Headphone switch

[justinjstark]

I have the speakers plugged directly into the computer.  I also have a headphone port on the side of the unit.  I want it so when headphones are plugged in to the port, the speakers turn off and all sound goes to the headphones.  Is there some kind of switch I can buy that detects when headphones are plugged in and routes the signal in that direction or something?

I have tried connecting motherboard -> speakers (from the speaker headphone jack) -> port on the side of the cabinet.  It doesn't work though because the speakers will not work at all, even if the headphone circuit is not closed.

Any ideas?

[justinjstark]

After a little research, it seems that (as my experiment showed) plugging something into the headphone jack on speakers pushes a mechanical switch which causes the speakers to not work.  I was really hoping it would detect when the headphone circuit was closed instead.  I also could not find a closed-loop style headphone switch (do they exist?).  If anybody has any ideas, please post here.

Otherwise, I have an idea for my next project.  The logitech s220s have an external volume control and headphone/mic jack.  I could mount this on the outside of the cabinet somewhere be done with it.  The subwoofer is too big to fit in the bartop but I can take it apart and mount the driver in a custom enclosure inside the cab.   

[edub]

Try this:

http://www.frontx.com/cpx090.html

Others on this forum use this exact front panel speaker/headphone kit on their cabs - in fact, that's where I learned about it. I have it in mine. Basically it is a "splitter" that plugs into the audio jack on your computer (green) - just like your speakers currently (normally) do. The "split" then occurs and goes to another speaker jack that you plug your speakers into. The other part of the "split" goes to a mountable plug for headphones. That headphone plug has a similar "switch" inside that will turn off audio to the speakers when the headphones are plug in.

It is, I think, exactly what you're looking for. It works perfect in my cab.

Cheers,
edub