How To Connect Ps4 To Monitor With No Speakers

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Man, I remember the first time I tried to hook up my PS4 to a fancy new monitor I’d snagged on a Black Friday deal. It looked incredible, all crisp 1080p goodness, but then… silence. Nothing. My initial thought was, ‘Did I break it?’ Turns out, I just didn’t know how to connect PS4 to monitor with no speakers.

Spent a solid two hours fiddling with settings, convinced the PlayStation itself was faulty, before I realized the obvious: monitors often *don’t* have speakers built-in, and the PS4, bless its heart, doesn’t exactly shout this fact from the rooftops.

This whole ordeal cost me a Saturday afternoon I’ll never get back, and a fair bit of pure, unadulterated frustration. So, let’s sort this out for you.

The Obvious Cable Isn’t Always Enough

Look, the HDMI cable is your primary workhorse here. It carries both the video signal and the audio signal. Most people assume that if the picture is coming through, the sound should too. This is where the marketing noise and actual tech diverge, and where I made my first costly assumption, thinking a higher-end HDMI cable would magically fix my silent screen.

Sadly, it doesn’t work like that. Your PS4 will happily send audio data down that HDMI cable, but if your monitor has no speakers, or its built-in speakers are disabled or just plain terrible, that audio data goes… nowhere. It’s like sending a beautifully written letter to a house with no mailbox. It’s there, but it’s not getting to you.

When Your Monitor Is Just a Pretty Face

This is the core of the problem for many. You’ve got this gorgeous display, maybe it’s a 144Hz beast meant for PC gaming, or just a sleek, thin panel you picked up for a song. It looks fantastic, but it’s designed purely for visuals. No built-in speakers, no headphone jack, nada. It’s the tech equivalent of a supercar with no radio.

I remember buying a Dell Ultrasharp a few years back; it was supposed to be the ultimate monitor for both work and play. The picture quality was insane. But when I plugged in my Xbox One, I was met with the same deafening silence as with my PS4. A quick check of the specs confirmed it: zero audio output capabilities. I felt like I’d bought a sports car and forgotten to buy the engine. My mistake cost me an extra $50 I ended up spending on a separate soundbar.

This is where most guides would tell you to buy a monitor with speakers. Which, sure, is an option. But let’s be honest, most monitors with decent built-in speakers aren’t exactly the pinnacle of audio fidelity. You’re often better off using an external sound solution anyway.

The Real Fix: Getting Sound Where You Want It

So, how do you actually get sound from your PS4 to your ears if your monitor is silent? There are a few solid ways: (See Also: How To Connect Lenovo Yoga 910 To Monitor )

Option 1: The Headset Solution (easiest & Cheapest)

This is the most straightforward and usually the most budget-friendly. Your PS4 has a headphone jack on the controller. Plug in any standard 3.5mm headphones, and boom – audio.

Pros:

Super simple, no extra cables needed beyond your headphones.
Great for late-night gaming without disturbing anyone.
Lots of excellent gaming headsets out there for different budgets.

Cons:

You’re gaming alone, aurally speaking.
Can get uncomfortable after long sessions for some people.

A good pair of wired headphones, like the HyperX Cloud II I’ve had for years, cost me around $70 and still perform brilliantly, offering a much richer sound than I ever got from built-in monitor speakers.

Option 2: Audio Extractor (the Middle Ground)

This is where things get a bit more technical, but it’s a very common and effective solution. You’ll need an HDMI audio extractor. This little gizmo sits between your PS4 and your monitor. It takes the HDMI signal, splits it into video and audio, and sends the video to your monitor while allowing you to output the audio via optical audio (Toslink) or RCA cables.

How it works:

Connect your PS4 to the HDMI IN port on the audio extractor using an HDMI cable.
Connect the HDMI OUT port on the extractor to your monitor’s HDMI IN port using another HDMI cable.
Connect your speakers or soundbar to the audio output ports (optical or RCA) on the extractor using appropriate cables.

I spent about $35 on a generic HDMI audio extractor a while back, and honestly, it worked perfectly for years. It felt like a bit of a kludge, having this extra box in the chain, but the audio quality was noticeably better than anything a monitor could produce. The tiny box hummed quietly on my desk, a constant reminder that I’d finally cracked the code.

Pros: (See Also: How To Connect Two Monitor In One Desktop )

Allows you to use your own dedicated speakers or soundbar for superior sound.
Relatively inexpensive.

Cons:

Adds another device and more cables to your setup.
May introduce a tiny bit of latency, though usually negligible for most games.
Some cheaper extractors can have compatibility issues or lower audio quality.

Option 3: Monitor with Built-in Speakers (the Obvious, but Often Subpar Choice)

This is the simplest conceptual solution: buy a monitor that *has* speakers. However, this is often the worst choice for actual sound quality. Most monitors with integrated speakers treat them as an afterthought. They’re usually tinny, lack bass, and just sound… well, like monitor speakers.

Think of it like buying a high-performance sports car and then being told the factory stereo system is good enough. It might play music, but it’s rarely going to be an enjoyable experience compared to a dedicated audio system. For gaming, you want immersion, and tinny speakers just don’t deliver that.

Pros:

Simplest setup, fewer components.

