AUX passthrough through speakers

[calluM]

Does anyone use desktop speakers and also uses the aux passthrough on your speakers for your headphones? Does the sound quality of the headphones degrade when doing so?

[Eldin]

I hear static on headphones when I plug them into AUX port on speakers

[Supafly]

If the pass through is good then you shouldn't notice anything.

Personally I avoid them for the simple reason I have audio settings for my speakers and settings for my headphones. Using a passthrough your system will continue using settings for speakers and may not sound as good as if you connect the headphones to the system and use settings specific for them.

Main example being simulated surround sound in games. Whether that's simulated by the game, Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos or any other method. Sure you could change these whenever you use the pass through but its much easier to plug the headphones into your PC using the headphone jack and have it automatically switch between devices and settings.

[calluM]

Originally posted by Suicidal Monkey:

If the pass through is good then you shouldn't notice anything.

Personally I avoid them for the simple reason I have audio settings for my speakers and settings for my headphones. Using a passthrough your system will continue using settings for speakers and may not sound as good as if you connect the headphones to the system and use settings specific for them.

Main example being simulated surround sound in games. Whether that's simulated by the game, Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos or any other method. Sure you could change these whenever you use the pass through but its much easier to plug the headphones into your PC using the headphone jack and have it automatically switch between devices and settings.

Oh ok, what would you say the best solution is if not using pass through? I'm trying to avoid using my front headphone port

[Supafly]

Originally posted by calluM:

Oh ok, what would you say the best solution is if not using pass through? I'm trying to avoid using my front headphone port

If you're avoiding using the dedicated port then you'll have no choice but to use the pass through on the speakers. That or manually unplugging speakers from the back of the system and plugging in headphones there. But that will have the same affect as using the pass through in regards to manually switching settings from speakers to headphones. So may aswell use the passthrough.

Why are you avoiding the front headphone jack?

[_I_]

if you want them controlled the same, get a headphone jack splitter
https://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Speaker-and-Headphone-Splitter/dp/B00009WQSR/ref=sr_1_6

*not a headset splitter, those split/combine mic+speaker for use with headsets+mic used on phones

with most boards you can set the rear jacks to anything, mic in//line in/out, speaker for use with 5.1-7.1 analog amplifiers
or have the front jacks set to their own sound card for voip uses

[calluM]

I might buy the logitch G560's based on their reviews and USB connectivity to avoid having to use two 3.5mm cables, but then how would I switch between sound from speakers to headphones? My headphones show up as Speakers (Realtek HD Audio) and I presume the speakers will also. Would the audio just switch to the speakers for as long as the speakers are turned on?

[Supafly]

Originally posted by calluM:

how would I switch between sound from speakers to headphones?

With headphones connected enter Audio devices and make them the Default audio device. Now when they are connected all audio will go through headphones. When you unplug them audio will switch back to speakers automatically. This is the same for headphones that use both 3.5mm jack and USB.

[calluM]

Would using both the Front Speaker out and Rear Speaker out for the headphone and speaker (lets say front speaker out for headphones and rear speaker out for speaker) make it possible to choose the output through windows/realtek software do you know?

[Supafly]

Originally posted by calluM:

Would using both the Front Speaker out and Rear Speaker out for the headphone and speaker (lets say front speaker out for headphones and rear speaker out for speaker) make it possible to choose the output through windows/realtek software do you know?

No front speaker out for front speakers.

Rear for headphones (provided motherboard allows retasking of ports)

Edit: For example if you have a board with Realtek HD Audio Manager just right click the port on the Back panel and select connector retasking.

To get there look in your taskber icons for a speaker icon right click it and select Sound manager. On the right it'll say Analog and below is the back panel ports. Be sure to plug headphones in first or you won't be able to change anything.

[calluM]

Originally posted by Suicidal Monkey:

Originally posted by calluM:

Would using both the Front Speaker out and Rear Speaker out for the headphone and speaker (lets say front speaker out for headphones and rear speaker out for speaker) make it possible to choose the output through windows/realtek software do you know?

No front speaker out for front speakers.

Rear for headphones (provided motherboard allows retasking of ports)

Edit: For example if you have a board with Realtek HD Audio Manager just right click the port on the Back panel and select connector retasking.

To get there look in your taskber icons for a speaker icon right click it and select Sound manager. On the right it'll say Analog and below is the back panel ports. Be sure to plug headphones in first or you won't be able to change anything.

I do have Realtek HD Audio with my built-in audio on my mobo but I don't have the speaker icon you mentioned. I've been using Front Speaker Out for the last few months because when I use Rear Speaker Out, theres no output with the headphones. I did try to fix this previously by reinstalling drivers but that failed.

[Supafly]

Originally posted by calluM:

I do have Realtek HD Audio with my built-in audio on my mobo but I don't have the speaker icon you mentioned. I've been using Front Speaker Out for the last few months because when I use Rear Speaker Out, theres no output with the headphones. I did try to fix this previously by reinstalling drivers but that failed.

Realtek Speaker icon might be in the section that appear when you click the ^ on the taskbar near the clock. The other Speaker icon is for windows wound stuff.

If it isn't there either the drivers and software isn't installed correctly or your motherboard onboard Realtek audio is different from mine. What motherboard do you have?

[calluM]

My motherboards the MSI Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon, it came with the Nahimic software and the Realtek Audio Console.

Edit: If I plug my headphones into rear speaker out I lose all audio and settings and the "Speakers (Realtek HD Audio)" option disappears from the Windows Output tab on the taskbar. If I retask the Rear Speaker Out to Front Speaker Out, it then all works fine again.