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Going on a Flight w/ an iPad Projector and 4 Kids; Best Audio Solution for In-Flight Sound?

HappyDude20

HappyDude20

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
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Los Angeles, Ca
I’m attaching a photo of a screen projector I have that allows me to project the image onto a wall from my iPad screen. It’s a great device but I do not know how to solve the audio portion when it comes to playing a movie, as I’m going on a long 5 hour flight with 4 kids.

They’ll all be looking at the projection which solves the video part but I don’t think an iPad (or any iOS device) can support more than 1 Bluetooth headphones.

I have 4 kids on this flight and want them to each have their own audio. Two of them have wireless beats and I have AirPods that I can lend to one of the other ones. The fourth has aired apple earphones but I would get him Bluetooth earphones if iOS could connect to all their listening devices wirelessly.
[doublepost=1544458890][/doublepost]Photographs:
 

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HappyDude20 said:
I’m attaching a photo of a screen projector I have that allows me to project the image onto a wall from my iPad screen. It’s a great device but I do not know how to solve the audio portion when it comes to playing a movie, as I’m going on a long 5 hour flight with 4 kids.

They’ll all be looking at the projection which solves the video part but I don’t think an iPad (or any iOS device) can support more than 1 Bluetooth headphones.

I have 4 kids on this flight and want them to each have their own audio. Two of them have wireless beats and I have AirPods that I can lend to one of the other ones. The fourth has aired apple earphones but I would get him Bluetooth earphones if iOS could connect to all their listening devices wirelessly.
[doublepost=1544458890][/doublepost]Photographs:
Click to expand...
Out of curiosity, how do the projector photos fit into this?
 
C DM said:
Out of curiosity, how do the projector photos fit into this?
Click to expand...

The flight we are on does not have any on board media so I am taking this device with me on the flight and projecting it to the wall in front of us (we chose our seats purposely so we have a wall in front of us). The projector will be connected to my iPad and I want the kids to be able to listen to any movie I play within iTunes or (downloaded) NetFlix movies.
 
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HappyDude20 said:
The flight we are on does not have any on board media so I am taking this device with me on the flight and projecting it to the wall in front of us (we chose our seats purposely so we have a wall in front of us). The projector will be connected to my iPad and I want the kids to be able to listen to any movie I play within iTunes or (downloaded) NetFlix movies.
Click to expand...
I certainly get all that. Just wasn't sure how the pictures of the projector fit in with the question of how to have more people listening to the same source off of an iPad.
 
C DM said:
I certainly get all that. Just wasn't sure how the pictures of the projector fit in with the question of how to have more people listening to the same source off of an iPad.
Click to expand...

Totally understand. I’m asking how my iOS device can support more than one Bluetooth headphone for each of the kids at the same time. I’ve never been able to connect more than one Wireless Beats headphones at a time.

I don’t even think I can connect multiple AirPods to the same iPad at any one given time.
 
Upon doing some research the past hour I’m seeing that only solution when it comes to multiple Bluetooth headphones is to purchase a Bluetooth splitter, that allows up to 2 connections maximum and this will attach to the iPad and then the wireless Bluetooth headphones connect wirelessly to the Bluetooth splitter. I’m seeing that audio quality is good but not great.

This is where I’m at with this right now.
 
Just a suggestion, but you could go wired with the 3.5mm jack and use a audio splitter. Get your kids each a pair of wired headphones instead.
 
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Enclavean said:
Just a suggestion, but you could go wired with the 3.5mm jack and use a audio splitter. Get your kids each a pair of wired headphones instead.
Click to expand...

Yes it’s beginning to look like I may have to go that route.

Is there a limit as to how many headphones can be connected at any one given time? 4 for the kids would be great, 6 ideal for my fiancé and myself.
 
HappyDude20 said:
Yes it’s beginning to look like I may have to go that route.

Is there a limit as to how many headphones can be connected at any one given time? 4 for the kids would be great, 6 ideal for my fiancé and myself.
Click to expand...

Personally I have no idea, but a quick google search found that there are splitters advertised for iPhone use with that many connections.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Yescom-6...ect-Cable-For-iPod-iPhone-MP3-Black/144006506

Maybe you could try looking up some splitters on Amazon and searching “iPad” through the reviews, someone would probably have complained if they didn’t work.
 
Wouldn't it be easier, and possibly no more expensive, to buy a tablet for each child? Kindle Fires are very cheap, easy to use, and not difficult to get the Play Services on to, so you have access to all the Android apps, meaning you'd only miss out on iTunes downloads. If you plan it around Black Friday, or Prime Day, or any of the dozens of sales each year, it could cost as little as $100 all in (though the larger
more expensive tablets are better).

