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Allow Selection of Audio Output in Big Box (Independent of Windows)

LaunchBox for Windows

📋Summary

Introduce a setting in Big Box to manually choose the audio output device, similar to how video output can already be selected. This would give users full control over where sound is played—especially in setups with multiple screens and audio sources.

❗Problem

Currently, Big Box relies on the system’s default audio device, and there is no way to specify a dedicated audio output within the application. This can be problematic in multi-display environments where different screens are connected to different audio systems (e.g., one with a soundbar, another with PC speakers). If the user switches displays but forgets to change the default audio device in Windows, Big Box continues playing audio through the wrong source.

💡Proposal

Add a global setting in Big Box to select a specific audio output device from a list of those available on the system. This could mirror how RetroArch handles audio device selection, and could optionally be paired with video output selection to provide a seamless AV switch when moving between displays.

Example use case:

A user has a monitor with desktop speakers and a TV with a connected soundbar. When launching Big Box to play on the TV, they want both video and audio to route through the TV setup automatically—without needing to change Windows audio settings manually.

✅Benefits

  • Provides better support for multi-screen setups with distinct audio outputs

  • Enables a more console-like experience when switching between TV and desktop play

  • Pairs well with user profiles and emulator configuration switching

  • Eliminates reliance on system default audio settings and avoids incorrect routing

  • Helps create an immersive, polished media center or home theater PC setup 🎮📺🎵

Posted by gboava ·
Status: Open To Community3 comments

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Comments3

  • AstroBob

    Team•

    Apr 20, 2025

    Hi there,

    Thanks for the great suggestion here. I can certainly see a good use for this, however, I’m curious as to what a practical setup looks like that would use this.

    I assume most users would want the Big Box audio output to match that of their main PC’s sound system. I’d love to hear more about your specific use case where this would be different so that I can flesh out this request.

    Let me know and i’ll get it fleshed out for you

    Cheers,

    • gboava

      •

      Apr 20, 2025

      Hello AstroBob,

      Thank you for getting back to me!

      Regarding the feature, I believe it could work similarly to RetroArch, where it's possible to select both the audio and video output.

      Let me try to explain my setup a bit to illustrate the use of this feature. I have two monitors and a TV connected to my computer. The TV has a soundbar system attached to it. My dream setup is to open BigBox and choose where to play: on the TV or on the monitor. When choosing to play on the TV, the sound output should automatically switch to the TV's audio system, and when choosing to play on the monitor, the sound output should automatically be the computer speakers. This selection is only possible alongside the multiple profiles feature for BigBox, which I proposed in another thread.

      For this audio and video output selection to work correctly, the emulators need to be properly configured to use the same audio and video outputs. For this reason, a feature to manage multiple emulator configurations would also be very welcome (I’ve also suggested this feature in another thread).

      I hope the explanation was clear. I'm available to provide more information if needed.

      Thank you! Best regards,

      • AstroBob

        Team•

        Apr 20, 2025

        Fantastic, thanks for elaborating on that and clarifying your use-case. I’ve used this to flesh out the request, and it’s now open to the community for discussion.

        Cheers,