If you are using a desktop computer, you will see two different audio output channels. The first one will be available on the front side of your desktop and the second one will be on the back side. In some cases, you will also see the AV output on the back part of your desktop. So, in this article, we will know how to set the back panel jack as headphones using the simplest yet effective method possible.
But, this method will be applied to only the systems that are using the Realtek Audio system. For others, you can try different methods. If you are a Windows user and utilizing any popular motherboard brand, you will find the Realtek audio systems there.
Enabling the back panel jack is a very easy process to follow. Also, in some rare cases, you might see this thing already turned On. But, mostly you will find this thing not working because the front panel audio jack will be working perfectly fine for you.
However, if you want to connect an extra audio device to this jack available on the backside of your desktop, you can easily do with the help of your system settings. You don’t have to do any hardware changes or install third-party software inside your computer. You will be able to get it done just by using your computer’s settings.
Using your back panel is as simple as using the main panel. You just want an audio device that accepts the audio inputs through the aux cable.
You can either use this audio input for your headphones, speakers, or other audio devices. So, if you are here to find the solution to your issue and you were not able to get this issue resolved, we are going to provide you with the perfect solutions to this problem.
In simple words, your audio jack on the back panel will start to give you the audio input as well. The output will be just similar to what you get inside the front panel.
However, you can connect to different devices and enjoy the same audio in different locations. Most people would use them to set up home theatres or connect more users to the same audio input channels. The utilizations are all in your hands.
So, without further talks, let’s get directly into it.
What kind of ports you can have on the backside of your desktop?
With the latest trends in the market, we are capable of seeing various latest ports for different devices. But, if we talk specifically about the audio ports, you will see all the analog audio ports on the backside. They will generally be 2.5 or 3.5 mm ports which will transfer the audio signals from your motherboard to the audio devices.
These ports are great in terms of rough usage because most of the popular audio devices support them. Whether you want to connect a speaker or your headphones, you can easily use these ports to establish the connections pretty effectively. These analog ports might not be as good as the Bluetooth in terms of sound quality but you can definitely get the outputs from these.
Not all of these are output ports but some of them will be input ports as well. These are for the microphones and they will look similar to each other.
So, whenever you want to connect your audio output devices, you should try to connect them properly to the right port.
Also, if you want to connect an input device such as a microphone, it is good to connect it only to the input devices. If you are using a microphone that also has some kind of microphone, you would always want to connect it to the right port at the right time.
In some motherboards, you can see six ports like these but in some cases, you may even see only three ports. The type and number of ports will depend entirely on the type of motherboard you are using. In some cases, you can see totally different configurations and that is totally up to your motherboard and its type.
How to get sound from the back headphone jack [Inbuilt Audio]?
These ports are specifically made to be used for your audio inputs. But, in order to get a proper sound output from these, you should try to connect them properly to the right devices. So, yes, it is possible and good to get the sound output from the back panel side of your desktop.
These ports are great to be used for the systems that you mostly keep connected to the audio device. For the devices such as headphones and others that are mostly connected and disconnected over and over again, it is good to use the front side.
However, it is totally up to you how and when you want to use these ports and at what point. But, in order to answer your question simply, we would like to tell you that you can always get a proper sound output from the headphone jack and it will be perfectly fine with no issues at all.
But, before you go further, we would like to say that it is not very simple most of the time. You will not start to hear the sound in your headphones just after you connect them to the back panel of your motherboard.
You will have to perform some settings in order to get it done. These are going to be discussed later in this article. It is good to know about them as well. We think you are here just to know them and we are going to talk about them in the below sections.
Why should you use the back panel jack for headphones?
If you generally use your headphones for doing your regular stuff, you may never feel the need of using the extra audio ports given on the back of your desktop. However, if you want to keep your main device connected to the main audio ports on the front, you might think about using the back panel jack as well.
So, you should use it whenever you want to connect any external device to your computer. This device will be your audio device ofcourse. There is another reason why you should try to use the back panel audio jack.
It is because you may want to connect an external device. If your audio requirements are not getting fulfilled by the main audio connection, the back panel jack will be a great pick for you.
Also, if the connection is going to be permanent, you should definitely use the backside as much as possible. This will make your computer much more compact without actually giving it a messy look.
So, if you are using your HDMI monitor inputs and all other inputs from the backside, using your speaker or headphone from this back panel would never let you down. This will be beneficial when you are a gamer or other professional your front panel is already full of different connections.
Also, if you are using an attractive case and don’t want to make your front panel look bad because of these cables, the back panel is always there to help you.
Can you use these back panel jack for speaker output?
Most users would be able to get the input for their headphones and output for mics as well. But, if you want, you can definitely use a speaker system or a home theatre using the same output channel. The only condition is your speaker or any other audio system must support the analog audio input from these channels.
But, if you want to just connect your speakers to this audio port, you will definitely get a perfect output from them. It is a good way to get this issue done with the help of your back panel because you will be able to find no issues once the settings are done.
We are going to utilize the driver software of your audio device. So, everything should get done properly without any problems.
The back panel can definitely be used for the speaker output and also for the other inputs as we discussed earlier. Your purpose should be to utilize this port for the right task. It will provide its output in analog form. So, if you want, you can try to convert it into digital or anything else that you want.
Some people may also want to use this thing for things that we might not hear of. Soundbars, home theatres, and projectors could be some of the devices.
Also, if your display device is using the HDMI connection just for the video, you might want to use the audio ports for audio inputs. So, there could be various other applications of these audio ports and not just for simple audio inputs for the speakers.
Do you need any external software for this?
Your motherboard is always capable of providing the right signals through these ports. So, you don’t need to have any external software in order to set this thing up. However, some settings will be important which we will be covering later in the next section.
But, in general, you would need no external software in order to set up your back panel audio jack. There could be some issues with your audio port if the settings are done in the wrong way. Sometimes, you may get the audio input through the back panel ports and nothing from the front panel.
Also, things might go wrong in a vice-versa manner. Using any external software is also possible because they can also play around with these settings. But, mostly, you can easily get all your desired results just with the help of your driver software.
If your system is using the Realtek audio device, you should be able to do all the settings with the help of your Realtek audio device. In the case of other devices, you will have to use their specific drivers or the software. Using the settings on any of these drivers is pretty easy and straightforward.
These settings are easy to change and you need no external sources for any kind of extra setups. Your port is already connected to your motherboard and all you need is some commands to get it working on its tasks. This would be very simple for most of the users.
Also, following and changing these settings is so simple that you need to put yourself in any trouble at all.
6 Efficient points to enable the back panel jack on your Windows computer?
As we discussed earlier, we can easily get our back panel’s audio jack working for any kind of audio output. But, it is important to do some sort of settings in order to get this output for our desired devices.
So, enabling it will be very simple using the system settings and some sort of help from your driver software as well. The settings will be there in your system itself and you just have to change them in order to use it as the audio output device.
The steps are very easy and straightforward and easy to follow. All of these steps are as follows.
- Make sure to update your audio driver to its latest version. This can be done by going to the Device Manager menu
- Now, open the Realtek HD Audio manager. If the driver is not installed, download it from the official website of Realtek
- Now, click Device advanced settings on the main menu
- In the next menu, go to the playback device option
- There, you will find two different options:
1st option: Mute the rear output device, when a front headphone is plugged in
2nd Option: Make front and rear output devices playback two different audio streams simultaneously
- Now, as per your choice, you can either mute the front one and enable the back panel port or use both of them at the same time.
These settings are pretty easy to follow but some users might not be able to find the Realtek audio device manager because their motherboard might not be using the Realtek audio device. In that case, you can try using the driver software that comes with your system itself.
Final Verdict
Now, we hope you will be able to get a proper audio output from your desktop’s back panel audio jack. You are now free to use your desired devices through this port and no issues will be there for you. We hope we have answered your question “how to set the back panel jack as headphones”.
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