Forum Discussion

wobbie's avatar
wobbie
Channel Surfer
2 years ago

will wireless rf headphones work with roku express

i use wireless radio frequency [rf] headphones to connect with my vizio tv.  when i had cable i could leave the headphones plugged into the back of the tv and have sound come from the tv speakers unless i turned on the headphones and put them on.  now that i disconnected the cable and installed a roku express i have to plug in the headphones to use them and when i want to use the tv speakers i have to unplug the headphones.  the tv is hung on the wall and there is little clearance to plug or unplug anything and i have to do it by feel as i can't look back there unless i take the tv off of the wall.  is that the way it has to be, plug them in every time i want to use them and unplug them when i'm finished?  when they are plugged in there is no sound coming out of the tv speakers.  i just got those headphones a few months ago and don't want to have to figure out a new way.

  • RokuJechealR's avatar
    RokuJechealR
    Retired Moderator
    2 years ago

    Hi wobbie,

    Thanks for posting in the Roku Community!

    We understand you have a query about using your wireless radio frequency headphones. Please be advised that using headphones on Roku devices depends on their compatibility.

    You can check our Support articles for further references: How to use Bluetooth headphones for private listening on your Roku streaming device.

    Let us know if there's anything else we can further assist you with aside from this.
    All the best,

    Chel

    • wobbie's avatar
      wobbie
      Channel Surfer
      2 years ago

      well i appreciate your reply but you didn't at all answer my question.  you referred me to bluetooth info for rf headphones.  none of that applies.  why does the installation of the roku express on my vizio tv now mean that i have to plug and unplug the rf headphones in the back of the tv each time i want to use them?   when i had cable i could leave them plugged in all the time and just lift them out of the charger and turn them on.  what is it about the roku that changes the audio?

  • atc98092's avatar
    atc98092
    Community Streaming Expert
    2 years ago

    First, no your wireless headphones will not connect to your Roku Express. There are a couple of Roku players that support connecting headphones via Bluetooth, such as the Ultra and the Streambars. But none of the other Roku players will do so.

    And even with those players, using them will disconnect the audio being sent to the TV, so you will only get audio from the headphones. There's no way to get audio from both devices at the same time. 

    I don't know why your Vizio TV is working any differently with the audio from the Roku compared to a cable box. Even if you didn't use a cable box, and only used the TV tuner for your cable channels, that would have no impact on your TV's audio output. Whatever you were doing with the cable source should be working exactly the same with any other source, regardless if it's a Roku or some other streaming device. None of them would alter the way the TV audio is handled. 

    Also, your wireless headphones are very likely using Bluetooth as the RF protocol. They are all wireless, just using different protocols. If your headphones were something other than Bluetooth, you would have to plug something directly into your TV to receive the audio. I realize you mentioned plugging something in, but that doesn't mean your headphones are not Bluetooth.