How do I connect Headphones to my Car Radio?

How do I connect Headphones to my Car Radio?
How do I connect Headphones to my Car Radio?

How do I connect Headphones to my Car Radio?

People are more interested in using headphones in cars instead of watching a show on a car screen or listening to loud music. Some passengers in the vehicle may not like the soundtrack that you are playing in your car.

It also happens when you are in a car with kids, and you have an infotainment system mounted on the headrest of your car seats. Your kids may want to see different shows or programs on the infotainment system, but you can only play one audio on your car speakers.

Here are 4 steps method for connecting wireless headphones to car radio:

  • Step 1: Check the batteries of the headphones
  • Step 2: Choose mode on the car stereo
  • Step 3: Connect your headphones
  • Step 4: Play the track or video

If you play the sound on their infotainment system and do not play on the speakers, it can also be big trouble for you.

How do I connect Headphones to my Car Radio?

You may have seen a variety of casual headphones that can be used on every smartphone using wire.

Wired connectivity is wholly neglected in the case of cars because they create a mess. The use of Bluetooth has become the trend when you are using your smartphone or mp3 player to play music on your car stereo. In this way, you do not have to worry about faulty wire or stuck wire, etc.

So, the car infotainment industry has manufactured every type of device that can facilitate you in every manner. Using headphones in the headrest infotainment system is the best idea and invention for cars.

When you are driving, and the passengers are sitting in the back seat, you do not need to worry about music selection or to operate the car stereo.

The passengers will do that according to their choice.

Usually, there are two types of headphones available in the market. Let us explain to you more about both headphones and how you can connect them in your car.

  • Wired
  • Wireless

Connect Wired headphones to Car Stereo

The wired headphones are the typical headphones that come with a 3.5mm jack. These headphones can be connected with any device that has a 3.5mm jack and supports stereo output through the wire. These are connected directly.

The first step is to locate the headphone jack on the headrest infotainment system. It is typically located on the front side, where the screen is located. If you cannot find it at any place on the front of the infotainment system, you will have to look at the back of it.

There are connections provided on the back or the side of the infotainment system. It contains a USB connection, memory card connection, headphone jack, etc. You will find a headphone jack among all these connections.

When you find the headphone jack, you will have to insert the 3.5mm pin of the headphone into the jack, and you are good to go. In this way, every infotainment system will play different programs, or videos and others will not be bothered by that.

How to Connect Wireless headphones to car radio?

Wireless headphones are trendy in the industry now. People do not even want to buy a headphone with a long wire because they know that it will somehow get damaged or break from inside. People often buy good quality speakers who are wired and end up breaking them in only a few days.

Some headphones come in warranty while some are only claimable on the store, and after buying and using them, the store is not responsible for its malfunctioning.

So, it is always a significant risk of purchasing an expensive wired headphone. There are many reasons why wireless headphones have become an essential need for people nowadays.

The wireless property of the headphones is due to only one technology, which is Bluetooth. Bluetooth is being used in wireless headphone universally to provide compatibility with every device that supports wireless connectivity via Bluetooth. That’s why Bluetooth wireless headphones are top-rated.

When we talk about cars, they do not use Bluetooth headphones to connect with their infotainment system. As the infotainment system or car stereo has a Bluetooth connection option for input, it is difficult for Bluetooth tech to be used for output in-car stereo if you are trying to use a Bluetooth headphone.

There is a solution to that problem too. The infrared technology has been used in car stereo to support the wireless connectivity of infrared headphones. Yes, we know what you are thinking.

There are IR headphones available in the market for that purpose. The infotainment system that is installed on the headrest, or in the dash, can be connected to headphones via infrared technology.

Here is the procedure by which you will be able to connect your IR headphones to your car stereo:

Let us demonstrate the procedure one by one:

Step 1: Check the batteries of headphones:

The wireless headphones always come with a battery. These batteries can either be chargeable or disposable. So, when you are going to connect your headphone with the car stereo, you will have to check if your headphone has a working battery or not.

Usually, there are two types of batteries that are used in wireless or IR headphones. A rechargeable battery, and the battery that cannot be charged.

If your headphone has a rechargeable battery, then it cannot be opened up and checked that if the battery exists in the headphones or not. You will only have to turn on the headphone with a button and check if it turns on.

If the headphones turn on, that means the headphone is charged, and you can use it. If it does not turn on, then you will have to charge it first and later try to turn it on.

The headphones that come with a built-in battery do not take much time to load. They mostly take 30 to 40 minutes to support 3 to 6 hours of battery life.

On the other hand, if the headphone contains the disposable batteries, then you will have to open the cap and see that the batteries are inserted in the headphone or not.

If not, then you will have to add the cells and then turn on the headphones to see if they are working or not. In this way, you can set your headphones on and check your batteries if there is no sound from car stereo.

Step 2: Choose mode on the car stereo

When headphones are powered, and you have to enable your car stereo to create a connection with the headphones, you will have to turn on the IR connectivity in settings. There are two methods for doing this procedure.

If you have a touch screen stereo and onlythe screen controls your stereo, then you will have to go into the settings and see for connectivity.

In the connectivity section, you will find an IR mode. This mode is the IR mode that you are going to use while using your headphones in your car. So, you will have to turn on the IR mode on your car stereo.

When you open the IR option, you will see that the IR mode has other options too. It has two ways which are; channel A and channel B.

You will have to select one of the channels to make it available to connect with the headphones.

Step 3: Connect your headphones to car radio

There are two types of IR headphones; single-channel and a double channel IR headphone. The single-channel IR headphone only supports a single channel infrared, whereas the dual-channel can support two channels.

It does not mean that the headphone will support both channels at the same time. The dual-channel IR headphone will only support one channel at a time.

That means it will play only one channel at a time, but it is capable of performing two channels by switching into each other. So, as the car stereo is in IR mode and you have to select the same channel on the headphones as you chose on the car stereo.

You need a dual-channel IR stereo because you may use two infotainment systems at the headrests of your car, and your kids may want to watch different shows.

So, when you have two different channels to broadcast the audio, you can broadcast two various shows on two channels, and no one will be affected by that. So, you must have a dual-channel IR infotainment system along with dual-channel headphones.

You will need to switch to the corresponding channel on your headphone at which the infotainment system has been changed.

Step 4: Play the track or video

When the car stereo was switched to IR mode, you will notice that it has stopped giving audio output from the speakers. And when you connect your headphones, you will start receiving the audio output from the headphones.

Now, you can play your favorite shows on your infotainment system and listen to them through your headphones.

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