Hi all. My problem is that I want my speakers and my headset both hooked up to my soundcard at once. At the moment this works so-so under windows where I have switched the soundcard setting (I have an old Creative SB live) to 4-speaker mode. The problem with this is that I do not get 2x stereo out of this ... the signal btw. "back" and "front" are somewhat different. I could just run in stereo mode and hook up a splitter cable to the output, but seeing as more often than not the optimal output level for the speakers would be different from that for the headset I'd rather not. So, to make it short: How would I get my soundcard ( / which soundcard) to output 2x exactly the same stereo signal? Is this always a driver thing, as I would also like to get it running under linux. cheers, Martin
You could consider a USB headset - it won't run directly from your soundcard, so if you're a picky audiophile the quality may not be best, but will definitely let you run your speakers at the same time too.
Bilbo you are a genius! I have been having real problems trying to get both speakers and a headset working tonight, i have a front headset port but for some reason the mic was not working with it. I had my speakers plugged into the front of the pc and the headset ( mic and phones) into the back, but it did not look very good. Your solution of a splitter work perfectly, i have volume on both the headset and the speakers. Cheers Rob
with my onboard sound when i plug something in the realtek audio manager dialog pops up asking what it was that i just plugged in. i plug in my speakers, and tell my card they were speakers. then i plug in my headphones and when it asks me what that was i check the headphones box. then i get sound from the speakers and the headphones. update your drivers, install whatever software is supposed to go with your soundcard, maybe it will work this way for you too.
So there's no headphone jack on the speakers? I use my headphones through the amplifier, but that's an av-amp and not what you call PC-speakers..
Headphone amp with line level passthrough? b-tech bt928 costs about £30 and will give you a volume knob on the desk and will make your phones sound nice as an added bonus
Thanks for the comments guys, the real problem was not really with the headphones it was more that the front panel mic was not working, which does seem to be an issue with the P5N32SLI Plus. However with using the splitter route everything can be tucked away around the back of the PC. I have volume controls on both the speakers and the headset so that means I have all the control that I need. The Sennheiser PC161 have a much better sounds balance than the Medusa's that i did have.
