Speakers too quiet with headphones plugged in

[Blackhawk]

I use my built-in Realtek sound.  All of my actual sound cards lack decent Win7 support.

I have a set of 5.1 Logitech speakers (powered), and I also have a set of 5.1 Zalman headphones (unpowered.)  Both use three plugs for audio (front, back, and center.)  The back of my PC case isn't easily accessible, so the only practical way to have both plugged in is to use three Y-splitters, one for each pair of plugs. 

The problem is, if I have the headphones plugged in, the regular PC speakers are very, very quiet, although the headphones sound fine.  I have all of the relevant control panel options at max, and turn the speakers up to max, and can still only barely understand vocals in games.  When I had a separate sound card this was never an issue, but now it drives me nuts. 

I have a feeling that the onboard sound just isn't putting out enough oomph to run both.  Do I have any options here?

[Thin_J]

I have a feeling that the onboard sound just isn't putting out enough oomph to run both.  Do I have any options here?

Based on your description, I doubt very much it's fixable without getting a new soundcard.

[wonderpug]

Three cheap headphone amps?

[TheAtomicKid]

Check around for an audio switch that will do the trick. Normally they're used for tv setups etc where you dont use an amplifier as the 'center', but might suffice in this case. Aka single input, and then output to a:b:c: etc, via pushbutton switch, usually.

Atomic

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=audio+switch&x=0&y=0

[Thin_J]

Audio switches almost always introduce noise. Whether that bothers you or not will depend heavily on how picky you are. If you're not then it's a good suggestion.

[Blackjack]

Audio switches almost always introduce noise. Whether that bothers you or not will depend heavily on how picky you are. If you're not then it's a good suggestion.

Yeah, for a long time I used the Andrea Audio Controller MC-100, fwiw:
http://www.andreaelectronics.com/buy/ProductDesc/MC100.htm

Nowadays I use a cordless Plantronics rechargeable headset, which, alas, won't work with the switch.