Cons:

Sound quality is almost always poor.
Limits your monitor choices significantly if good audio is a priority.

Audio Settings on Your Ps4 — Don’t Forget Them!

Once you’ve got your audio output sorted, you still need to tell your PS4 where to send the sound. This is surprisingly easy to overlook.

Go to Settings on your PS4.
Scroll down to Sound and Screen.
Select Audio Output Settings.
Under Primary Output Port, select HDMI OUT if you’re using an audio extractor or a monitor with HDMI audio. If you’re using headphones directly connected to the controller, you’ll adjust that under Output to Headphones.
Under Audio Format (Priority), you can often leave this on Linear PCM for general compatibility, or switch to Bitstream (Dolby) or DTS if your sound system supports it. For most setups, PCM is fine.

I once spent an hour tearing my hair out, only to realize I’d left the PS4 set to output audio to the controller’s headphone jack, even though I was trying to use an HDMI extractor. A classic case of the software not matching the hardware configuration.

Common Pitfalls and What to Watch Out For

Beyond the obvious lack of speakers, here are a few other things that can mess with your audio setup when trying to connect PS4 to monitor with no speakers. (See Also: How To Connect External Monitor To Macbook Air M2 )

Problem	Why it Happens	My Verdict
No Sound at All	HDMI extractor not powered, wrong PS4 audio settings, or faulty cables.	Check power on the extractor FIRST. Always. Then settings. Usually takes me 3 attempts to get it right.
Crackling or Distorted Audio	Low-quality HDMI cables, faulty audio extractor, or interference.	Cheap HDMI cables are the devil. Get decent ones. I tossed three out of five I’d bought in a bulk pack.
Audio Out of Sync with Video	This is often due to processing lag, especially with some cheaper extractors or if your monitor has heavy image processing.	Rarely an issue with PS4 itself. Most often it’s the gear in between. Try bypassing the extractor if possible to test.
PS4 Says Monitor Isn’t HDCP Compatible	This is primarily a copy protection issue and usually affects video, not audio, but can sometimes cause weird signal disruptions.	Usually requires disabling HDCP in PS4 settings (Settings > System > Enable HDCP), but this will stop you from using streaming apps like Netflix or Hulu on the PS4. A real pain.

What About Optical Audio?

The PlayStation 4 *does* have an optical audio (S/PDIF) port. This is a dedicated digital audio output that can bypass HDMI entirely. If your sound system supports optical input, it’s a fantastic, high-quality audio solution. You would connect the optical cable directly from the PS4 to your sound system. This is often considered a more robust connection than relying on an HDMI extractor for audio, though it means you can’t use the PS4 controller’s headphone jack or route audio through that port.

Some older monitors might even have an optical audio output, though this is extremely rare. The real benefit of the PS4’s optical port is when you’re connecting directly to a soundbar or AV receiver that prioritizes this connection type. I’ve had setups where the HDMI audio was finicky, but the optical connection was rock solid, delivering crystal-clear sound without a hitch.

Can I Connect Speakers Directly to My Ps4?

Yes, you absolutely can. The easiest way is by plugging standard 3.5mm jack headphones into your PS4 controller, effectively turning it into a temporary audio output device. For more dedicated speaker setups, you’ll typically need an HDMI audio extractor to split the audio signal from the HDMI output, or use the PS4’s dedicated optical audio port if your speakers or soundbar support it.

Will My Ps4 Audio Work Through HDMI If the Monitor Has No Speakers?

The PS4 will send the audio signal through the HDMI cable regardless of whether the monitor has speakers. However, if the monitor has no speakers or they are disabled, the audio signal has nowhere to go, and you will hear nothing from the monitor itself. You need an alternative audio output method.

Do I Need a Special Adapter to Connect Ps4 to a Monitor Without Speakers?

You don’t necessarily need a ‘special’ adapter if you’re content with using headphones plugged into your controller. However, if you want to use external speakers or a soundbar, an HDMI audio extractor is the most common ‘adapter’ solution that effectively splits the audio from the HDMI signal. The PS4’s optical audio port can also be used if your sound system has a compatible input.

How Can I Get Sound From My Ps4 to My Soundbar?

There are two main ways: 1. Use an HDMI audio extractor connected between your PS4 and monitor, routing the audio output from the extractor to your soundbar. 2. Connect an optical audio cable directly from your PS4’s optical out port to your soundbar’s optical in port. The optical connection is often preferred for its directness and quality.

Final Thoughts

So, that’s the lowdown on how to connect PS4 to monitor with no speakers. It’s not rocket science, but it does require a bit of understanding about how signals travel and where the bottlenecks can be. Don’t fall for the trap of thinking a fancier HDMI cable is the magical fix; it usually isn’t. Your best bet is often a simple pair of headphones or an HDMI audio extractor, depending on whether you game solo or want to fill the room with sound.

Honestly, the sheer amount of confusion around this topic tells me the industry could do a better job of making these connections more intuitive, or at least providing clearer on-screen prompts when audio output isn’t standard. It’s a frustratingly common hurdle for people who just want to play their games without fuss.

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Try plugging in those headphones first; it’s the quickest path to sound. If that doesn’t cut it, look into an extractor. You’ll be hearing your game’s soundtrack and explosions in no time, without having to buy a whole new monitor.