Left and Right separate volume controll

Assistive Listening Devices
#1

I am presently using a Opimus 900MHZ Wireless Headphone system for listening to the TV.
(The Optimus previously sold by Ratio Shack isn’t available anymore)

The receiving side uses a small belt pack and I use ear-butts as headset and that makes it very comfortable to use.

Now what I am looking for is a way to control the volume separately for the right and left channel.
Can anyone point me to a devise for doing that?
On the belt-pack out, it is the standard 3.5 mm stereo mini plug and that would be my preferred place to control the volume for each Chanel.

On the input for the transmitter it has the Right and Left side RCA plugs.

My Audiogram

#2

I googled “in-line independent volume control” and it came up with some alternative headsets. Too many to list here.

#3

Thanks Kretsh,

Doesn’t seem quite as easy, I can find many headphone splitters with independent volume controls for each of two sets of connected headphones, enabling two listeners to hear at different audio levels, but have not found a devise to control one headphone with the option of adjusting the volume for the right or left side independently.

Such a devises would be specialized for listeners with unequal damaged ears. Probably a more specialized market.

I will keep on looking, but was hoping someone was using it already and could give me a lead. I still want to use my ear-butts rather than full sized headphones.

#4

It’s interesting that it takes a sophisticated headset to independently control volume to each ear, while others try to sell “wireless” hearing aids that apply the same volume settings to both sides. Most of us have some difference in degree of loss between ears (mine are fairly similar) and often the environment produces distracting noise from one side or the other, so what possible advantage is there to having wireless linking of the two HA? Even if there are situations where wireless has an advantage, it’s not a big deal to manually make whatever adjustments are needed (possible exception would be for soh impaired dexterity).

#5

soh = I meant to type “someone with” but must have fallen asleep at the keyboard.

#6

I did a Google search for “stereo headphone balancer” and it found a few. They are $50 in price and probably require a 1/4" to 1/8" stereo adapter plug for the headphones.

I can see from your audiogram your problem. If you are technically savvy it’s not too difficult to make a balance control from electronic components. This is something I have done years ago when I needed to add earphone jacks to our TV sets so that I could listen - long before there was Closed Captioning.

#7

Kretsh,

Thanks for that tip. The Behringer would open up all kinds of new ways.

I have in the mean time picked up one of the splitters with volume control on both outlets. I can plug in two ear-butt sets and listen to the right side from one set and the left side from the other set.
This does allow me to control the volume just the way I wanted.

I will take one ear-butt set and cutoff the right butt and connect it to a new connector so it can be inserted in the opposite splitter outlet.

But on the other hand you made me think and I could just build in a Potentiometer in one of the line inputs of the transmitter side.:cool: