The old problem for people using both the headphones and speakers, is how to switch between them. As I like my music good-sounding, I quickly found out that using switchable front panel “HD-audio” is a no-go. The crappy cable leads from the bottom of the case, where my sound card is, to the top, where the front panel is, it’s full of noise I quickly get sick of. I wanted something simple to switch it, and here it is, my stand that even switches the output for me!

At first, I wanted a preamp, with separate volume control for my amp and headphones. After planning this, I realized, that there is too many unknowns and I will never finish it to be really that useful. After some thought, I decided to build a simple switch, and since I need a good stand for my headphones anyway (I put them on a lamp, which gets pretty hot with regular 60W bulb!). The final product is just three jack connectors, and two switches with levers, on a PCB and piece of wood. If I put my headphones on it, it automatically switches the output to my speakers, and vice versa. Nice!

If you want to make one, see my git repository for KiCAD sources.

After I made the PCB, I found out the footprints are a bit rotated, but they fit and I call it a feature. The wooden piece is made from scraps, nothing fancy, just sanded and painted a bit. I should have made more space for the cable though!

After I put it together, it worked with my HD 465 headphones, but the PX 100 were not enough to turn off when put on. I fixed that by a big paper clip, glued to both the switches. Now the headphones can be easily put there, won’t fall off and won’t hold on the piece of wood in the front. Take a look!