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    Why do notebooks have dual headphone jacks

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by michaeljean, Jan 4, 2010.

  1. michaeljean

    michaeljean Notebook Consultant

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    I have three laptops two dell and one hp and none can I listen to audio on both at the same time. Why do notebooks have dual headphone jacks if both don't work at the same time.

    Am I doing something wrong?
     
    michaeljean, Jan 4, 2010
    #1
  2. crazycanuk

    crazycanuk Notebook Virtuoso

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    one will be headphone and the other will be mic or line in in most cases. some units have 2 or 3 ports for a surround sound setup but not multiple ports for headphones AFIK, I have many laptops and none of mine have 2 speaker/headphone outputs. take a look at your user guide and the diagrams as to port placement and use.
     
    crazycanuk, Jan 4, 2010
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  3. michaeljean

    michaeljean Notebook Consultant

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    I have a dell xps 16 for example and it has ONE MIC and TWO HEADPHONE JACKS. There are two pictures that are exactly the same of headphones.
     
    michaeljean, Jan 4, 2010
    #3
  4. DEagleson

    DEagleson Gamer extraordinaire

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    Bet its a marketing gimmick, but still i dont really thing its a negative thing.
    Then you and a friend can hook up two headsets on same computer without buying a splitter.
     
    DEagleson, Jan 4, 2010
    #4
  5. Lanaya

    Lanaya Templar Assassin

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    pretty sure thats not right DEagleson =]
     
    Lanaya, Jan 4, 2010
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  6. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    That's my guess. So two of your can watch a movie while spooning on the couch.
     
    surfasb, Jan 4, 2010
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  7. DEagleson

    DEagleson Gamer extraordinaire

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    Well, it is "supposed" to work that way. xD
    Why have two headphone outputs on a notebook it they dont output the same audio?
     
    DEagleson, Jan 4, 2010
    #7
  8. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    All mine output the same audio.......

    Your drivers suck.
     
    surfasb, Jan 4, 2010
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  9. Explosivpotato

    Explosivpotato Notebook Consultant

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    I've got three I think, but only one is a headphone/line-out jack. The others are mic in and digital audio out (for surround)
     
    Explosivpotato, Jan 4, 2010
    #9
  10. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    The notebooks that offer dual headphone output are for exactly the reasons posted: (quietly) sharing your notebook's audio with a friend.

    surfasb is absolutely right... if this doesn't work this way for the OP, and indeed there are dual headphone jacks (and not other sound input/output connectors), then the drivers are what the OP should concentrate on.

    Maybe, download the 'official' drivers from the manufacturer's website and re-install them might fix this issue.

    Cheers!
     
    tilleroftheearth, Jan 4, 2010
    #10
  11. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    any chance you could look this up in your owners documentation?
     
    newsposter, Jan 4, 2010
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  12. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    On another note, some chipsets like RealTek allow for the headphone jacks to output different audio streams (L/R, F/S)
     
    surfasb, Jan 4, 2010
    #12
  13. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    First one is Audio-Out. Second one is for SPDIF out (its optional so its only for selected models) but it can also be used as a second Audio-Out.

    Well for my HP anyway.
     
    flipfire, Jan 4, 2010
    #13
  14. sean473

    sean473 Notebook Prophet

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    same here.. 2 headphone jacks and 1 mic... also IDT audio codec shows that i support SPDIF out....nice fact about 2 ppl being able to listen...nver knew about it.
     
    sean473, Jan 5, 2010
    #14