Reverse audio jack for front and back speakers

audiospeakersswitches

My problem is a strange one. I have a computer connected to front and back speakers via 3.5mm audio jacks. Sometimes I use the computer with the monitor at my desk. Other times I'm using it to watch movies on a projector on the opposite side of the room.

Depending on whether I'm looking at the monitor or viewing the projector, the front and back speakers need to be switched, but it appears Windows does not provide an easy solution for such a simple task.

What I'm looking into doing is creating a box with two 3.5mm inputs, two 3.5mm outputs, and a switch on top that reverses the audio signal. This should be a simple task, but how can I construct this while insuring that I don't introduce a noticeable amount of static noise into the equation? Also how would I organize this on a breadbord?

Thanks for any input.

Best Answer

How about something like this?

schematic

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab

Tie all the grounds together and flipping both switches will swap the speakers. The switches are DPDT. Keep all the wires short and you shouldn't introduce too much noise. You could do it all with one switch if you use a 4PDT, like this one.

Note that the Left Right channels are not flipped by this switch, that's already done in software if your computer is expecting the speakers to be behind the person, like it is for surround sound channels.