Now there's noise, now it's quiet

January 13, 2008 2:25 PM

I'm looking for a splitter that will allow me to have my headphones and my speakers plugged into the same port on my PC. Where can I buy one from?

I want a splitter, preferably on a cable, that I can have on my desk, that will allow me to choose whether the sound comes out of a pair of headphones, or the speakers, that are plugged into it. Back in the day, I had a thing that came with my SNES that plugged into the aerial cable, and let you quickly flick between the antenna signal and the SNES signal. That's the sort of thing I'm after. It looked something like this.

It should have a switch on the top so I can easily flick between the two, as I want to leave both the speakers and headphones plugged in permanently. And a long enough cord to reach from the back of the PC onto the desk, so i can get at it easily. Where can I buy one from or what is such a thing called so I can find one when I'm googling? I'd prefer somewhere that will ship to the UK.

posted by Solomon to computers & internet (8 comments total)

Like this?
posted by Admiral Haddock at 2:31 PM on January 13, 2008

Hack: have a total of 3 adapter cables: one to go male phone->RCA male, and two from RCA male->phone female. Then get a standard cheapie RCA A/V switcher. Not the most elegant or cost effective (unless you happen to already have the cables laying around.)
posted by blenderfish at 2:50 PM on January 13, 2008

I've used this headphone/speaker switch before. I'm not sure if they ship to the UK.

If they don't, I can get it & ship to you...
posted by Argyle at 2:54 PM on January 13, 2008

Actually, it sounds a little silly, but I use my ancient Microsoft Sidewinder Game Voice for this exact thing. If you ignore the headphones, "software", and all the buttons, this thing is a pretty good audio switch. You plug your headphones into the unit, and your speakers plug in at the little nubbin near the end the cord. Then the audio parts terminate at your soundcard. A little switch on the side of the pad lets you flip back and forth. Thankfully, the lights will only turn on if you plug in the usb cable (which, you know, don't.)

I paid about $8 for mine, so if you can find one I wouldn't pay much more than that.
posted by tracert at 3:32 PM on January 13, 2008

A similar product to Argyle's recommendation from a UK supplier. I haven't used it myself but I have considered buying one. It's plantronics - maybe not the highest quality supplier in the world, but you're just buying a switch.
posted by muteh at 4:18 PM on January 13, 2008

Plantronics is pretty good quality for audio (usually phone) gear, actually.

But back to the OP... I have speakers plugged into my generic Compaq PC in the back... and a headphone jack in the front panel. When I plug in headphones, the speakers cut out automatically, so there's no need for a switch.

My Macs all do the same thing. I sort of thought all PCs worked this way. No?
posted by rokusan at 5:25 PM on January 13, 2008

It's one of those strange areas where mass market pc's have superior functionality to home built ones. Your answer did remind me that I solved a similar problem by getting a USB headset that I could plug in to a front port - quite limiting though so not ideal.

With a couple less drink I probably wouldn't have said anything bad about plantronics: they make some really good products, I've just heard a couple of bad stories. You get that about every company though.
posted by muteh at 5:42 PM on January 13, 2008

Thanks guys. I found the Plantronics switch on Amazon, so I've decided to buy it from there.
posted by Solomon at 2:08 AM on January 14, 2008