Help connecting computer speakers to flat screen TV


  1. Posts : 5
    Windows 10
       #1

    Help connecting computer speakers to flat screen TV


    Hi, so I recently bought a Samsung flat screen TV to replace my old computer monitor as I mostly use my old desktop for watching movies. The problem is that I can't connect my computer speakers to my new *monitor* since it has no 3.5mm headphone jack. It does however have a optical out as well as an RCA (red and white) out. The guy at RadioShack talked me into purchasing a 2-RCA male X 1-male 3.5mm along with a 3.5mm female coupler, but for some reason that didn't work for me.

    I have watched a few videos where people are taking an rca cable with male ends on both ends (PS3?) and connecting it to a 2 RCA female to 3.5mm male splitter and adding a 3.5 mm coupler to the end so they can plug in their headphones and supposedly this works. I just can't understand why that works but the way I tried it doesn't.

    I've considered just buying a couple of bluetooth receiver/transmitters and going that route, but that could get expensive.

    Would a viable solution be to use a digital to analog converter and a toslink cable with two male ends?

    I'm still not sure why the RadioShack guys setup didn't work for me. Not unless there is some particular setting I am meant to adjust in order to switch the sound from *TV SPEAKERS* to *COMPUTER SPEAKERS* ?????
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 5,169
    64bit Win 10 Pro ver 21H2
       #2

    Hello arayfo1 :)

    The sound comes from your PC so why do you not connect your speakers directly to the audio output from your PC?

    However, if you want the sound to go via your new TV then you have to make sure the audio as well as the video is being sent from your PC to your TV and so you need to use the HDMI cable connection which carries both video and audio signals. You will also need to set up the sound playback device on your PC to be the HDMI output too.

    Perhaps you can describe exactly the connections you have made from your PC to your TV and then we can help further.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 5
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    "The sound comes from your PC so why do you not connect your speakers directly to the audio output from your PC?"

    No, the sound comes from my TV. I have an HDMI cable connecting my desktop to my TV which means I am feeding sound from the desktop to the TV and then to the speakers.

    I'm not sure if that makes sense. I mean I could be wrong, but all I know is that before I changed the way my computer connects to my monitor (VGA to HDMI) the computer speakers were working just fine. I plugged the computer speakers into my iphone to test them and they played just fine so I know its not the speakers. I plugged the speakers back into the tower and I get nothing. Now this could be because there is a setting on the TV that I have not adjusted or maybe there is no such setting. I don't know, but the way I understand it that there has to be some way to tell the TV to stop playing sound through the TV speakers otherwise what would be the point in using headphones on a TV set (Yes my goal is not to use headphones but I think you take my point).

    "
    You will also need to set up the sound playback device on your PC to be the HDMI output too."

    Do you think this could be why the speakers have suddenly stopped working? How would I go about changing this setting? Go to Device Manager?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 5,169
    64bit Win 10 Pro ver 21H2
       #4

    OK, thanks for the clarification. You have HDMI from your PC to your TV so that is correct.

    The TV should automatically switch from its internal speakers as soon as you plug in your external speakers. Do you get sound from the TV's internal speakers?

    If not then there will be a setting on your PC that needs changing.

    Right click on the speaker icon in the bottom right and select Playback devices:
    Help connecting computer speakers to flat screen TV-capture.png

    Make sure the HDMI device is selected as the default.

    There may also be some settings on your TV which directs how the sound output is routed when you connect external speakers, by default it would usually be the red and white connectors for right and left channel audio.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 5
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #5

    The good news is that I got the computer speakers to work again by making them the default device for my computer. The bad news is that now the HDMI source on my tower seems to have suddenly stopped working.

    I already checked the HDMI cable on a laptop and it still works fine so I know it isn't the cable itself. And I checked the tower on the old VGA display and it also worked fine. So either the HDMI hardware is fried on the tower or I have disabled it somehow whenever I was playing around with my settings. In other words, I went into Desktop>Screen Resolution and adjusted some things thinking that might be what I needed to do in order to change the output to HDMI. I would like to troubleshoot it some more before I carry the tower to a repair shop and have them take a look at the HDMI port. Or perhaps it's something I could replace myself. But hopefully it's something I can troubleshoot and fix myself without needing to replace any sort of hardware. Any ideas?
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 5,169
    64bit Win 10 Pro ver 21H2
       #6

    I don't think there is anything wrong. It's a one or the other situation, once you have set up the sound to be via the speakers directly attached to the desktop then the HDMI sound output will no longer be the default and will not work until you reset the defaults to be HDMI.
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 5
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Okay, I got the display to work again (after a system restore). And I got at least one other thing accomplished. I can now listen to my computer speakers while I am using the flat screen as a display. But now it seems that I can't listen to the computer speakers when I am using the Amazon Firestick as that requires me to change the source on the TV which in turn disables the connection I have to the desktop leaving me with the TV as my only source for speaker sound. And being that there is no built-in 3.5 mm jack or volume mixer on the Firestick itself I can't very well manipulate the volume of the speakers (Do you by any chance know if the Fire TV box has this capability?)

    So then what would be the alternative?

    I read up a little bit on ARC (Audio Return Channel). I think I get the jist of it, but even if my video/sound card did support ARC would that enable my computer speakers to work via the TV even after switching the source *away* from the desktop?

    I was thinking if I had the proper setup (digital to analog converter + male/male toslink cable) on the back of the Display all I would have to do is unplug the computer speakers from the tower and hook them up to the TV itself whenever I get ready to watch media on the firestick (as opposed to watching on the desktop itself).

    Am I wrong?

    I'm still not sure why the setup the guy at RadioShack recommended isn't working for me. Perhaps I should go ahead and order the converter and Toslink cable. But even if that worked I'm assuming I would have to plug the 3.5mm speaker wire back into the tower each time that I want to watch movies on the desktop. There's probably not a setup that would allow me to get around that inconvenience altogether, is there?

    I'm not sure if a bluetooth setup would be any easier, or if going fully digital (digital speakers) would save me from all of this aggravation. I have a decent set of Klipsch computer speakers that sound as about as close to Bose quality as I'm gonna get for $200. I'm sort of considering if what I need to do is just have a separate set of speakers for whenever I want to use the TV as a standalone display and continue using the Klipsch speakers with the desktop.

    What would you do?

    ". .
    then the HDMI sound output will no longer be the default and will not work until you reset the defaults to be HDMI."

    Yeah, so basically I just need to purchase a separate set of speakers that will work independent of the desktop?

      My Computer


  8. Posts : 27,165
    Win11 Pro, Win10 Pro N, Win10 Home, Windows 8.1 Pro, Ubuntu
       #8

    My set up is PC via HDMI to TV, TV via HDMI(I have 2) to Blu Ray Home Cinema.
    This way my sound goes generally to my TV speakers, but if I want to hear my music LOUD and good, then I just need to turn on my Home Cinema and mute the TV.
      My Computers


 

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