Reddit reviews Coms 4 Port Stereo Manual Selector Audio Sharing Switch Box

Do you have a setup where say your rear speakers are plugged in all the time, and then when you want to use a headset (say gaming or voice comms) you plug in the headset to the front panel jack?

Kind of guessing this may be the issue. If so, you may benefit from the solution I went for. Basically the headphone jack is getting worn out from many mates/demates. Every connector has a rated number of mates/demates before it starts to give. The ones used on the front panel are frequently not really good in this respect. So we'd like to come up with a setup where you don't have to keep fiddling with Windows audio output utilities, and don't have to keep plugging jacks in and out. (I know there are some very good audio control utilities, it was just nothing I wanted to deal with personally.)

I ended up going with this: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NTJET10/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. It's inexpensive and it does exactly what it was meant to, and cheaper than I could have made it myself. Basically it's a stereo switch between one common and 4 ports. Thus, I wire from the rear panel to the common on this little switch, and then port A is my desktop speakers and port B is the headset. My headphones came with a little extension cord for both mike and speakers so I use that to run from the rear panel, and then I use a short male-male stereo to adapt to the common in. That puts a mike jack right by the box so there no cable length issues.

Anyway, maybe this will be of some use. That product is one of those "so simple it's hard to find" products. I've made a stereo switch in the past but once you get the box and setup the jacks and mounting and everything -- honestly it was not a project I wanted to take on, so finding one for low cost was perfect.

Hope that helps.

There's lots of different routes to get to good audio. Depends on what you want.

The JBL LSR 305 suggestion will sound great, and you can probably add a sub to it later to get even more powerful and deeper bass. But it's somewhat limiting in that there's not much that can be upgraded.

If you'd like to roll your own, a popular and great sounding kit are the Overnight Sensations at parts-express. More info on reddit here.

And then pick up a compact amp like the SMSL SA60, (or the older SMSL SA50) and it's a great little system, and you get to do some modest woodwork (no sawing), but also some light soldering, too.

You can add Bluetooth connectivity to it by selecting an amp that takes BT, or by getting a little device like this Avantree (which I have, and like a lot). Be sure to get something that supports aptX (some Android phones and desktops) and/or AAC (for Apple products).

Lastly, you may wish to have multiple wired inputs. For that, with one of these mini amplifiers, you'd need an audio selector switch, such as this.

I haven't used something like that, but this looks like what you are describing:

https://www.amazon.com/Stereo-Manual-Selector-Sharing-Switch/dp/B00NTJET10

3.5mm switches will be tough to find, as the ONLY place that's really used is in headphones or old computers. Use something like this


Something like this is also an option also using 3 3.5mm to RCA adapters, you just won't use the video portion.

Something here? Zeos AMP and DAC guide

A switch? 2 PORT 3.5mm STEREO Manual Switch Box selector - Nobsound Little Bear MC102 - Coms 4 Port Switch Box

Or a mixer? $40 JUST MIXER Audio Mixer - Battery/USB Powered Portable Pocket Audio Mixer w/ 3 Stereo Channels (3.5mm) Plus On/Off Switch

Easiest cheapest simplest option is a 3.5mm splitter.

If you want to get fancy, you could get a 3.5mm switch box/selector with as many inputs as you'd like. Example 1 example 2

A switch box designed for rca would work as well, you'd just need an adapter cable from rca to 3.5mm, they're super cheap on Monoprice.

assuming you aren't trying to listen to more than one source simultaneously, what you want is a switch, not a mixer...something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NTJET10

something like this also works if your source outputs via RCA and you have a headphone amp:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0056DQT1A/

btw, that adapter converts stereo to mono...

sounds like you want something on these lines.
http://www.amazon.com/Stereo-Manual-Selector-Sharing-Switch/dp/B00NTJET10/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1463941099&sr=8-2&keywords=3.5mm+switch

1 input from source, and 4 options for output controlled by the button interface. it is not exactly aesthetically pleasing imo.

the one you were looking at seems to be a full out/in switch, aka switches between out/in 1-4, so yes you would need to unplug and plug things in, which if you are going to do that anyways it makes it rather pointless (it would be easier and cheaper just to buy a 3.5mm extension cable instead, since thats what it would essentially be for you at that point). that one serves a specific need, of someone with multiple sources and multiple outputs.

Are these computer-style speakers where you just plug the 3.5mm cable into the computer (or TV)?

Cheapest would probably be an audio selector switch but you'd probably need some adapters to get it connected properly; AND you'd only be able to listen to one at a time.

Something like this: http://smile.amazon.com/Stereo-Manual-Selector-Sharing-Switch/dp/B00NTJET10/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1464403851&sr=8-5&keywords=audio+selector

If you want to hear both at once, you're probably best buying a cheap mixer and feeding that into the speakers. You could try a simple Y-adapter into the speaker, but I think you'll get some weird stuff going on as the audio will be feeding back to both devices.

Alright. How many input are you looking for?

There's quite a few different ones of that variety out there, actually. Look up with "stereo switch" or something along those lines. For example, here's a 1-4 switch with RCAs, and here's one with 3.5mm sockets. No idea of the quality of these, though.

Or you could always build one yourself (or have someone put it together for you). Really easy and cheap little DIY project! I'm currently using in my setup a 1-3 switch I built myself for switching between desktop speakers and two headphone amps.

You can get something like this - https://www.amazon.com/Stereo-Manual-Selector-Sharing-Switch/dp/B00NTJET10

Though I'm not sure what all your different jacks are, you'll have to convert them to 3.5mm stereo. I assume you want the inputs to all go to either your speakers or your headphones.

It only has 1 out, but you can probably live with just plugging your speaker or headphone in as needed, or get a Y audio splitter.

You could try to use an acutal switch like this one with four ports (The two-port version is actually only 0,12 $ cheaper).

From my looking in the past 3.5mm switchers are not that common. Here is a 2 channel switch. https://www.amazon.com/Sescom-SES-IPOD-AB-Stereo-MP3-Player/dp/B005TE7GP4#Ask

Multiple
https://www.amazon.com/Stereo-Manual-Selector-Sharing-Switch/dp/B00NTJET10/ref=sr_1_7?s=audio-video-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1469549911&sr=1-7&keywords=audio+switch

You could also DIY one if your so inclined. It's really simple circuitry. It's just 1 signal coming in and being sent to different outputs depending on the position of the switch.

https://vsshs.com/2012/10/20/audio-switcher/

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Construct-a-35mm-Switch-diy/

I don’t have it but I see this one on Amazon which looks fine: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NTJET10/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_AAOHAbXFB8ZMP


There are a ton available, just look up “3.5mm audio switcher” on Amazon and you’ll find a bunch.

This and an inline volume knob maybe? I can't find anything better really.

1. RCA to 3.5mm
   
2. This switch
   
3. 3.5MM cables to those inputs and the rca to 3.5mm to the output?