USB Headset and Speakers switch

The problem here is that most switches change which device you're connecting by physically disconnecting one and connecting the other. It's usually not implemented in such a way that two completely different technologies are switched on and off. Bear in mind, your USB headset isn't just a headset plugging into an audio jack, it's a self-contained sound system that connects via USB and exists separately from your existing sound card. Windows will recognize it as a separate card entirely, as well.

I used to use a USB headset myself, until I realized that a. even my Audigy had far better sound output than the DSP on the headset and b. the DSP on the headset had no acceleration for anything at all. And this was a headset with a better DSP than most. IMO, unless your computer suffers from horrendous electronic noise issues, the sound you'll get from a good sound card and a good headset is far better than what you'll get from a great USB headset, and this is looking at it from the standpoint of sound quality alone. Get into things like CPU utilization for everyday audio, and especially into the lack of hardware acceleration for games, and there's just no comparison. The one thing that USB headsets do well with is avoiding electrical noise, and the one nice thing I'll say about all of the USB headsets I've used is that their microphone feeds were always really clean, much cleaner than anything I plug into my Audigy's mic jack.

Anyway, ranting aside, I used to use this: http://www.quicksoundswitch.toflo.de/eng/index.html

It's not a physical button you can press, but it does the job quite well. You can also set it to use hotkeys, and if you have a keyboard, keypad, or other input device with programmable keys, you can just program said keys to use the hotkeys you choose, and use them to switch between different sound devices. It's not a wholly seperate and shiny button you can hit, but it's the next best thing, and it doesn't cost you anything to use.
 
Thanks really cool program works great except that you can't switch while a program is running which isn't terrible
 
Yeah, all it does is switch which sound card is used by default. When a program starts using sound it latches onto the current default and keeps using it unless said card is fully disabled, at which point it just stops playing sound entirely.

Unless your software of choice has the ability to select which exact card to use (uncommon but not unheard of) you just have to deal with the limitations.

IMO, though, it's a lot better than using a physical switch and dealing with the signal loss that results.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top