Question Trouble managing Audio Jack for one speaker ?

[47Haven]

Okay I don't think my problem is easily explained within the title, so here goes.

For context, I have a monitor, nothing too fancy (Iiyama PLE2483H), but it doesn't have a built in speaker, one pair of simple speaker (Creative Pebble wired), a PS4 (old fat one) with only one controller, and a PC. I also have a Switch but for now we can ignore it. Additionally I use simple HDMI switcher to switch between my PC and PS4 to display on my monitor.

Basically, I want both my PC and PS4 to share one speaker and that I don't have to wear earphone for the PS4, but with my current setup there's always some hiccups, one more egregious than the other.

First case: [PC + PS4] > HDMI Switcher > Monitor > HDMI Audio and Monitor Line Out > Speaker.
This works for the most part, just that sometimes when I want to change the display (sometimes when I'm using guide or troubleshooting problems), audio will resets. I use Voicemeeter for software audio management, and it doesn't take kindly when I switch the display, in which case I need to restart audio engine. Additional problems also comes from the diminished quality of the line out from my monitor. Not sure if it's the age or anything, but sometimes I can hear audio pop and crackle for a second before returning to normal if connected this way, repeating a few times in an hour.

Second case: PC > Speaker connected to Y splitter < Monitor audio < HDMI < PS4
This 'splits' the volume between the devices. Not sure how to explain this, but if I only use one of the device (PC or PS4), the resulting sound is low and I have to ramp up the volume just to hear it. There's also a low static which I assume is caused by the lack of grounding on the audio part (it's a cheap Y splitter), so this isn't the ideal solution, but it achieves what I wanted: seamless switching between PS4 and PC without me needing to fiddle anything on the PC software.

I am aware that I can also change the preferred audio output on PC to the HDMI out, but I need the voicemeeter so I can seamlessly use both speaker and headset because I don't have to fiddle with it, and not to mention how some game really doesn't do well with switching audio devices mid-game. And even without the voicemeeter, the pop and crackle still happens sometimes.

Possible solution I came across so far would be:

• Get an audio mixer, which seems to be an overblown solution, and I don't really want to splurge on since most cost above 50usd ish. The cheapest I could find was around 25, but it either doesn't accept 3.5 mm jack, or is in stereo form (red white), so either way I'd need to buy converters.
• Get another PS4 controller just to plug the speaker to it, and possibly a better Y splitter with better grounding. Don't think this would be the most money efficient method.
• Get a speaker that accepts dual input. Again, doesn't seem to be cheap either.
• Get an audio switcher. That's the only one I can find with the keyword I used. My immediate concern would be the same as above, whether or not it'll produce low static sound due to it not being grounded (I assume because of the lack of power supply), or that I'll need to restart my voicemeeter audio engine whenever I switch around.

Does anyone else have any experience with similar problem? I would love to hear how you solved it, or if there's other suggestion of things I could do.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Alabalcho]

HDMI Audio Extractor between HDMI switch and monitor. Added benefit: If some day you upgrade to more than stereo, most of these have digital audio connection.

 

[47Haven]

HDMI Audio Extractor between HDMI switch and monitor. Added benefit: If some day you upgrade to more than stereo, most of these have digital audio connection.

Thank you for your suggestion! I'll give it a look. I do have additional question though, in some description that I found, it says that the extractor can operate without the AC in, but it is advised to still have so. This is to deal with the whole static right?