I don't know how old your kids are, but I'm the third of four, two years apart, and when I was 6, I didn't want to watch the same thing as my 10 year old sister.
 
rbrian said:
Wouldn't it be easier, and possibly no more expensive, to buy a tablet for each child? Kindle Fires are very cheap, easy to use, and not difficult to get the Play Services on to, so you have access to all the Android apps, meaning you'd only miss out on iTunes downloads. If you plan it around Black Friday, or Prime Day, or any of the dozens of sales each year, it could cost as little as $100 all in (though the larger
more expensive tablets are better).

I don't know how old your kids are, but I'm the third of four, two years apart, and when I was 6, I didn't want to watch the same thing as my 10 year old sister.
Click to expand...

Best Buy has Amazon tablets on one of those bins where you find DVDs for dirt cheap at $49 for each tablet. I checked it out and definitely not a bad price and I’m sure the kids wouldn’t need anything faster but I really don’t like not want them using devices that aren’t apple. What sucks is that one of the kids wants a Galaxy phone instead of his perfectly capable iPhone 7 for Christmas.

Anyhow, I think the best solution is to get the 5 way headphone splitter. $8 for that and $10 for each headphone. I think I’ll go that route.

I want them to have iOS devices cause then I can more easily trouble shoot if they have issues and can easily FaceTime and even use the find my friends feature should it be necessary.

I’m just not a fan of devices outside of apple. I’m sure and I know Android has come around the past couple of years but my last android device was in 2010 and hated experience to the point I reduced my time spent on YouTube and web browsing.
 
Ok I can see you maybe getting 4 seats next to each other that could see a shared wall if you were on a long haul flight (much longer than 5 hours unless it is a flight you are joining after a stop) but how do you expect to get 6 such seats? Also be prepared for people getting annoyed and you getting asked to turn the projector off that is if it is even dark enough on the plane to see the projected image and you have enough room to throw the projection. This seems doomed to failure.
 
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Apple devices are certainly smoother. I changed my iPhone 7 for a Galaxy S9, and though the Samsung screen is much better, and I like being able to upgrade the storage for pennies with an SD card, it isn't better in any other way. However, it is nearly as good, and for half the price of a new iPhone, that's good enough.

I'm sure you know there are eleventy billion or so video calling apps, with FaceTime being the only one that isn't cross platform, and alternatives to Find Friends too. I use Duo, WhatsApp, and Google Maps location sharing.
 
HappyDude20 said:
The flight we are on does not have any on board media so I am taking this device with me on the flight and projecting it to the wall in front of us (we chose our seats purposely so we have a wall in front of us). The projector will be connected to my iPad and I want the kids to be able to listen to any movie I play within iTunes or (downloaded) NetFlix movies.
Click to expand...

Just curious - have you done this on a plane before? I can't imagine the crew would allow it. Also the light from the projector would be a bit of an annoyance to other passengers, no?
 
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E3BK said:
Just curious - have you done this on a plane before? I can't imagine the crew would allow it. Also the light from the projector would be a bit of an annoyance to other passengers, no?
Click to expand...

Once before, with only my girl and I. We watched episodes of Friends and it was a daytime 2 hour flight and no one looked bothered by it. We used headphones the entire time and some guy snoring a few rows back was the annoying thing on that flight. Also some people had their windows open which was bright where the image wasn’t as bright as it could’ve been.

The kids will most likely watch old X-Men or Batman cartoons on this flight.
 
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HappyDude20 said:
I. Did. Not. Know. Google Maps. Had. A. Sharing. Feature.


THANK YOU.
Click to expand...

You're welcome! It's in the hamburger menu (3 lines at top left). It wasn't always there, so if you haven't used it in a few years, it's not surprising you didn't know. I only discovered it when I was looking for Latitude, which was Google's Find my Friends competitor until it was shut down, and the functionality rolled into Maps.
 
Wait. So you'll have your own personal projector on the plane and (up to) 6 headphone wires strung off of an Ipad going to 2 rows of seats possibly across the aisle? Good luck with that. Airlines will rent an Ipad (loaded with shows and movies) to you for $10/flight. (b) You could also buy super cheap Android tablets from a refurb store pretty cheaply as well ( you probably don't need 1 per kid, they can share ) (c) buy a paperback book or comics
 
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Of course, one potentially big issue with all of these is volume; they all use the single volume control in the iPad. Since different headphones will deliver different audio levels at any one volume setting, volume will likely be uneven across the different listeners.

Also, there is no provision for individual preferences. With virtually all modern headphones the volume control on the phones is merely a remote control for the device's volume setting. They likely won't work at all with the splitter+transmitters method and if they work with the wired splitter arrangement a volume change on one will probably change it for all.
 
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