Speaker Cutoff for Headphone Use?

[Guardian]

How would I go about hooking up a set of headphones and my speakers at the saem time? I have a SB Live!X-Gamer card with 5.1 speaker system. I want to have the option of listening to the sound through the speakers or headset but not both at the same time.

Thanks

[Greedo]

hey guardian
i don't know much about those fancy 5.1 systems,
but your best bet is probably speakers that have a headphone jack
they probably would cut out the speaker output
otherwise check radio shack or best buy for some kind of audio line switch

[Guardian]

Thanks, at least I got somebody to reply.

The 5.1 speakers aren't anything fancy, bought them for $99 at Best Buy. They just give you a center speaker and a subwoofer, but in combination with my SB Live! card they're really loud! The wife wants me to keep turning them down. That defeats the purpose of having a great sound system!

[pam123]

but I live in a big city building ( read tissue paper walls ) and I have another suggestion you might want to try. This involves a lot of crawling around but it does work. What you need to do is find the "sweet spot" where all that three dimensional sound will meet and then limit it to your chair. By focusing the sound, the bleed ( if I have that right ) is controlled so your family gets the quiet it needs and you , in your sound cocoon, can rock on.
The November issue of MaximumPC has a good article on the proper placing of multiple speakers and is good place to start. Hope this helps.

[Guardian]

Thanks, pma123. I've pretty much tweaked the speakers making sure they are balanced and in phase. I've got the "sweet spot" hitting me in the head right with me setting in front of the PC. I haven't had any of the bad guys sneeking up on me from behind in some of the games I play, I hear'em coming pretty well. Still, I get complaints! Course' I could be just deaf and don't know it yet!

Thanks for the comment.

[11290]

For What It's Worth, I use a "Y" connector plugged into the sound card, then plug the speakers into one side of the "Y" and an extension cable into the other side. When I want headphones, I just plug them into the extension cable.

[Guardian]

11290, thanks for the reply. When you plug in the headphones does this cut off the speakers?

[archie]

It shouldn't cut the sound on the speakers ... the volume on the speaker could be lowered.

[RayH]

I guess most people use a power strip to power their computer and peripherals. I have a version of it that sits on my desk under the monitor. Anyway, it's fairly easy for me to cut the power to individual devices I don't particularly need running, like my printer, scanner, and oh yes, speakers.