How to separate speakers from headphones

It is the onboard sound solution that shows up in Playback devices not your headphones or speakers. Both the headphones and speakers use the same solution.

You can set the Realtek software to disable the sound to the speakers when you plug in your headphones, or just disable auto-detection and turn your speakers off manually then plug in your headphones.

photonboy said:

It is the onboard sound solution that shows up in Playback devices not your headphones or speakers. Both the headphones and speakers use the same solution.

You can set the Realtek software to disable the sound to the speakers when you plug in your headphones, or just disable auto-detection and turn your speakers off manually then plug in your headphones.

Yes, I'm trying to set it to disable the sound from the speakers when I plug headphones, but I can't figure out how to do it.
I turned on the option "Mute the rear output device when a front headphone is plugged in" - there's no difference. They both play at the same time.

mcmarto said:

photonboy said:

It is the onboard sound solution that shows up in Playback devices not your headphones or speakers. Both the headphones and speakers use the same solution.

You can set the Realtek software to disable the sound to the speakers when you plug in your headphones, or just disable auto-detection and turn your speakers off manually then plug in your headphones.

Yes, I'm trying to set it to disable the sound from the speakers when I plug headphones, but I can't figure out how to do it.
I turned on the option "Mute the rear output device when a front headphone is plugged in" - there's no difference. They both play at the same time.

Then there is some glitch with your software. You could try getting the latest software direct from the Realtek site. http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#High%20Definition%20Audio%20Codecs

Delete the orignal, reboot and install these.

If you can't get it to switch using the Realtek software then I don't know what the issue as it sounds like you did it correctly.

If that all fails, then simply turn your speakers off. I recommend you do that anyway when not needed.

photonboy said:

mcmarto said:

photonboy said:

It is the onboard sound solution that shows up in Playback devices not your headphones or speakers. Both the headphones and speakers use the same solution.

You can set the Realtek software to disable the sound to the speakers when you plug in your headphones, or just disable auto-detection and turn your speakers off manually then plug in your headphones.

Yes, I'm trying to set it to disable the sound from the speakers when I plug headphones, but I can't figure out how to do it.
I turned on the option "Mute the rear output device when a front headphone is plugged in" - there's no difference. They both play at the same time.

Then there is some glitch with your software. You could try getting the latest software direct from the Realtek site. http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsCheck.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false#High%20Definition%20Audio%20Codecs

Delete the orignal, reboot and install these.

If you can't get it to switch using the Realtek software then I don't know what the issue as it sounds like you did it correctly.

If that all fails, then simply turn your speakers off. I recommend you do that anyway when not needed.

I deleted the old driver and installed the new one from Realtec's website. Problem still stays.

I'd like to add that I still think the problem is that my PC recognises both the speakers and headphones as one device. It doesn't even show that headphones are plugged in on the Front panel bar in the audio manager.
Here's a screenshot: http://oi39.tinypic.com/2iqlvr4.jpg

I had the same issue. I solved it by clicking "make front and rear output devices playback two audio streams simultaneously" in the Realtek Audio Manager.

After that "Realtek HD Audio Second Output" appeared in playback devices. I set this second output as the default device and disabled the speakers.

Makes sense because this separates the front and back audio ports, letting you disable motherboard audio and set the front port (the "second output") as the default. Hope that helps someone.

EDIT: This actually does not stop playback from the speakers, though it makes them a lot quieter. My headphones also only play on one side with this, but it's possible that this issue is headphone related for me (they are old and cheap quality).

It's worth tinkering with anyway.

Figured it out, in the realtek audio manager click on the folder looking thing in the top right. Check the box that says enable audio pop up dialog...... Now unplug your head phones and plug them back in. This time click on headphones instead of line out. Should be fixed. Hope that helped.

bebop460 said:

I had the same issue. I solved it by clicking "make front and rear output devices playback two audio streams simultaneously" in the Realtek Audio Manager.

After that "Realtek HD Audio Second Output" appeared in playback devices. I set this second output as the default device and disabled the speakers.

Makes sense because this separates the front and back audio ports, letting you disable motherboard audio and set the front port (the "second output") as the default. Hope that helps someone.

EDIT: This actually does not stop playback from the speakers, though it makes them a lot quieter. My headphones also only play on one side with this, but it's possible that this issue is headphone related for me (they are old and cheap quality).

It's worth tinkering with anyway.

some dont even have the "make front and rear output devices playback two audio streams simultaneously" in the audio manager, like me,,, updating or reinstalling doesnt fix it either

Hello,
Uninstall whatever audio driver you have from Dell. Now, the sound icon will appear with a red cross and no sound will come.
Now Reboot your computer. You shall observe that the inbuilt High Definition Audio Device from Microsoft is installed automatically. And just as you want- speaker and headphone volumes will appear separately.

Tested on HP Pavilion n209tx with windows 7. My earlier sound driver was Realtek. Now it's Microsoft High Definition Audio Device.

mcmarto said:

Hello.
My headphones and speakers show up as one device labeled "Speakers" in the Windows "Playback Devices" window. Is there any way to set them up to show up separately?
I've plugged speakers in the rear jack and headphones in the front and they both play sound. I can't disable only one of them, as they show up as one device.

I use Windows 7, Realtec HD and desktop pc.

bebop460 is correct. In the sound manager, there's a setting button at the top right. Go into that and you'll see your options.

Hi, I have had this problem for three day finally to day I was able to separate my headphones from the speakers in Windows 10, is started when I update my software when I connected my headphones a popup window came out but I was in such a hurry I didn't read all the info till, wasn't able to make the window come out again so I could read and install my headphones properly, after reading in many blogs here is what I found:

Open the Playback Devices window, click on the device "Speakers / Headphones" click on Properties, in General Tab > Controller Information (I had something called "Realtek" which I didn't had before, I'm guessing was what started with the problem) click on Properties, there in the "driver tab", ther you have several options I try to Uninstall the devices but once I install it again the problem remain, so at last I hit the Roll Back Driver, It asked me for a reason and that was it, in a few seconds I had back my two devices separated.

I hope this helps

Greetings