# Problem with Headphones



## piste (Oct 7, 2009)

I have some Plantronic headphones I got for my Dell Inspiron 560 desktop and can't seem to get audio out of any connection in the back of the computer. I do have speakers hooked up and they work fine. I know the headphones work as I plug them into my MP3 player and get signal. There are actually 6 in/out slots in back for audio as follows:

rear L/R surround
side L/R surround
microphone
front L/R line out (speakers are connected here)
line in
center/subwoofer

I've tried the headphones in every output connector including the front l/r line out and I get nothing.

Am I doing something wrong? Or do I have a hardware problem? What is the proper configuration if one wants to have both speakers and headphones connected to a computer or is that not possible?

Thanks for any direction and/or suggestions.


----------



## Ironlight (Apr 13, 2011)

Is this an aftermarket audio PCI card? Just asking because I did not think Dells came with surround sound hardware and outputs.

Either way, see if you can find the audio control panel and check the headphone volume. Feature-rich audio cards often have separate volume controls for the various outputs. If that is not it then I would suspect that you have bad connection at that jack since your getting sound out of speakers and the headphones work with other devices.


----------



## piste (Oct 7, 2009)

Ironlight said:


> Is this an aftermarket audio PCI card? Just asking because I did not think Dells came with surround sound hardware and outputs.
> 
> Either way, see if you can find the audio control panel and check the headphone volume. Feature-rich audio cards often have separate volume controls for the various outputs. If that is not it then I would suspect that you have bad connection at that jack since your getting sound out of speakers and the headphones work with other devices.


Thanks for your reply. Not aftermarket. Came integrated with the machine... Dell Inspiron 560 with Integrated 7.1 channel High Def Audio.

After tinkering some more I believe what I've learned is that if I have audio playing through the speakers...and then unplug them and plug the headphones into the line out I just unplugged the speakers from....the headphones don't pick up the signal in progress. But if I then stop and restart the media that is playing...seems to work. Someone advised me to pick up a Plantronics PC Headset Speaker switch so I just ordered one on Amazon for $20. Hopefully it will work fine and I can keep everything plugged in and use the switch to select what I want to use..speakers or headset.

I did notice that the headphone volume wasn't all that loud....that's where the audio control panel you mention might help out. Will have to look for that.


----------



## alpensopath (Dec 6, 2011)

I have another suggestion for you. 

1. First be sure that you are not sharing ports in the front and back. The green port in the back is the same port thats used as a headphone in the front. The same goes for the pink microphone jack. So be sure only ONE of these (either the front or the back) is in use. 
2. If no sound comes from the front jacks, go into "Reaklek HD Audio Manager" and in the "Audio I/O" tab click the little wrench button next to the word "Analog." 
3. In this setting, CHECK "Disable Front Panel Jack Detection." 
4. Click OK and suddenly you should be hearing audio and recording with your mic from the front jacks. 

Hope this helps you guys, Good luck!

View more at: http://www.techyv.com/questions/headphone-does-not-work-properly


----------

