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Trying to connect wireless headphones to a PC

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:02 am
by seahermit
I'm hoping someone can help me with this? I have been given quite a decent pair of large headphones (for watching videos, films etc. since my hearing is on the wane) but the instructions are limited. I connected them by a short cable to the headphone jack (front of the computer) and they worked really nicely, enabled me to comfortably watch an old crackly Italian film.

But I can't get them to work wirelessly. I have a full set of different audio cables which connect the little transmitter to a TV/PC/MP3 player but I am not at all clear which ports on the PC I should be using. On the back panel of the PC there are three ports in a row - red, yellow, blue. I have tried all of those, also used one of the cables to convert the fixed cable on the transmitter into a single plug which I then pushed into the headphone jack on the PC - no joy!

Please, any ideas? I am trying out several film websites but the best one so far is Archive.org - a very good archive of classic films, TV shows from the past etc. Rather more intellectual than catching up on Eastenders!

Re: Trying to connect wireless headphones to a PC

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:24 am
by Richard
Assuming the headphones are Bluetooth-enabled and you have the usb widget attached to a usb port on the computer, no cables are required.

On the computer:

Press the windows logo kbd key plus I together, Devices > Bluetooth & other devices.

Select More Bluetooth options to find more Bluetooth settings.

If you don't see the Bluetooth toggle in Bluetooth & other devices settings, your PC might not have Bluetooth, or it might have Bluetooth hardware that's not recognized.

https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/so ... ngs-error/

Re: Trying to connect wireless headphones to a PC

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 11:38 am
by jimbreeds
You say you plugged them in on a cable. I've yet to see headphones on sale that are both wired and wireless. But if such a thing exists I'd be keen to know about it.

Re: Trying to connect wireless headphones to a PC

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:16 pm
by seahermit
The headphones are not Bluetooth ones - those would be simpler of course and I may end up buying a pair later.

These are labelled as "wireless headphones" (but they can also be connected by a cable to the headphone jack if you want).

I'm not sure what shops you frequent - but these kind of headphones are on sale absolutely everywhere!

Re: Trying to connect wireless headphones to a PC

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:30 pm
by seahermit
The difficulty is getting the right plugs into the right ports on the PC, so that only the small transmitter is plugged into the PC. I myself can listen on the headphones fifty feet away if I wish.

I could try some of the callow youths in PC World or other shops, but I keep ending up realising that I know more than they do ..

In B & Q yesterday I wanted a battery-operated sensor light (to go inside a porch) and was told that "such a thing doesn't exist", they all have to be wired up. Five minutes later I found a whole shelf of them ..

Re: Trying to connect wireless headphones to a PC

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 3:30 pm
by Richard
It sounds like you are missing the 'hub' that the headphones sit on that connects them to your computer via a cable and allows 'wireless' operation.

Re: Trying to connect wireless headphones to a PC

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 5:05 pm
by seahermit
Thanks Richard, but actually you are not understanding the problem!

I have the transmitter (a little 6-inch high device sitting on a base, looks a bit like a cordless phone) which wires up to the PC or the TV. But the insructions are so poor that it is difficult to see which plugs should go into which ports. I'll try it all again later, meanwhile the alternative cable (from headphone to headphone jack) works fine.

Re: Trying to connect wireless headphones to a PC

Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 11:35 pm
by jimbreeds
Well, bluetooth is my only option as my laptop has no audio out ports. I havent seen a bluetooth set that is also wired? But I now get that's different than your ptoblem. Surely your base unit must be designed to plug into your PC's earphone jack socket?

Re: Trying to connect wireless headphones to a PC

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 12:47 am
by seahermit
Thanks for the comments. I've had success of a sort. The TV does not have audio-out ports, so the fixed cables from the headphones transmitter (ending in red and white plugs) have to be combined so as to go into the TV's headphone jack.

The same does indeed work for the PC! I can't see audio-out ports on the PC (or can't identify them) but the transmitter works quite well off the headphone jack.

These are wifi headphones and come also with a cable for direct connection. Wifi does not necessarily mean Bluetooth! The latter may well not ususually have a cable.

All I need now is an internet connection. My Sky broadband goes every ten seconds - tried everything, so phoning them on Monday. (Very little hope of getting through over the weekend!).

Re: Trying to connect wireless headphones to a PC

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 11:42 am
by Richard
At the rear of the computer is a green square which the base-unit jack fits into.

Wires are not needed as the transmitter uses RF signals (radio frequency) to transmit the sound from the base unit to the headphone speakers!