I became interested in making my television able to output its audio to a Bluetooth speaker. I wanted to be able to watch TV without disturbing a sleeping baby or hearing the show over other noises, such as cooking, without blaring the volume. Just bringing the sound closer and more directional would be sufficient to reduce the ambient volume.
The connection could be either to wireless headphones or a wireless speaker. Fortunately, I have some great headphones and speakers already available. While Bluetooth 5 will increase the range of Bluetooth, the current 33 feet of Bluetooth would be sufficient to reach across the room.
In order to get the TV to broadcast the audio over Bluetooth, I would need to get a transmitter. There were plenty of options for receivers or “Bluetooth adapters” for speakers but fewer available for transmitters. Searching a few local stores and Amazon, I found the Miccus Home RTX Mini on Amazon.com. It arrived yesterday and in short order I had it connected.
The package looked better in person than it came across online. I was afraid of receiving a cheap, plastic device but the packaging and the transmitter were both nice.
The nice thing about the Miccus Home RTX Mini is that it can be used as both a Bluetooth transmitter or a receiver. This makes it rather versatile to have around the house.
Unboxing the device, it includes an optical audio cable, which can work to connect to either the TV in TX mode or to speakers in RX mode. You can also use a 3.5mm speaker cable which is common enough, though not included. Additionally, you have the device itself, a user guide, velcro to fasten it discretely behind your TV, and a USB to micro USB cable in order to provide the power.
The front of the device is simple with the power switch and LEDs to indicate a Bluetooth connection paired or attempting to pair and whether it is using optical or aux for the audio source.
The back side of the device includes the port for micro USB power, optical in, aux in, optical out, and aux out. There is also a switch to change between transmit and receive mode. If you change modes, you have to power off the device and turn it back on.
Once I made the connections behind the TV, I just had to pair my speaker. This took a few attempts but I eventually got the devices to talk to each other by pressing each devices pairing button. For the transmitter, this is done by using the on/off power switch and sliding it to the far right. The switch is spring-loaded and returns to ‘on’ once the pairing mode is activated and the Bluetooth light begins flashing. Once a pair is established, the light stays solid.
I was able to connect the transmitter to a USB port on the back of my TV for its power source. This is energy efficient in that it turns off the transmitter when the TV is turned off. Conveniently, it and the speaker remembered its pairing when the television was turned back on. I used the included optical audio cable to connect the transmitter and the audio coming from the speaker has been perfectly clear. There has been no static that reviews of other wireless speaker solutions mentioned.
My TV still output the audio from its built-in speakers but I was able to adjust the volume up or down as needed. The volume of the Bluetooth speaker is independent and I can adjust it within the device’s full range. I have seen many mentions of using a solution like this to add headphones or a closer speaker to a person that is hard of hearing. This way the rest of the viewers are able to listen to the TV at a comfortable volume while the individual is able to adjust their volume as needed with less impact on the others.
Overall, I am content with the size and functionality of the transmitter. I think my next step will be to find a Bluetooth speaker (or receiver and an existing speaker) that I am happy to leave paired with this transmitter. If you have a similar need to adapt your TV’s audio (or other optical or aux source) to Bluetooth, I can happily recommend the Miccus Home RTX Mini which I found on Amazon.com.