Shaun McCance
shaunm@gnome.org
Michael Hill
mdhillca@gmail.com
Ekaterina Gerasimova
kittykat3756@gmail.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Connect speakers or headphones and select a default audio output device.

# Use different speakers or headphones

You can use external speakers or headphones with your computer. Speakers usually either connect using a circular TRS (tip, ring, sleeve) plug or a USB.

If your speakers or headphones have a TRS plug, plug it into the appropriate socket on your computer. Most computers have two sockets: one for microphones and one for speakers. This socket is usually light green in color or is accompanied by a picture of headphones. Speakers or headphones plugged into a TRS socket are usually used by default. If not, see the instructions below for selecting the default device.

Some computers support multi-channel output for surround sound. This usually uses multiple TRS jacks, which are often color-coded. If you are unsure which plugs go in which sockets, you can test the sound output in the sound settings.

If you have USB speakers or headphones, or analog headphones plugged into a USB sound card, plug them into any USB port. USB speakers act as separate audio devices, and you may have to specify which speakers to use by default.

# Select a default audio output device

Open the Activities overview and start typing Sound.

Click on Sound to open the panel.

In the Output section, select the device that you want to use.

Use the Test button to check that all speakers are working and are connected to the correct socket.