Need help connecting headphones and speakers for multipurpose use.

[AJXD]

Hello everyone. Hope this is the right place to post this. I've been using my gaming monitor for home theater use for a while now. I don't have a TV or even any room for it. My gaming monitor [Asus VG248QE] is plugged in to my PC and my PS3.

 

 

I now use my PS3 mostly to watch movies on DVD or Blu-Ray. Since the PS3 is connected to my monitor via HDMI the sound comes out of my monitors speakers. The speakers aren't that great so I just use my ATH-M50X via a 3.5 mm cable to watch movies.

 

 

What I want to do is have my headphones and speakers (both use a 3.5 mm audio jack) somehow connected to the monitor and the PC at the same time so that the sound would work both on PC and PS3 without having to unplug and re-plug any cables. My PC is off when the PS3 is in use and vice versa. I do plan on getting a Nintendo Switch in a couple of months so that is why I need both my speakers and headphones connected to my monitor. Also since my monitor only has 1 HDMI input I will also need a way to connect my PS3 and Nintendo Switch at the same time while also having the audio work on all systems without unplugging or re-plugging any cables. Thanks for the help in advance.

[TheFlyingTraut]

Get a little HDMI switch to switch between sources. You're not going to be able to get dual sound (with any sort of functionality) to do both at once, that is a whole jumble of mixed signals. Acquire some small desktop speakers for your second source.

[AJXD]

4 hours ago, TheFlyingTraut said:

Get a little HDMI switch to switch between sources. You're not going to be able to get dual sound (with any sort of functionality) to do both at once, that is a whole jumble of mixed signals. Acquire some small desktop speakers for your second source.

Have any recommendations for an HDMI switch? Will need to only connect 2 systems.

 

As for the dual sound I think it might be possible. I recently tried doing it by just connecting my headphones and speakers to my monitor which is plugged to my PC via DisplayPort which also transfers audio. Haven't tested it much but it did work. There was some audio quality loss.

 

What I am planning to try is using a 3.5 mm audio jack splitter. Plugging my headphones and speakers into it and then the male leads go to my PC and my monitor. It's a cheap splitter so it might be worth a try. Any thoughts?

 

[TheFlyingTraut]

You're going to hear a lot of confusing audio. If I'm watching a movie, I do have a tv above my monitor, but I just remove one side of the headphones from one ear and just listen to the tv.

 

It will work, just be a lot going on.

[AJXD]

36 minutes ago, TheFlyingTraut said:

You're going to hear a lot of confusing audio. If I'm watching a movie, I do have a tv above my monitor, but I just remove one side of the headphones from one ear and just listen to the tv.

 

It will work, just be a lot going on.

What do you mean by confusing audio? When I'm using my PC or PS3 the other is off. My speakers also have a volume slider so audio should be coming only from one source.

[JZStudios]

So... trying to map this out in my head...

PS3>HDMI>Monitor>3.5>headphones?

Same for the PC? And you want to connect the speakers at the same time? If that's the case, just a 3.5 splitter is probably your easiest bet, but it does mean your headphones and speakers will be playing at the same time all the time. Although Monster has a 3.5 audio splitter with individual volume sliders, so I guess that could solve that issue.

 

You could get an HDMI splitter, but it wouldn't really help you switch from headphones to speakers. Maybe there's a 3.5 splitter with just a simple toggle button. Or if you know how to solder at all you could make your own pretty easy.

Edit, this appears to be a thing, but it's kind of big and I don't know about the quality. https://www.amazon.com/STEREO-Manual-Speaker-selector-available/dp/B073GWCRP3

[AJXD]

11 hours ago, JZStudios said:

So... trying to map this out in my head...

PS3>HDMI>Monitor>3.5>headphones?

Same for the PC? And you want to connect the speakers at the same time? If that's the case, just a 3.5 splitter is probably your easiest bet, but it does mean your headphones and speakers will be playing at the same time all the time. Although Monster has a 3.5 audio splitter with individual volume sliders, so I guess that could solve that issue.

 

You could get an HDMI splitter, but it wouldn't really help you switch from headphones to speakers. Maybe there's a 3.5 splitter with just a simple toggle button. Or if you know how to solder at all you could make your own pretty easy.

Edit, this appears to be a thing, but it's kind of big and I don't know about the quality. https://www.amazon.com/STEREO-Manual-Speaker-selector-available/dp/B073GWCRP3

My headphones and speakers are now plugged into my PC via a 3.5 mm jack. I can watch movies on my PS3 only by plugging my headphones into the monitor. My speakers have a volume slider so them all playing at the same time isn't a problem. I have just ordered a 5-way audio splitter which I think will be enough. Example: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-F8Z274BTBLK-Rockstar-Splitter-Headphone/dp/B00E9W11QM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1536824910&sr=8-4&keywords=5+way+audio+splitter

[JZStudios]

3 minutes ago, AJXD said:

My headphones and speakers are now plugged into my PC via a 3.5 mm jack. I can watch movies on my PS3 only by plugging my headphones into the monitor. My speakers have a volume slider so them all playing at the same time isn't a problem. I have just ordered a 5-way audio splitter which I think will be enough. Example: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-F8Z274BTBLK-Rockstar-Splitter-Headphone/dp/B00E9W11QM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1536824910&sr=8-4&keywords=5+way+audio+splitter

Yeah, that should work. I know that I get a bit annoyed if my headphones are playing at the same time as my speakers because I can hear it and makes me think I'm going crazy and my ears are messed up.