RCA output jacks round the back of the tv somewhere but it seems manufacturers nowadays choose to provide less and less in the pursuit of profit.

What really irrittates me about this problem is the lengths I have to go to as a consumer to prove what Sony tells me is just wrong and ill-informed.

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

Marino.Manolo — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 14:56:01 GMT

Sorry but, are you sure who the adaptor is SCART IN and RCA OUT? Many of adaptor, like old SCART PlayStation adaptor or old Handycam adaptor, is RCA IN and SCART OUT.

AV1 is SCART IN/OUT, for record from DVB-T to an old VHS for exemple. There should be no imitations.

My apologize for all.

Manolo

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

alanxce — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 15:55:50 GMT

Hi, I just got a response from Sony ( see below) that I don't understand but have answered with this...

The wireless connection is base station to headphones.
I have tried connecting the base station to both the headphone socket on the side of the TV and in the rear Scart socket with an adapter like this:
I cannot get an audio signal from either configuration.
The headphones are Thomson WHP3311BK-UK Wireless Headphones and being returned over the weekend as clearly not compatible with the Sony, and I doubt any others are compatible either
Any suggestions apart from taking the tv to the dump and buying one from a manufacturer who cares about their customers?

LATEST RESPONSE FROM SONY.....
"Thank you for your recent reply.

In an attempt to solve the issue for you as soon as possible, we recommend you that the link that you sent in the last email shows how to connect a headphone with a base to your TV not a wireless connection.

Please provide us with the serial number allocated on the back of the device for registration purposes."

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

Marino.Manolo — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 17:32:08 GMT

Have you try both, IN and OUT position? Without an arrow is difficult to choose a right direction.

In Sony maybe don't have understood, they have suggested to plug a cable and not to pair via Wireless?

All of this is very strange (Headphones), I don't have encountered never a case like this (simple maybe) with very late coming solution.

Manolo

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

alanxce — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 17:49:55 GMT

No, and I may have been misleading with that image as the plug I have is not switchable. I just assumed that if I plugged it in then any output would be available to the transmitter, I guess I would have to buy a switchable adapter to be certain but you can imagine my reluctance to proceed any further with little guarantee of success.

UPDATE In the interests of exhausting all avenues I have ordered a switchable unit to try tomorrow. We'll see 🤔

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

Marino.Manolo — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 18:00:36 GMT

Manolo

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

alanxce — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 15:20:17 GMT

Well here we are again and I am sorry to say nothing has changed.

Switchable adapter arrived, installed and set to OUT. The wireless base station connected to it gets no signal. In-ear Sennheisers direct to a 3.5mm socket in a cable to the adapter also has no signal.

I can't find anything logical in the tv settings that would indicate I can switch the output to ON.

I think my work here is done, packing up the headphones for return.

I guess it's sub-titles where available or a very loud sound bar for the foreseeable future.

A big big thank you to all those who tried to help.

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

Marino.Manolo — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 15:27:39 GMT

Last chance, and sorry if you have try (surely), have you set the adapter also to IN?
In this kind of adapter is difficult to have the right direction with IN or OUT.
But all of this is very very strange.

Manolo

Rif.: Using headphones KD-55X8509c and CT780 sound bar

alanxce — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 15:38:21 GMT

Yes, I had to really just in case.

I have come to the conclusion (right or wrong) that with sound bar attached all bets are off on what you might expect from the TV.

Oh well, Samsung OLED when the prices rationalise.