How to use headphones and external speakers in parallel on Windows 10 April Update

Since the  Windows 10  April Update, users have been able to use the simultaneous playback of  speakers  and  headphones , a very unique feature. You can play games and stream music to your family at the same time without any problems. The article will show you how to do it very simply, follow along!

1. How to use speakers and headphones to play 2 different sound sources

As a tip, this  App volume and device preferences feature  is only available for  Windows 10 April 2018 version  and later. Audio from different sources will be played on different devices.

This feature can be used for headphone  jack 3.5  mm , USB speakers,  headsets  and  Bluetooth speakers .

The feature only applies to Windows 10 April 2018 version and later

Using Change System sounds

This is a feature that uses speakers and headphones to play 2 different audio sources. Simply put, you can use this feature to play music via  YouTube  on Chrome, and watch movies with sound on speakers using  Netflix .

Advantages :

This is a convenient and safe feature available on Windows, the steps are simple, not through any 3rd party software.

To perform the installation in this way, please follow the instructions below!

Step 1:  Press the Windows + I key combination   to open  the Settings Panel  > Select  System .

Adjust this feature in System

Step 2:  Select  Sound  > Scroll down to find and select  App volume device preferences  in the  Advanced sound options section .

Go to App volume and device preferences

Step 3:  According to the sequence number marked in the picture, follow the instructions in  item 1  to enable this feature.

1. To switch different playback devices, you set in  Output  by selecting the corresponding audio source.

2. App  and  Volume columns   to adjust the in-app volume of each audio device. In the Output section  , you can adjust  the  specific sound output in the application to the corresponding speaker device.

3. Select  Reset  when you want to reset the settings.

Adjust the feature in item 1

2. How to use headphones and speakers with the same sound source

Using VoiceMeeter software

VoiceMeeter is a free software for computers with Windows 10, 8, 8.1 and 7 versions installed  . This software supports users to use multiple output audio devices, namely with 3.5 jack headphones, USB speakers, Bluetooth headsets and speakers.

The VoiceMeeter app also supports this feature

Advantages :

This is a free software, supports all audio interfaces, optimizes audio features, gives the best user experience.

Cons :

Since this is a third-party software, not available on Windows, errors may occur in some cases.

To use VoiceMeeter to set up the headset and speakers to play the same audio source, please follow the instructions below.

Download and install VoiceMeeter software

Step 1:  Download VoiceMeeter software  HERE .

Step 2:  Double-click the downloaded item > Select  Yes  > Select  Install .

Complete application installation

Step 3:  After completing the installation, find  VoiceMeeter  in the search bar > Select the first display  result  .

Access VoiceMeeter to proceed with setup

Use Voicemeeter to play audio from headphones and speakers at the same time

Step 1:  In column  A1  on the left corner of the screen, select  WDM  or  MME  for your first transmitter.

Adjust the side of column A1 first

Step 2:  In column  A2  right next to it, select  WDM  or  MME  for the remaining transmitter.

Next adjustment in column A2

Using the converter

This method is convenient in that you do not need to download a lot of software or tinker with how to install third-party software to play sound from speakers and headphones from the same source.

However, if you choose the transfer, you will be costly to invest in a  USB hub  (USB hub) to synchronize headphone jack 3.5 and  USB  speakers. Another limitation is that this method only works with  wired headphones  and speakers  .

You can also use the adapter to use this feature

Jessica Tanner

Update 24 June 2021