After putting your Bluetooth headphones in pairing mode, just follow the onscreen instructions under the Bluetooth settings for your streaming box and you can begin streaming in no time. Streaming video devices like the Apple TV 4K and Amazon's Fire TV Cube also stream audio via Bluetooth. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends Bluetooth through your streaming device Again, you'll also likely need a headphone extension cable, so you can kick back. This will not only allow you to plug in a 3.5mm headphone jack, but also convert the audio output to the correct format for playback in your headphones. For this configuration, you need a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The output looks like a tiny, square-shaped door, often outlined in a bright red light (or fitted with a rubber cap). Newer TVs usually drop analog outputs in favor of a digital optical output. After all, you probably don't want a long cable snaking through the middle of your living room.

This kind of setup is simple and affordable, but not ideal for most scenarios. More commonly, though, older models sport stereo RCA audio jacks, which will require an RCA-to-3.5mm female adapter, like this one from Amazon.

In older TVs, there may be a 3.5mm (standard headphone) output, which makes it simple to plug and play. On the back or side of your TV (or wherever your inputs are), there should be some form of audio output connection. Vladimir Logutenko / 123RF Using a wired adapterĬonnecting via an adapter first requires identifying what kind of audio output your TV has.

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