Not all monitors you find in the market have speakers in them. If the monitor you want to purchase doesn’t have speakers but has other features that make your working or gaming experience amazing, you don’t have to sacrifice it.
Learning how to get sound from a monitor without speakers is easier than you think. Just like choosing a baby monitor no wifi for a safer and more reliable connection, finding the right audio solution for your monitor comes down to the setup that best fits your needs.
Your monitor’s specification is one of the crucial factors in getting good audio. While some cables are required for most considerations, they won’t break the bank as much as buying new speakers.
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Does your monitor have a 3.5mm output port?
The first step in figuring out how to get sound from a monitor without speakers is checking your monitor’s ports. 3.5mm is the most common headphone jack size. It is often located behind the screen. However, not all monitors have these tiny circular ports.
If you find the right port on your monitor, you can use the audio connection jack to connect headphones or earbuds of your choice.
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Double-check that your monitor does not have built-in speakers
If you want to save on space and money, you can sometimes find the built-in speakers of a monitor behind the screen.
However, these speakers are not as big or powerful as their vibrations, caused by sound transfer, can mess with the components of a monitor. If you can’t find the built-in speakers, you can try searching the name of your monitor online to check.
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What connectivity options does your monitor have?
You can have audio through various connections that will let you customize your listening experience. Some of these connectivity options are High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), DisplayPort, and Universal Serial Bus (USB) types.
If your monitor has an HDMI port, you can use an HDMI audio extractor to avoid shelling out for speakers.
Once you understand how monitors handle audio and why some of them don’t have speakers on their own, your next step is finding solutions for your monitor. Yes, even if your monitor does not have built-in speakers, you can still have sound in your monitor. Here’s how to get sound from a monitor without speakers:
The Simplest Solution: Using a Headphone Jack
One simple way of getting audio from your monitor is by using the audio connection jack on your monitor. You need to buy an aux cable in this case. The cable connects the monitor to your external speaker source or the amplifier.
Usually, most monitor brands come with a 3.5mm jack to connect headphones and speakers. After checking your monitor, you should be able to tell if it has an audio connection port. The 3.5mm port can help you extend the sound to a pair of headphones or earbuds.
To use the audio output from your monitor, you must be using an HDMI or DisplayPort cable with your monitor, since those are the only two display cables that carry sound.
If you use a laptop and your monitor has this audio output connection, you can simply plug in your display cable from your laptop to your monitor, and it displays your screen while carrying out audio to your speakers.
If you use a desktop computer, there are usually audio ports on the back of your computer. If you check behind your monitor and there is no jack to be found, check behind your desktop computer instead. If you see a headphone jack, you can simply plug in some speakers to that connection.
Connecting External Speakers to Your Computer
Since most desktop computers don’t have built-in speakers, you can use external speakers to get sound on your device. You can do this by doing the following steps:
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Locate the sound card jacks on your computer. You will find three round jacks on the back of your desktop computer. Sound card jacks are often in colors pink, blue, and green, or have labels such as “Microphone,” “Line-in,” and “Line-out.”
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Plug one speaker into the other, if required. Plug into the speaker that contains the power button and volume control.
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Plug the speaker cable into the green “Line-out” jack of your computer.
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Plug the power cord from the speakers into an electrical socket and turn the speakers on.
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Test your sound by listening to music or playing a movie on your computer. Adjust your volume if you don’t hear sound from your speakers.
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Click the “Speakers” icon in the notification in the Windows taskbar.
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Adjust the volume by moving the slider up and down on the volume bar.
Using an HDMI Audio Extractor
If you want high-quality audio, you can use an HDMI audio extractor. It is a special box used to take signals from an HDMI cable’s input and output sound. This audio extractor splits the audio from the video signal while maintaining the quality of both outputs. You will need one cable to connect the splitter to the source device and two other cables that run from the splitter to the audio and monitor, respectively. Make sure that you connect the wires properly to get a quality audio output.
Leveraging Bluetooth for a Wireless Audio Experience
Using Bluetooth for a wireless audio experience is one of the easiest ways to get sound from your monitor. If you have a wireless speaker or headphones, you need to pair the monitor with it.
Turn on the speaker, and make it discoverable. On your monitor, click the Start button, then Settings, go to Devices, Bluetooth & other devices, click Add Bluetooth or other device, then select Bluetooth. Click the device, which should be ready to pair by now and it will automatically pair with each other.
On the other hand, if your monitor does not Bluetooth, you can buy a USB to Bluetooth or a Bluetooth Adapter. To connect, you need to attach the adapter to the USB port on your monitor, and your Bluetooth speaker will pair to it immediately.
The Role of Your Graphics Card in Audio Transmission
If your monitor does not have sound, it might be due to the graphics card. This card usually tends to generate heat, and if they are not cooled, they can affect the function of other components, including your audio.
To resolve this issue, ensure that your monitor is getting enough ventilation and update your graphics card drivers and audio drivers to the latest versions.
Troubleshooting Common Audio Issues
If you’re experiencing audio issues, they are most likely due to improper, defected, or misconnected cables or outdated audio drivers. Here’s how to troubleshoot some of audio issues:
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Sound is intermittent or scratchy
This could be due to a defective or low-quality audio cable or your speakers are placed too close to the monitor. You can resolve this by locating the audio adapter as far as possible from other expansion cards.
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The channels are inaudible
If you have another set of speakers, connect them directly to the audio adapter Line-out port to isolate the problem to either the audio adapter or the speakers. You can also double-click the speaker icon in the System tray and change balance settings in the Volume Control dialog.
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Windows suddenly loses sound
Sound may disappear entirely for no specific reason. When this happens, you can start your monitor and it will solve the problem.
Optimizing Your Setup for the Best Sound
Now that you know how to get sound from a monitor without speakers, here’s how you can optimize your setup for the best sound:
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Check within the Windows settings for customization options.
To do this, open the main settings page. You can get there by searching for it in the search bar. In the settings, click on System from the options on the left. In the system settings, click on sound from the list of options. In here, look for your headphones in the output section and click on them once to customize some of the settings. Within here, you can change things like the quality format, which could potentially improve the quality if you increase it.
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Update the device drivers.
Updating your device drivers can also improve the sound quality of your monitor. You can do this by going to the Device Manager. In the Device Manager, look for the section called audio inputs and outputs, and double-click on it to expand it. In here, search for the headphones or the sound device you want to update the drivers for. Double-click on its name to bring up the properties window.
Now go to the driver tab, which should be the second option. In here, find where it says update driver and click on that if you can. Now choose the automatic option, which should be the top option of the two available. If there are any drivers that Windows finds, it should install them automatically. However, it might say that the best drivers are up to date. Drivers or software might also be available on your device manufacturer’s website, so have a look there as well.
