How do I separate headphone audio and speaker audio?

It can be frustrating when audio plays through both your headphones and speakers at the same time. This issue is often caused by incorrect audio settings that route sound to both outputs simultaneously. While some people prefer having dual audio sources, most find it distracting or redundant. Thankfully, with the right settings, you can configure your computer to separate headphone and speaker audio. This allows you to listen privately through headphones or publicly through speakers, avoiding sound overlap.

Why Separate Audio Sources?

Having your headphone and speaker audio sources playing simultaneously can create unwanted audio overlaps and distortion. The same audio coming through both outputs can be distracting, annoying, or make it difficult to discern details.

Headphones and speakers serve different purposes – headphones are personal and isolate sound, while speakers fill a room. Separating the audio allows you to tailor each output for their intended use. For example, you may want game sound effects and voice chat coming through the headphones while music plays on the speakers.

Likewise, when recording audio or doing production work, it’s crucial to isolate the headphone monitoring mix versus what gets output to speakers. Redundant audio can make it hard to pinpoint issues and get clean recordings ¹.

Windows Audio Settings

Windows provides built-in audio settings to control audio routing and to change the default playback device. To access the Sound settings in Windows 10 and 11, right-click the speaker icon in the system tray and select Open Sound settings. Alternatively, go to Start > Settings > System > Sound.

In the Sound settings window, under Choose your output device, you’ll see a list of available playback devices connected to your PC like speakers, headphones, HDMI displays etc. Click on your preferred audio output device to set it as the default playback device in Windows. This will route all system sounds and audio playback to that device. For example, to make your headphones the default playback device, select Headphones under Output in Sound settings.

You can quickly change the default playback device without going into Sound settings every time. Simply click the speaker icon in the system tray, then select your desired audio output device from the menu that pops up. This menu shows all connected devices and lets you switch between them on the fly. According to Dell Support, this is the easiest way to toggle between speakers and headphones in Windows.

macOS Audio Settings

Mac users can change their audio output settings in System Preferences. The Mac operating system allows you to set separate audio outputs for your internal speakers, headphones, Bluetooth devices, HDMI displays, and USB audio interfaces.

To configure audio outputs on a Mac, open System Preferences and click on the Sound icon. This will open the Sound settings panel where you can choose different audio outputs for sound effects, alerts and notifications, and your input and output devices. For example, you can set your headphones as the output for music and video playback, while keeping your speakers as the default output for alerts ¹.

The Output tab in Sound preferences is where you can select separate audio outputs. Simply click on the device you want to use for playback in the list of output options. You can also adjust the output volume for each device independently.

MacOS allows extensive audio routing flexibility between different applications and audio interfaces. This makes it easy to optimize your audio setup for music, movies, conferencing, and more.

Linux Audio Settings

On Linux, the two main audio systems are PulseAudio and ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture). PulseAudio acts as a sound server that sits on top of ALSA and provides additional functionality like audio routing, network streaming, and system-wide volume control.

To configure separate headphone and speaker outputs in Linux, you’ll need to adjust the settings in PulseAudio and/or ALSA. The default behavior routes all audio through the primary output device.

In PulseAudio, you can go to the Audio Volume Control panel (pavucontrol) and on the Configuration tab, select separate profile outputs for your headphone jack and internal/external speakers. The Arch Linux forums have tips on splitting outputs this way.

With ALSA directly, you may need to create separate .asoundrc files or configure the .conf files to define separate device outputs. The Ask Ubuntu site covers setting indexes and names for switching outputs.

There are also tools like cadence and qasmixer that provide GUI frontends to manage complex audio routing between various outputs and input sources.

Overall, it takes some configuration but it is possible to get per-application or system-wide audio output separation between headphones and speakers in Linux.

Per-App Audio Routing

Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems provide built-in options for setting audio output devices on a per-application basis. However, standalone third party tools like Audio Router offer more advanced control over routing audio to different devices for individual apps on Windows.

Audio Router is an open source Windows application that allows you to choose specific audio output devices for applications. For example, you could set your web browser to output audio to headphones while a media player outputs to speakers. Audio Router creates virtual audio devices that apps can target as outputs.

