How to use a mobile headset microphone with a desktop computer

You've invested a lot of money in a pair of quality headphones with a built-in mic for your phone. Wouldn't it be great if you could use it for gaming or VOIP calls on your desktop PC? Good news : you can.

The big hurdle to using your cute headphones or earphones with a desktop computer is that most full-size desktop computers separate headphone and microphone jacks, while phones and laptops combine them into one port. 3.5mm. So you can either plug them into the headphone audio out port of a desktop computer and listen, or plug them into the microphone in port and use them to talk, but not both .

You can use Bluetooth if your headphones have it, but this connection is for mobile devices and isn't exactly up to snuff when it comes to latency or quality. Fortunately, high-end Bluetooth headphones usually have an option line-in jack which makes them hardwired for older gadgets and times when the battery dies. We suggest using this for all PC applications.

Fortunately, the solution to this problem is simple. If your PC doesn't offer a combo headphone in/out jack, you can get an inexpensive adapter that splits the signal in two: the audio going to your headphone drivers and audio from the microphone.

Here's one on Amazon for $6

for this specific situation.

Once you have your cable adapter, simply plug your headphones into the female port and the male ports into the appropriate jacks on your computer. These are usually color coded - pink for microphone, green for headphones or speakers - if they don't have icons near the port. Then choose the correct audio sources in Windows and you're good to go.

These adapters aren't 100% guaranteed to work: there's enough variation among mobile headphones that you might encounter an incompatible pairing. But they're cheap enough that it's not a big deal if you don't. you're out of luck. If you want something a little more reliable with simple volume and mute controls, you can get an inexpensive USB sound card. Some models,

like this one

, add the combo port that your desktop is missing.

It's a shame there's no software solution to this problem, but a few dollars for extra hardware is a small price to be able to use your headphones (and their built-in mic) everywhere.

How to use a mobile headset microphone with a desktop computer

Image credit:

Amazon