I have 2 clients now asking for headphones for their systems. Problem? Everything is HDMI. Sure, some devices still have analog outputs ( that could change with a set top box change, etc.)...others still have digital (not new Apple TV though)....a lot have HDMI only. What are others using for headphones in systems where most of the source devices are HDMI?

My first solution is the most simple. Get a set of headphones and plug them into the headphone output on the AVR/Pre-pro. Done. Until they ask if they can have the speakers on as well? In this case, both want that option of course.

Sony built a set of headphones recently, the MDR-DS7500 (MDR-HW700DS in UK looks to be still in production), but seemingly discontinued. They came with a switcher with 3 HDMI ins and 1 out. Then I thought that most receivers have an option to send audio over HDMI to the display. I am not sure if this is an either/or option, or if it will send audio to the TV as well as play it through the speakers. If it worked, either split the HDMI out, or use a second HDMI out if available. Seems like a recipe for disaster to me.

Any other ideas? Or have headphones for modern AV systems gone the way of the dodo bird?

I'd just hookup an HDMI auto extractor or a switch/splitter with 'audio de-embedding' and feed the audio into the headphones directly (optical or analog), HDMI passes through untouched to display or avr. Works great, but depending on what headphones you use they may not be able to decode a Dolby or DTS stream and thus you'd need downmix to 2ch or play with edids.

So I was at one of these clients' homes recently and tried something on the pre/pro. It is an Integra DHC 40.2. It will likely be replaced in the not too distant future, but for now, it might work.

I went into the HDMI setup and told the pre/pro to send audio to the TV. It did so, as I turned the speakers on in the TV and had sound. Sound also played through the speakers as normal.

Soooo.....my thought is that now that I know that I can get audio to the TV as well as through the surround system simultaneously, I should be able to use analog out of the TV to the headphones, right?

Of course, this may not be the case in the Yamaha AVR at the other clients' home, because I believe I have tried the same thing on a Yamaha AVR and when you send audio to the TV, audio ONLY goes to the TV. Not good.

And since we will likely replace the Integra with a Yamaha pre/pro at some point, I may be setting that one up for eventual failure as well.

I have heard of people pairing Bluetooth headphones with some of the Bluetooth enabled AVRs. Is this something I can look into as an option or am I asking for another set of problems?

For TV watching, we use Sony wireless, use a DtoA converter out of the optical output, convert to analog, plug headphones in to that.

Any lip synch issues?

Both want sound from any source....which is a cable box, bluray player, TV apps, Apple TV, etc. So I cannot simply come out of the cable box outputs and call it good. The best solution is still to use the damn headphone jack, but you get people who are deaf and need the volume up to hear, which is way too loud for the non-deaf. So these people want the deaf to wear the headphones and blast it away, while the non-deaf listen normally at a comfortable level.

Maybe the better solution is a pair of fashionable ear muffs for the non-deaf to make the deafening volume levels needed by the deaf less deafening.

We have always used the headphone or audio out from the TV. Any decent display has one or both. Works fine.

I just use an unused zone on the audio matrix

If your ARV has 2 HDMI outs, that would be my go to solution.

or just use something like this:
[Link: amazon.com]

For headphones that would work on modern AV systems, there's http://www.head-fi.org/ or http://www.headphonesunboxed.com/

So with the current receiver plugging in head phones kills speaker out? Sounds like some internal modification is needed.

I haven't tried it, but since most AVRs have an optical out for recording, why not use a small DAC with a headphone jack and set the AVR's Rec Out to 'Source'? Using the volume control won't affect the output and if the headphone amp is located close to the person wearing them, they have control over their level.

What level of quality are they looking for WRT the headphones? Maybe something with BT would work, so they don't need to be tethered.

An update on this:

I installed a set of Sony RF headphones at one of these jobs last week. I set the Yamaha avr to send audio to the TV over HDMI and used the analog output from the TV to feed the headphones.

It worked great and the client is happy.

just did this for a client that uses hearing aids with a BT transmitter setup exactly like this. Worked perfectly.. guy was stoked to be able to hear his new system so well