I wear Oticon hearing aids and get audio stream directed to the HAs by way of the Oticon TV Adapter (TV3).
Both my TV and the Oticon TV Adapter have Toslink ports which is how TV audio gets to the TV adapter which then passes it along to the hearing aids.
The TV Adapter has a Toslink port on the back as well as Red and White RCA female ports. Those are my options for accepting sound from the projector so it can get passed along to the HAs.
Does anyone know of a projector that can play nicely with the available inputs I have on the back of my TV adapter?
Most projectors seem to use bluetooth for audio out (the TV adapter can’t speak Bluetooth) or have a headphone jack (not sure how I would use that) or have Red / White RCA ports but they seem to be for inputs (not outputs). I also see some S/PDIF out ports but it’s unclear what kind of cable I would use to go from S/PDIF to Toslink or if it’s even possible.
So would I basically be plugging the male mini Toslink into the 3.5mm audio out on the projector and then running a straight through Toslink square cable between the TV Adapter and the other side of the converter?
If the above is correct and I also wanted to redirect sound to external speakers for my wife, could I somehow “split” the solution above or would I need to either use bluetooth or an intermediate device plugged into the projector’s 3.5mm jack that can handle multiple audio out streams?
You can go from the projector S/PDIF out to the Toslink Input on the TV adapter using one of the adapters in the link from the above post.
Going digital to digital gives better sound with Dolby PCM, or Dolby Digital. If using a soundbar or AVR, you’d connect using the Toslink out from the TV Adapter to Toslink input on the soundbar for your wife to hear.
Thanks so much. I ended up buying a cheapish projector that just had standard 3.5mm analog jack. I bought this converter which goes from 3.5mm analog to 3.5mm optical and out to Toslink. https://a.co/d/3csIuld
I’ll try that one first and see how it works. One of the hdmi ports on the projector is hdmi/arc which, I think, offers up better sound possibilities but will try with 3.5mm jack first.
The cheapish projector also has Bluetooth so I’m thinking I can send the sound to a Bluetooth speaker for my wife if native sound isn’t good enough.
If you’re going to use a analog output from your projector, than no use converting it. Just go to the RCA inputs on the TV Adapter.
I doubt if you’ll be able to use both analog, or HDMI, and still get bluetooth to work, but I’ve never tried.
Are you using an AVR, or soundbar for audio?
If your audio device has a toslink input, you may be able to send the output from the adapter to the AVR/soundbar for your wife to hear the audio.
I’m not 100% certain, so it may be trial & error.
I suggest doing a search using the search tool for connecting the TV adapter to get some suggestions, as many have posted about this.
Good luck!
The projectors with Toslink capability all were pretty expensive or had other limitations which is why I went with a cheaper projector with good features (Nexigo PJ40). I realize I’ll be getting analog sound converted to digital in my hearing aids but I’m ok with that. I mainly read captions anyway. I know I could have bought the same adapter with RCA plugs (none on the projector itself), but I figured I’d stick with Toslink.
One reason I got the PJ40 is the native sound from the projector is supposed to be good. So, hopefully I won’t need to improve the sound for my wife with external speakers. I think you’re right I won’t be able to output sound via BT AND and use the 3.5mm audio out simultaneously unless I get an intermediate device like a BT transmitter that can handle both outputs simultaneously. Hopefully the sound is good enough as is.
Thanks again for all your help. Hopefully, this thread will also help other people figuring out how to use projectors with TV adapters and thinking about outputting separate sound for spouses.