A plane seat may have a single 3.5 mm socket or the older two-prong, dual mono socket, and flyers on Reddit say which one you get depends on the plane. You usually cannot find out which one you will get before you board. With a standard stereo socket, headphone writer Geoffrey Morrison notes, you can at least use your own headphones. For the two-prong kind, he calls a cheap airplane adapter the easiest and cheapest way to cover yourself, and for wireless headphones he suggests a Bluetooth transmitter that plugs into the airplane’s audio jack.
One hole or two
Writing in SoundStage! Solo in 2023, Morrison said the two-prong, dual-mono airline connector is still widely in use. He tied it to the age of long-haul aircraft, whose audio wiring may be kept through several refits even when the seatback gets a built-in monitor.
He added that when airlines update the interiors of older aircraft, they usually drop the dual-mono connection for a standard stereo plug, and that shorter domestic flights will probably have a standard 3.5 mm stereo connection.
Flyers in an r/travel thread answered the same question with “it depends on the plane.” One reply said an interior fitted in the last couple of years likely has a single 3.5 mm socket, while an older one, even with a newer screen, likely has dual mono plugs. Another flyer said Finnair’s new business class seats still had only the double mono plug, and the airline did not provide adapters.
Planning ahead does not help much. Morrison wrote that this information is not typically supplied by the airlines, and that aircraft are replaced at the last minute all the time.
What a normal plug does in one of the two holes
One flyer on a Singapore Airlines economy flight from Heathrow wrote that all seats needed a 2-into-1 adapter if you wanted to use your own headphones, and that without one you could only get the left or right channel from either port.
That is the job the adapter does. MEE audio, which sells one for $6.99, says its adapter converts the two (dual mono) airplane mini-plugs into a stereo 3.5 mm mini-jack connection and works with headphones that use a standard 3.5 mm plug.
Wireless earbuds on a seat-back screen
The seat socket is wired, so Bluetooth earbuds need something in between. Morrison suggests an inexpensive Bluetooth transmitter that connects to the airplane’s audio jack and then connects wirelessly to your headphones. He warns that it is easy to get lip-sync issues with Bluetooth, so check reviews before you buy one.
For a two-prong seat, MEE audio says its adapter can be used with a Bluetooth transmitter, sold separately, to stream to AirPods or other Bluetooth headphones. The Singapore Airlines flyer said two family members did exactly that, plugging the adapters into an AirFly Pro and streaming to their AirPods.
Some airlines are starting to offer Bluetooth at the seat, but Morrison wrote that he would not count on your plane having one, or on it working even if it does.
What to pack
- A two-prong adapter. Morrison keeps one in the same case as his noise-canceling headphones.
- A wired pair with a 3.5 mm plug. EARSOLE’s White 3.5 mm Wired Earbuds have a straight 3.5 mm plug.
- A Bluetooth transmitter, if you only travel with wireless earbuds.
- An attenuator, if you use sensitive in-ear monitors. The Singapore Airlines flyer recommended one, writing that IEMs are often very sensitive and the default minimum volume can still be too loud.
For the rest of the bag, our airplane earbud checklist covers fit, battery and crew rules, and should you still buy wired earbuds? lists the other jobs a cable still does.
Do you need an adapter for headphones on a plane?
It depends on the seat, and you usually cannot check in advance. SoundStage! Solo calls a cheap airplane adapter the easiest and cheapest way to cover yourself. One flyer on Reddit said that without one, a normal plug in either of the two holes gave only the left or right channel.
