3.5mm input selector for speakers and speakers

I have a set of headphones with a 3.5mm plug and a set of desktop speakers using 3.5mm. My computer sits under my desk and am currently having to unplug the speakers to plug the headphones in when ready for use.

What I would like to be able to do is use an audio switching device which would allow for me to plug in 2+ devices where I can then select which input I'd like to use. The only problem with this is that the headphones also have its own mic cable so I'm not sure how I could get that down to the PC if using such device which would be sitting up on my desk.

Thoughts?

Does your case not have its own front panel audio, allowing you to plug the speakers into your motherboard (rear I/O panel on back of computer)?

If it doesn't have a front panel you could always buy a splitter which are fairly cheap.

This is probably overkill, but the Soundblaster ZX audio card comes with a headphone pod with built in mic.


They have the soundblaster Z without the pod for a little less (ZX is $100-130).
You can plug both the speakers and headphones/headset in the soundcard and switch with the software.



I have the pod under my screen and plug in my headphones when I use them,



There is also the option to make your headset USB with an adapter like this,
http://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Beach-...d=1419583834&sr=8-10&keywords=usb+audio+input
My Sennheiser headset came with it's own USB adapter like the Turtle Beach one.

You don't have to switch the Mic if you get a 3.5mm A/B switch, just leave the mic plugged in to the PC and the speaker and headphone portion would plug into the swtichbox.

Oh, just ran across this, http://www.amazon.com/Speaker-Heads...id=1419584063&sr=8-2&keywords=3.5mm+ab+switch
does exactly what you want for $17.

The idea with the splitter would work but my speakers and headphones would play at the same time. Although it wouldn't be too difficult to manually turn the volume down on the speakers or turn them off.

As for using the front panel audio, this would work but again it's in an awkward spot under the desk, so I would need to crawl under.

Zepher, thank you very much for all of the helpful info. I'm switching from a USB headset to wired so I may take full advantage of my sound card. The last link you posted is pretty much what I'm looking for, I'll shop around a bit.

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/50-6170

Use it in reverse (plug the input into the output) and pick up some RCA -> 3.5 adapter cables. I've been using these for years.

I used to use an extension cable to deal with this exact issue, now I have amps for each device I have hooked up so I just turn off the ones I'm not using.