Best way to connect 3 headsets to a laptop

[Zagor]

Me my wife and my daughter will be taking a trip to europe from Texas and since the plane ride will be quite long I thought we could watch some movies with my newly purchased Dell 1505 laptop. Since planes can be quite noisy I thought the three of us could use headsets for audio but with 3 of us I can't quite figure out what the best way to attach 3 headsets to the laptop audio jacks. Any ideas.

 

[Akhen]

They have 3 way audio splitters but from what I understand those dont work too well. As soon as you go over two you start loosing singal.
You could also look for a 3 way battery powered splitter in order to boost that signal and get something decent.
If not 2 way splitters work wonders but they are only for 2 headsets.

 

[jamesbond007]

Perhaps buy a pair of these? I once saw something that split the jack 3 ways, but I can't find it anywhere. Though, this was probably 6 years ago or more. I think it was called the Kangaroo jack or something weird like that.

BTW, I think that's the cheapest "MONSTER CABLE" thing I've ever seen.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, Two two-way splitters could also be used if you can't find a 3 way. Just plug one into the other. There will be a loss in volume, but if your new laptop has plenty of volume it might be useable.
Good Luck, Jim


More: The split will be equab between the 3 earphones with one 3 way or 2 two 2 ways. Jim

 

[Kaido]

You can buy a 3-way splitter from Radio Shack. I have one, works just fine, and was under ten bucks iirc. When are you leaving? I can dig it up if you want to cover shipping.

 

[Oyeve]

Just go to radioshack and get 2 2way splitters like Jim says.

 

[Kaido]

Here's a 3-way splitter:

http://www.portabledvdstore.com/3wayheadwspl.html

It's probably better to get a 3-way splitter if the concept is anything like a cable line...if you get two 2-way splitters, you're splitting the signal 50/50, then with the second splitter, splitting it 25/25. If you use a 3-way you get 33% per jack.

The only problem you'll run into is volume. If they're all the same model headphone, it's not a big deal, but if you're hooking up an $80 pair of Sennheisers, a $10 pair of Sonys, and iPod earbuds, they're going to have volume issues.

 

[VanTheMan]

USB headphones could do the job since they draw their own power, but that would cost a lot more than a splitter and regular headphones.

 

[Ctrackstar126]

Radioshack has this one as well:
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=3301109&origkw=3301109
Radioshack also has off the top of my head 2 other 3 way splitters. The monster one is also 10 bucks there at radioshack.

 

[Zagor]

Thanks for all your inputs. We are leaving in a week so I don't have time to buy anything online. I'll take a trip down to the local radioshack.

Once again, thanks for all your recommendations.