I have a PC that is hooked up to my HDTV (via a long hdmi cable) and to a monitor, which is in another room. I have speakers directly plugged to the PC audio out. The PC is next to the monitor and speakers.
I am not sure but I think Windows can play sound on only 1 audio device at a time. And I can only set 1 device as the default output. I can get sound on the TV or speaker depending on which device I set to default. But I would have to do this every time I switch between using my TV or my monitor!
Is there some way to configure such that sound plays through the TV if the TV is on, else it plays in the speakers? If this is not possible, then the next best alternative would be to get the sound to play on both the devices at the same time.
Found that image on Tomshardware.it
but it is just as likely (if not more so) that it is just the design of your case front audio header and your specific motherboard that switches your speakers on and off depending on the presence of something plugged in the front.
Best Answer
One of the devices needs to be such that Windows can tell if it's on and connected, otherwise the easiest is probably to unplug one. Basically what I used to do when I had TV and speakers plugged in was set the speakers as default, then unplug them when I wanted to use the TV, since the default was not available it should fall back on the next available option.