Swapping Headphones and Speakers help?

Hi,

I like to use speakers for listening to music/radio and I like to use headphones when playing games (TF2, Counterstrike, etc). It would be really nice if I could swap between the two easily, but I can't seem to sort this out. Before I moved to Vista I could get a signal to both my speakers and headphones at the same time. However, when I upgraded to Vista x64 I also upgraded my motherboard (to a GA-P35C-DS3R) and it now provides Realtek HD audio. However it seems my case only supports AC97.

What I would like is either:

1. A physical switch to switch between them (preferred)
2. Both playing audio at the same time

I want to buy some Creative Gigaworks T40s to replace my old speakers. Also my old headphones have recently broken so I need to buy new ones. I am looking at some decent gaming headphones - either Medusa 5.1 ProGamer or maybe Sennheiser PC161. (Any better suggestions?). However, the switching thing is the real problem. Considering I am shelling out for new headphones and speakers I don't want to spent a huge amount beyond this - maybe another £50.

So, is there some box I can buy? Would moving away from onboard realtek HD audio help? maybe getting a Creative X-Fi card?

thanks in advance,

Paul

Not sure which country yu are in but in Australia we have electronic stores where you can buy kits to make switches.

A couple of years ago I built a switch for a my headphones but it was either one or the other...it was fun to make.

I'm thinking along the same lines as Clevo - The quickest solution would be to buy a switch from an electronics store for a few bucks (quid, whatever).

A second approach, since your headphones aren't working, would be to buy a USB headset for gaming. Then whether you have extra connections for more speakers becomes a non-issue.

It's hard for me to tell you exactly where it is, but there should be an option to not automatically mute your speakers when you move to headphones. I know that's available with my XFi, but I doubt that's really an exclusive feature.

Try to find something that says "Automatically detect headphones" or something along those lines in your sound options. It might be buried in an advanced settings window somewhere.

I'm not sure about the USB approach. I haven't found any good reviews yet for USB gaming headsets. Are you aware of any? In any event, I would prefer to have things plugged in the whole time and a physical switch. It's really annoying to laod up TF2 and get onto a server just to find that you have sound coming from the wrong place and you have to quit out to reset it.

So right now I am favouring the switch approach. I assume an electronics shop would stock a headphone jack splitter switch? My only question with this approach is if I decided I wanted to buy the Medusa 5.1 headset, where I have to deal with the 5.1 cables - is this still supportable?

Ahhh. I think I have exhausted that. My motherboard manual states that I can only support two outputs if I have a HD audio front panel (which I don't). Can you confirm that the X-Fi cards support a feed to speakers and headphones simultaneously?

cheers

Paul

Well, I'm doing it with a front panel, so I'll have to play with the card when I'm near it and have some time. Hopefully by this afternoon.

If you don't have an option of seperate plugs, you might just want to get a stereo splitter. It'll save you lots of money, and if your goal is to always have simultaneous playback, it should work just fine (some minor quality losses, but nothing big).

Just do it the simple way. Buy 3 Y adapters and have the headphones plugged in at the sametime. I have the Razer Barracuda 5.1 headset plugged into my soundcard at the same time as my speakers. Works just fine. Just turn off the one you don't need at the moment.

They would also play audio at the same time.

Yeah, I think that's the best way. I wasn't able to get a real good reproduction using multiple ports on the back. I can do it on front panel, but if you don't have one, that's not helpful to you. Sorry.