What is Stereo Mix & How to use it? – Windows 10

What is Stereo Mix & How to use it? – Windows 10

What is Stereo Mix?

Stereo Mix is a very useful feature of Windows 10 that can be configured to playback audio from two different devices, one on AUX and another one on USB. Not only this, you can also use Stereo Mix to output audio to capture card and a USB headset. Another use case is a call center environment, where you can route caller’s voice through two different audio devices, one for the main agent/rep and another for the trainee agent/rep.

What all do you need to make Stereo Mix work?

• AUX Device – A speaker system or another headset or a capture card connected on the aux ports of your computer. If you dont have AUX port on your computer, you can get an external USB sound card for less than $10.
• USB or Bluetooth Headset/Speaker System – A pair of USB or Bluetooth headset/speakers as your second audio device. You can get a USB Headset from Amazon for Less than $20.
• Latest Sound Card Drivers – Make sure your computer is not running on a generic Microsoft sound drivers. If it is, update your sound card drivers from the manufacturer’s website. You can run Astra32 to find your sound card manufacturer.

How to enable Stereo Mix?

To enable:

1. Click on Start Menu and then click on Settings
2. Under settings, Navigate to Sound
3. When you’re on the sound settings, look for Sound Control Panel under the right menu.
4. Open Sound Control Panel
5. Under playback, set your AUX device as default device.
6. Under recording, look for Stereo Mix. If you see Stereo Mix, skip to step 9
7. If you don’t see Stereo Mix, right click anywhere on the blank area under recording tab, and make sure both “Show Disabled Devices” & “Show Disconnected Devices” are checked.
8. If not, check them and you will see Stereo Mix.
9. Right click on Stereo Mix and check “Enabled”
10. Right click on Stereo Mix and “set as default”
11. Right click on Stereo Mix and click on Properties.
12. Under properties, go to listen tab.
13. Under Listen tab, check “Listen to this device” and change the “playback through this device” to your USB or Bluetooth audio device.
14. Click “Apply” and then click “Ok” to close the window.
15. All set!

Now when you any audio or video or call someone from your computer, you will have your audio routed through both AUX & USB or Bluetooth device.