Ive had a quick look on the net but cant find the answer I want (basically I can just find people saying it cant be done)

Basically I have a typical set-up with a sound card and built in audio on the mobo. The front panel audio connector which I use for my headphones is damaged I think, resulting in it being pretty crappy audio with a lot of crackle and no output in one side. So I have to use the back panel audio for the headphones.

However, its a bit annoying having to go to playback devices each time to switch from the soundcard (speakers) to the built in audio (headphones) whenever I want to just use headphones. Is there no way of getting windows to output to both devices at the same time?

A hardware solution would work, Im just curious if theres a software solution. I dont get why you cant do it, I mean, how much more is needed in terms of resources to send the output signals to both devices?!

Reason is the sound sources are seperated very late on, making manufacturing cheaper. There is little or no reason not to do this.

You might be able to mod the cable for the front headphone socket so that it comes out the back of the case and has a replacement socket on but this will take a little work.

Also try a £1 pair of headphones from a quid shop, this might not seem to make a difference but I found out that my  Sennheiser pair made crackles in one headphone socket but not in any other, changing to the cheap pair and the noise vanished.