Quick Headphone to Speaker switch

[fustercluck]

My Mother wants to be able to switch between her headphones and her speakers easily on her computer. I would also like to be able to do that on my computer come to think of it. What are my options? I assume i have to buy a little something.

It's annoying to have to have to reach around the back of my computer case, unplug my headphones and put in the speaker plug, and vice versa. It wouldn't be so bad if i didn't have a bad connection to my soundcard, unless a plug is in there just right, i will only get sound from the left side of the headphones/speaker. So i want to be able to switch quickly back and forth between headphones and speakers. Should be easy to do, right?

 

[supastar1568]

hmmm

well on my computer my speakers stay working with the headphones plugged in. So i can use the front audio port for the headphones, and just leave them plugged in, and the speakers will not be affected

 

[Aluvus]

Radioshack has apparently discontinued a product that does exactly this. When I went to one that was closing, they had literally dozens of the things. Radioshack has another one now that can do what you want and also switch between two input sources; it's a bit bigger, and maybe costs a bit more.

Other companies have similar products. They're all really just a 3PDT switch and 2 ports in a nice box.

 

[fustercluck]

Originally posted by: supastar1568
hmmm

well on my computer my speakers stay working with the headphones plugged in. So i can use the front audio port for the headphones, and just leave them plugged in, and the speakers will not be affected

So if you wanted you could hear out of your headphones and speakers at the same time?

IIRC i used to be able to do exactly that, i'll have to fool around with the ports on my Audigy 2 ZS. Even if i can do it on here i'd probably still need one for my Mother's computer, I don't know what kind of soundcard is in that old thing. Edit: I can't get my speakers to work in any other port besides the one my headphones are using, so it seems to be one or the other. The speakers react when i plug them in the different ports, but no audio or anything comes through.

 

[0roo0roo]

get speakers with headphone plug
or just buy 3.5mm wire extention to bring the connector to the front so u can swap between stuff without the big hassle.

meh i'm just happy with my old santa cruz soundcard. it has a dedicated versa jack(headphone jack). switch to it using their volume control program replacement thingy. convenient.

 

[dfuze]

I don't know what kind of computer you have, but my case has headphone and speaker jacks in the front. I attatched the plugs to the header on my motherboard (no sound card). I use my speakers as normal and when I want to use my headphones, I plug them into the front of my case, which automaticly shuts off the sound to the speakers. My Creative speakers also have a volume controller, which also has a port for me to plug in my headphones to do the same thing if I want.

 

[corkyg]

A-B

 

[broly8877]

Why not just get a mini-jack splitter and have both connected?
Turn off the speakers when you use the headphones.

 

[0roo0roo]

i dont thnk splitter works that well, something electrically funky, someone else can explain. it might mess with volume.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
i dont thnk splitter works that well, something electrically funky, someone else can explain. it might mess with volume.

Impedance mismatch. If the impedance of the attached device is not equal to the expected impedance, the output power will be lowered. Even if both speakers and headphones are the same impedance, you will get half the output power. Of course, your speakers are amped, so you might be able to just crank them more.

 

[fustercluck]

Thanks for the info.

Anyone out there know if the Audigy 2 ZS can have both headphones and speakers plugged in at the same time? I swear i used to be able to do it. They were both in at the same time, and both working fine, except i had to turn up my stereo pretty loud to actually hear anything, maybe due to the equal expected impedance thingy. I think I should be able to still do it though without having to buy something.

 

[RebateMonger]

I always put "Y" splitters on my audio outputs on my sound cards. I attach the speaker system to one leg and headphones to the other leg. That way, the headphones are always on and the speakers can be turned on/off with their power switch. I've had zero problems with this setup, using SoundBlaster boards and onboard sound chips.

Headphones typically have REALLY high impedance and really shouldn't affect the audio output. If you can't get enough volume, get a headset with a built-in volume adjustment (on the cable) and then set the sound card output level, the speaker level, and the headset level until they are all compatible.