Vista - Playback Devices

My pc has two sets of sound jacks, one at the front and one at the back.
Generally I have my headphones plugged into the front jack and the stereo
plugged into the back ones for the surround experience.

When i was on XP, i could have sound coming from both at the same time -
meaning i could quickly jump between sound sources. On Vista, if i want to
have sounds coming from either of them, i have to set it as the "Default"
device and re-start the application to get sounds from it.

It tells me that 'Speakers' is the rear panel jack and "Headphone" is the
front panel jack and there is no options to change it or select to play from
it. Both devices have 'Use this device' enabled and both work (but only
one at a time) if i select them as default.

Is there a way to tell it to just put the sounds through ALL the listed
devices or two or three at once?

Thanks!!

James.

If this worked OK on XP, but doesn't work on Vista, then it is likely a
driver issue with the sound card. Check the manufacturers website for Vista
compatible drivers.

--

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User


"Cy!on" <James@DONTmourby.USETHISco.BITuk> wrote in message
news:193515EB-12BA-496B-AF00-2BBB9E6387FA@microsoft.com...
> My pc has two sets of sound jacks, one at the front and one at the back.
> Generally I have my headphones plugged into the front jack and the stereo
> plugged into the back ones for the surround experience.
>
> When i was on XP, i could have sound coming from both at the same time -
> meaning i could quickly jump between sound sources. On Vista, if i want
> to have sounds coming from either of them, i have to set it as the
> "Default" device and re-start the application to get sounds from it.
>
> It tells me that 'Speakers' is the rear panel jack and "Headphone" is the
> front panel jack and there is no options to change it or select to play
> from it. Both devices have 'Use this device' enabled and both work (but
> only one at a time) if i select them as default.
>
> Is there a way to tell it to just put the sounds through ALL the listed
> devices or two or three at once?
>
> Thanks!!
>
> James.

Sadly...this appears to be a Vista limitation.

Here is another link I've found dealing with the issue; the number of "me
too" comments listed below it are indicative of a widespread bug or design
issue.

http://www.gadgetophile.com/vista-au...agement-sucky/

If anyone figures out a way to send signal to multiple devices, please post
here, otherwise it seems that you have to go into control panel and change
the default whenever you want to switch from speakers to headphones or the
reverse.

"Ronnie Vernon MVP" wrote:

> If this worked OK on XP, but doesn't work on Vista, then it is likely a
> driver issue with the sound card. Check the manufacturers website for Vista
> compatible drivers.
>
> --
>
> Ronnie Vernon
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Cy!on" <James@DONTmourby.USETHISco.BITuk> wrote in message
> news:193515EB-12BA-496B-AF00-2BBB9E6387FA@microsoft.com...
> > My pc has two sets of sound jacks, one at the front and one at the back.
> > Generally I have my headphones plugged into the front jack and the stereo
> > plugged into the back ones for the surround experience.
> >
> > When i was on XP, i could have sound coming from both at the same time -
> > meaning i could quickly jump between sound sources. On Vista, if i want
> > to have sounds coming from either of them, i have to set it as the
> > "Default" device and re-start the application to get sounds from it.
> >
> > It tells me that 'Speakers' is the rear panel jack and "Headphone" is the
> > front panel jack and there is no options to change it or select to play
> > from it. Both devices have 'Use this device' enabled and both work (but
> > only one at a time) if i select them as default.
> >
> > Is there a way to tell it to just put the sounds through ALL the listed
> > devices or two or three at once?
> >
> > Thanks!!
> >
> > James.
>