Windows 10: How to get duplicate audio to both headphones and speakers?

Hi, I'm running Windows 10 latest update as of August 18th 2020.

I have a set of HyperX Cloud II's plugged in via USB, and a pair of Bose Companion 2 Speakers plugged in via the usual audio Aux port, both in the back of my computer directly into the motherboard.

I have both of them set up properly as Playback Devices in the Sound Control Panel. Going into the Sound Control Panel, I can set either of them as the default device to make most of the sound come out of there instead. This is not a clean fix; programs like iTunes seem almost "hooked" on the previous sound device and don't properly switch to the new default until i close and open them again.

I've already tried using the Stereo Mix method, where you set your speakers as the defauly, go into your Recording devices tab in the Sound Control Panel and enable a device simply called Stereo Mix, and then enable "Listen to this 'device' " and then specify that you'd like to hear the Stereo Mix's playback directly through the Headphones.

This seems to be the only method that really works, but it has some drawbacks. The Stereo Mix method only works by setting specifically the Speakers as default and then listening to the resulting Stereo Mix through my headphones. For some reason it does not work the other way around - making the headphones be the default and then having the Speakers listen to the Stereo Mix produces no sound out of the Stereo Mix, thus the Speakers have nothing to play.

Having the Speakers be the default and listening to Stereo Mix means you actually abandon a certain amount of control - the Volume Slider is now controlling the default output toward the Speakers, but not the true final volume that ends up in the headphones. The headphones still has its own internal volume seen in the Levels tab of its properties, and you cannot easily control this. If that internal volume is at 0, you're mute. If it's at 100, you're blasting. You would think that's fine, since you're still controlling the initial volume that goes through the Speakers first, but no. If nothing is playing at all, if nothing is going to the speakers, if nothing is going to the Stereo Mix for you to listen too, the Stereo Mix itself still produces a certain amount of noise, kind of like a subtle grain - not true mute. Even worse, if the internal headphones are above 0 (which they should be), then even if you mute the output toward the speakers, any audio playing (like a youtube video) will somehow still get to the stereo mix and you'll still hear it. It will be pretty quiet, but definitely not mute.

This whole method is a nightmare when I should be able to just create a single digital audio device that I control via the normal volume slider and then have both the headset and speakers listen to that fake device. The speakers even have their own physical sliders that I can easily just reach over and turn them on whenever I want.

tl;dr Looking for new Audio Software that can just tell the speakers to duplicate whatever the headset is getting. Nothing advanced.

submitted by /u/Serial_Psycho
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:)

 

Move audio to one side for speakers but not headphones

Hello J1mmyth3F1sh,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

• Is your headphones getting detected in the Playback settings?
  
• Are you trying to play the audio on both Speakers and Headphones at the same time?
  

Ideally, if you have configured Sound settings to play on your left speakers, the same goes with the headphones. The sound starts playing only on the left side of your headphones according to the settings changed.

Meanwhile, we can try configuring the headphones and change the balance level in the sound settings and see if it works. Kindly check with the steps listed below and see if it helps.

Method : Run audio test for your headphones.

• Open Control Panel from the Start menu and click on
  Sound.
  
• In the Sound window, click on your
  Headphones and select Configure option at the bottom left.
  
• By running the test, check if both sides of your headphones are working fine.
  

If that doesn’t help, I would suggest you to check with the audio balance by following the steps listed below:

• Open Sound settings from
  Control Panel, and right click on the Headphones to open its
  Properties.
  
• Click on Levels tab and select
  Balance button. In the Balance window, you can use the slider to balance both left and right headphones equally.
  

However, I commend and appreciate you for recognizing this behavior. This is a valuable suggestion as there may be other users with a similar requirement. Hence, I suggest you to leave a
Feedback for this product so
that our developer team can look into this and check if it can be implemented in the future updates.

Regards,

Mala S

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

No Speakers or Headphones detected

Hi,

This issue may have been caused by a corrupted Audio driver or defective audio port.

To better understand this concern please answer the following questions:

• Are you still able to play music using a built-in speakers?
• Have you tried using other headphones or external speakers?

We also suggest that you run audio troubleshooter by following these steps:

• Type "troubleshooting" on the search box.
• Select Troubleshooting on the result.
• Click View all.
• Choose Playing Audio then follow the instructions.

If you need further assistance, don't hesitate to post back.

 

Audio playback through headphones and speakers

Hi Greg,

Please share this information to assist you better.

• Are you thinking play audio through speakers and headphones at the same time?

If yes, it's not possible to do so. You can only play audio through speaker or headphones at once.

Let us know if you need further assistance regarding Windows.