Realtek HD Audio won't let me use built-in headphone speakers.

[FalloutSeeker]

Hi. I have a pair of headphones that have a mic in it. It seems I cannot use both the Mic and Speakers with Realtek, and I do not have a splitter cable. Is there a work around for this?

 

[little_me]

seems there is, this or something similar would most likely work.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5mm-AUX-Audio-Mic-Splitter-Cable-Earphone-Headphone-Adapter-Female-to-2-Male-/271591474651

the problem is that headphones have their own connectors for both mic and speakers, right? and the computer (laptop I suspect since others have more than one audio plug) has only one.

There is also a chance since it is a laptop that it has it's own integrated microphone and the connector doesn't support such splitter cable.
For more definite answer, more details about computer type/brand would be needed.

 

[nukemaster]

Use of a TRRS jack would rely on the notebook or desktop having the extra contact to use it.

More information is required for sure. It would be best to confirm with the computer maker that you have a TRRS female jack because a normal TRS would NOT work with any adapter.

Now if your headset already has a TRRS jack and your computer has 2 TRS jacks, You can use an adapter from TRRS female to 2 x TRS male.

It would look like this.

 

[FalloutSeeker]

seems there is, this or something similar would most likely work.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5mm-AUX-Audio-Mic-Splitter-Cable-Earphone-Headphone-Adapter-Female-to-2-Male-/271591474651

the problem is that headphones have their own connectors for both mic and speakers, right? and the computer (laptop I suspect since others have more than one audio plug) has only one.

There is also a chance since it is a laptop that it has it's own integrated microphone and the connector doesn't support such splitter cable.
For more definite answer, more details about computer type/brand would be needed.

It's a custom built desktop. I was hoping for a way to enable mic without the use of a splitter, but it seems as it's the only option.

 

[little_me]

Okay, I'll check up a few things:
One, pretty much no desktop has support for the splitting adapter.

I will assume that you have normal mainboard with it's own integrated to MB soundcard (realtek)
I assume that you plug in the headset mic/speaker plugs to the desktop case front connectors
and
I assume that you have separate speakers connected to the mainboard connectors in the back.

For me, realtek advanced settings has following:
http://s30.postimg.org/n1bkkk01r/realtek.png
which would allow you to use speakers AND headphone mic but not headphone speakers.
making them separate allows for more freedom. Alternately you could just plug headphones to the back and not suffer from the issue.