Setting up per-app audio routing with Audio Router involves:

Installing Audio Router

Configuring virtual audio devices
Choosing output devices per application

This granular level of audio control is useful for managing sound from multiple apps going to different devices like headphones, HDMI displays, USB speakers, etc. Audio Router’s advanced routing options complement the basic per-app device selection in Windows Settings.

HDMI and Display Audio

HDMI cables are capable of carrying high-quality digital audio signals from media players, game consoles, computers, and other devices to an external display like a TV or monitor. Many modern displays have built-in speakers that can play this HDMI audio. However, HDMI audio may also be sent separately to headphones or external speakers.

To control where the HDMI audio is routed, look in the display settings of your operating system and the settings of the display itself. For example, in Windows 10’s Sound settings, you can specifically set the HDMI device as the default output for headphones rather than speakers. On a TV or monitor menu, look for audio output options to send sound over HDMI vs internal speakers.

Some displays have a 3.5mm audio output jack that carries the HDMI audio signal for connection to powered speakers or headphones. Otherwise, you’ll need to connect headphones directly to the HDMI source device instead of the display. One downside of using HDMI for headphone audio is that volume control may be limited compared to a dedicated headphone jack.

Overall, while HDMI cables excel at delivering home theater audio to external speakers, analog 3.5mm connections tend to provide more flexibility and control for personal listening via headphones. But with the right display settings and connections, you can configure HDMI to work for both speaker and headphone audio.

USB Audio Devices

When using a USB digital-to-analog converter (DAC) or USB headset/headphones, the audio signal is sent directly to the USB device instead of your computer’s built-in audio. This makes it impossible to separate the USB audio from your onboard audio using software alone.

To work around this, you need an audio interface or mixer that allows you to combine multiple audio sources and route them independently. For example, you could route your onboard/speaker audio to one set of outputs while sending the USB DAC signal to a different set of outputs.

Some options for combining USB and onboard audio sources include:

A USB audio mixer like the Behringer U-Control UCA222 which has RCA and headphone ports.
A multi-channel USB audio interface like the Focusrite Scarlett which lets you route different inputs to separate outputs.

HDMI audio extractors that extract and break out the audio from an HDMI source.

Without specialized audio hardware, separating onboard and USB audio requires manually switching between the two either in software or using external speakers/headphones.

Troubleshooting Tips

There are some common troubleshooting steps that can help resolve issues with routing audio to headphones vs speakers:

First, check that your headphones are properly plugged into the correct audio jack on your computer. Make sure there are no loose connections. Some computers have separate jacks for headphones vs speakers.

Next, go into your sound control panel settings and make sure your headphones are set as the default playback device. In Windows, go to Control Panel > Sound and select your headphones as the default device. On a Mac, go to System Preferences > Sound and select your headphones.^[1]

If that doesn’t work, try updating, reinstalling, or replacing your audio drivers. Outdated drivers can cause glitches with audio output. Search online for the latest audio drivers from your hardware manufacturer.

You may also need to adjust settings on a per-app basis. Some apps have their own audio options, so you may need to route their audio separately to your headphones. Look in the app’s settings for an audio output option.

As a last resort, try your headphones on another device to rule out a hardware issue with the headphones themselves. If you still have problems, your headphones may need to be replaced or repaired.

Troubleshooting your audio settings methodically should help resolve any issues you encounter with directing sound to headphones vs speakers.^[2]

[1] https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/fixed-headphones-plugged-in-but-sound-coming-from-speakers/
[2] https://www.maketecheasier.com/fix-headphones-not-working-windows10/

Conclusion

In summary, separating your headphone audio and speaker audio can provide more control over your listening experience. The main goal is to allow audio from different applications to output to different devices simultaneously.

By adjusting the sound settings in your operating system and configuring per-app audio routing, you can direct audio from say, a game, to your headphones, while a video plays through your speakers. USB audio devices also allow you to split the outputs.

Getting the right configuration may require some trial and error. But once set up properly, you’ll be able to seamlessly listen to different audio sources on different devices as needed. Just be sure to check your volumes and mute settings as you switch between applications to avoid any unexpected loud noises.