How to connect two pairs of headphones to a computer, phone

Surely every computer user knows how to connect a stereo headset to their device. But what if you need to listen to music or a movie not in one pair of headphones, but in two? Depending on what type of connection your headset uses, there are several ways to connect two headphones to one computer at the same time:

• use a splitter (for wired headsets);
• Connecting with Virtual Cable (for wireless headsets)

Splitter

The most simple and in a cheap way connecting two pairs of headphones is to purchase an ordinary audio splitter. You can buy it at any major electrical supply store. If you experienced difficulties in the search and for some reason could not find a splitter for sale, order the device via the Internet.

As a rule, such an adapter has a rather short wire, which imposes restrictions on computer users. The short distance at which the connected headsets can be used is an obvious disadvantage of this method. For fans of listening to media content at a great distance, the following synchronization option is suitable.

Virtual Cable

How to connect two pairs of wireless headphones at the same time to one computer using Virtual Cable? To get started, download the specified program to your computer and install by following the attached instructions. Once the installation is complete, launch Virtual Cable and follow the steps below.

1. Launch the «vcctlpan» application and initialize any sound file played on your device.
2. Change the device that plays sounds in the system to «Line Virtual». To do this, you need to open the «Hardware and Sound» tab in the control panel of your computer.
3. After completing step 2, your device will stop playing sounds using a standard device and redirect them to the “Line Virtual” splitter.
4. Launch the «audiorepeater» application located in the Virtual Cable root folder and connect the «Line Virtual» audio device and your Bluetooth headset.
5. By repeating step 4, add other audio headsets to the Line Virtual audio device. Their number can reach 3-4.

Evidence that all actions were performed correctly will be characteristic jumps LED strip on the screen of your monitor and the presence of sound in the connected headphones or speakers.

See also: how to connect bluetooth headphones to a PC.

Wireless Disadvantages

Despite all the positive aspects, the Virtual Cable program has a number of significant drawbacks that can affect the amount of pleasure you get from listening to audio or video material together:

• the presence of a delay in playback;
• extra «noise» and other sound effects;
• broadcast resynchronization.

Resynchronization occurs due to the so-called «time division» mode: the sound is distributed across the headsets in blocks of several milliseconds, which gives rise to this effect. The more headphones you use, the stronger the resync will be.

Despite these shortcomings, this method will be an excellent solution for those who have a relatively powerful laptop or computer and plan to connect no more than two headsets at the same time. In this case, the “noise” in the headphones is smoothed out, and a delay of several milliseconds ceases to affect the enjoyment of watching movies.

See also: which is better, wired or wireless headphones?

Connecting two pairs of headphones to iPhone and iPad

Not all users of Apple products are aware that they have the ability to connect two pairs of headphones to a phone or tablet at once. True, at the moment this can only be done with AirPods or Beats headphones. At the same time, the latter must be equipped with a special wireless chip, which is currently only available in the Powerbeats Pro model. Although the company claims that it will soon be possible to choose other types of headphones.

Headphones Powerbeats Pro

This feature is very useful for those who want to listen to music or watch movies together on their smartphone or tablet. This is especially convenient on the road — in a car, train, bus or plane, where a loud sound can cause inconvenience to neighbors. The ability to use multiple headphones allows a group of up to four people to watch TV shows or listen to music without disturbing other people.

See also: how to choose wireless headphones.

To connect multiple headphones to an Apple device at once, follow the steps below.

1. The first set is connected in a standard way for all devices.
2. Next, go to the settings on your phone.
3. Open the Bluetooth menu section.
4. Then you can connect the second headphones. To do this, press and hold the connect button on them until the indicator starts blinking.
5. After that, the second headphones can be found in the «Other devices» menu. Now you just need to select them there and wait until they connect to your phone or tablet.

After all these steps are completed, the user can connect two pairs of headphones at once. At the same time, the sound in them will be fully synchronized.

Currently, the dual pair of headphones feature can be configured on the following devices:

• iPhone 8 or newer;
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch 2nd generation or better;
• iPad Pro 10.5 or 11 inch;
• iPad Air third generation;
• Any 5th generation iPad or higher;
• Ipad mini 5th generation
• iPod touch 7th generation.

For the pairing process, these devices need to work on the iOS 13 or iPadOS 13 operating system. But, of course, if there is a newer version, then there will be no problems with launching.

To control two pairs of headphones at once was convenient, it is recommended to do this through the menu «Control point«. In it, you can select the desired mode of operation: transmit sound to all headphones or only to one. In addition, it is possible to adjust the volume for each pair separately. In order not to miss the moment when you need to charge your headphones, you can control the charge level using the Battery widget familiar to iPhone owners.

How to Connect Two Pairs of Wireless Headphones to Android Devices

You can watch movies or listen to music with a large company on devices with the Android operating system. Initially, this feature appeared on the Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphones. It is called Dual Audio and allows you to connect two pairs of wireless headphones at once. Today, the option is also familiar to owners of the following Samsung phone models:

• Galaxy S8;
• Galaxy S8+;
• Note 8.

However, most owners of these devices are not even aware of this possibility.

It is interesting to know that the function of supporting two pairs of headphones at once is already available in the updated Bluetooth 5.0 protocol. But this is not enough for it to work properly. It is necessary that the mobile device itself and the headphones also support this function. This is currently not available on devices from all companies.

To connect two pairs of headphones on an Android device, you need to do the following.

1. Go to the smartphone menu and select «Settings». Next, select Bluetooth.
2. After that, you need to find the icon consisting of three dots in the upper right corner and find Dual Audio.
3. Now you can activate the feature. After that, both pairs of headphones are connected, and you can start watching movies together.

Unfortunately, on devices with the Android operating system, the sound is transmitted out of sync. One pair always falls behind. This does not interfere with watching movies or listening to music on headphones, but if you turn on two Bluetooth speakers at once, it will be noticeable.

See also: why the smartphone «does not see» the headphones.

Another way to connect two headphones to one TV or phone is shown in the video below.