[Trixanity]

I just bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 558 and a clip-on mic. While it works fine on my desktop, I forgot to account for the fact that my laptop has a single combo jack meaning that I can only use one at a time. So I need a way to work around that so I figure a USB solution would be the best way to do it.
 
A USB sound card with both a headphone and mic input - preferably with a headphone amp for the headphones - would be one way to do it
A USB headphone amplifier could also work and then plugging the mic into the combo jack. I at least assume this would also be a solution.
 
I have looked a few products such as Asus Xonar U3 and some Fiio products. 
I am on a tight budget. The headphones already cost more than I originally intended to spend. 
Any recommendation is helpful, but keep in mind that I'm not looking to spend $500 on a headphone amp.
 
The usage will be a mixture of music, gaming and movies.

 

[weez82]

I think all you need to use the combo jack is one of these:
http://www.astrogaming.com/3rd-party-headset-y-adapter-pkg-d
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/929113/StarTechcom-35mm-4-Position-to-2x/
Im sure radio shack would have one of these, if you have one close by

 

[Trixanity]

I thought so too, but from what I read it can only do one at a time. That means the onboard sound card can either be set to playback or record - not both. I think what the Y-splitter would be able to do is split an audio signal for two headphones, but I am looking for a way to both use my headphones and microphone. Alas, I don't have a Radioshack nearby as I'm not from the US. My best bet for shopping cheap with a wide selection is amazon.co.uk as they'll ship to the mainland on a lot of products - but not all!

 

[weez82]

Can you link your laptop or give the model number please? I would like to look through the user manual because Im sure all you need for a combo jack is one of those cables. I could be wrong though.

 

[Trixanity]

Sure. It would be better for me to save money. I own a Samsung 7 Series Chronos Pro. The model name is NP700Z3C-S01SE. It would be awesome if it would work even though I probably should get myself some sort of headphone amp eventually.
 
Edit: The on-board audio chipset is Realtek ALC269
Edit2: Apparently some y-splitters will work if they can operate with a combo jack, however I can't find one where I don't pay a lot more for shipping than the actual splitter, but I'll keep looking for one.

 

[weez82]

The manual sucks, lol. 10 pages of safety info and 30 pages on how to use windows, lol. Nothing on the combo jack. Im still convinced that all you need is one of those cables. Maybe contact Samsung and ask them? With that out of the way I'll throw out some options for you, keep in mind I have not used any of these so I cant comment on there quality:
 
Headphone and mic:
ASUS Xonar U3
Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro
Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Go! Pro
 
Headphone only (use the laptop for mic)
Fiio E7
Fiio E10
Fiio E17
 
If it where me, I would first find out if all thats needed is one of those cables. If the cable wont work then I would get one of the Fiio's (if it fits the budget) and use the laptop for the mic

 

[Trixanity]

Yeah, I am convinced that it will work now. I just have to make sure I get one that has a microphone jack. A lot of the Y splitter cables have very ambiguous description but with some further reading they only have dual headphone/speaker inputs. I found a fairly cheap local site that will sell one with a mic jack.
 
What I also discovered is that the combo jack won't accept mic input without that Y splitter. I plugged in the clip on mic and it won't register as anything but headphones and I can't change it in the Realtek settings. A Google search revealed that it needs a Y splitter with a dedicated mic jack for a mic to work. Really strange way to go about by Realtek. They could at least allow the jack to be configurable.
 
Anyway. I will order the splitter and if it won't work, my only option is a soundcard with dedicated headphone/mic jacks, but I'm confident that it'll work just fine and then I can always buy a FiiO amp later when my wallet isn't empty.
 
Thanks a lot for the help

 

[weez82]

You're welcome . And yes, make sure the splitter you get is for headphone/mic. The second one I link has very detailed info. Look for something like that . The first one I linked is the same thing but no discription on page. Anyways, now that you know what you need you'll know what to look for. Good luck

 

[Trixanity]

Sadly the splitter did not fix the issue :/ The mic is still not registered. With the splitter, it still registers headphones, but not microphone. Tried various drivers, but no fix to find there. I tested the mic on my desktop and it works fine, so it is the combo jack/audio chipset that's the culprit. I'll contact Samsung and also find a sound card in the mean time. Also just realized that I need one with the mic and headphone jack separated by a good deal of space since the Sennheisers are 6.3 mm jacks with a 3.5 mm adapter.