HELP! 3.5 jack selector?

.temp

.temp

.temp

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Hi all

I'm looking for way to prevent me from having to get up and unplug my headphones for my speaker input.

As you can imagine having to get up and fiddle with cables each time I want to swap is annoying. Do any of you guys know of a way I can solve this?

I'm thinking something like this.....


PC JACK ---- Switch------Headphones AND speakers connected

I've seen splitters but I don't want the sound to come out to both devices at the same time.

Thanks for the help :)
 
Splitters are a bad idea anyway as they screw up the impedance which has a bad effect on sound quality...

A switch won't have such a drastic effect on sound quality if it is half decent...

Google 'source selector' to find a switch, you may need a few adaptor cables also. :)
 
Here's one I made earlier :)

EDIT: Surely a DPDT switch would leave you without stereo sound as it would only be switching one channel as well as ground? I think that's why I went down the route of using a rotary switch when I made that ^^
 
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Borden said:
Here's one I made earlier :)

EDIT: Surely a DPDT switch would leave you without stereo sound as it would only be switching one channel as well as ground? I think that's why I went down the route of using a rotary switch when I made that ^^
Click to expand...


WOW thanks for that, looks rad. The first pic is missing though :(

I read that DPDT would be fine for stereo....?
 
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DPDT is fine for stereo, you only need to switch 2 connections, ground can stay connected between all 3 things.

Good on you for making it yourself, it shouldn't be difficult and it is quite satisfying to solder something up yourself and to have it work. :)
 
MikeHunt79 said:
DPDT is fine for stereo, you only need to switch 2 connections, ground can stay connected between all 3 things.

Good on you for making it yourself, it shouldn't be difficult and it is quite satisfying to solder something up yourself and to have it work. :)
Click to expand...

Using a DPDT would enable me to make it a much smaller switch that I could hook up to the underside of my desk to make it hidden

Want to make it myself as it's pretty simple by the looks of it. Gonna be making an arcade stick when I;m back too so I'll be swamped with DIY...first timer too, cannot wait
 
.temp said:
Using a DPDT would enable me to make it a much smaller switch that I could hook up to the underside of my desk to make it hidden

Want to make it myself as it's pretty simple by the looks of it. Gonna be making an arcade stick when I;m back too so I'll be swamped with DIY...first timer too, cannot wait
Click to expand...

Well a source selector is a good first project, totally safe unless you burn yourself with the soldering iron, and you'll find your arcade stick a little easier once you get to grips with the basics. :)
 
I'm guessing it's gonna be a case of doing the following

for connecting to sound card

get a male to female 3.5mm jack cable
strip the female side
solder to appropriate points on DPDT

for input sockets

get 2 male to female 3.5 mm jack cables
strip the male side
solder to appropriate points on DPDT
 
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