We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-30 · 6 min read · Independent comparison
If you want to split one audio source between two outputs (or merge two sources into one) with zero power and zero fuss, choose cooidea 3.5mm; if you need to pull digital optical audio out of a TV and feed it to a 3.5mm speaker or headphone jack, choose Tackston 192KHz.
• cooidea 3.5mm — biggest strength: a true bidirectional 3.5mm switcher (1-in-2-out or 2-in-1-out) that runs entirely on plug-and-play with no power supply, in a metal body the size of a large sugar cube.
• cooidea 3.5mm — biggest trade-off: it only handles analog 3.5mm audio and explicitly does not pass microphone signal, so it will not rescue a TV that only outputs optical digital sound.
• Tackston 192KHz — biggest strength: it converts optical/TOSLINK digital audio into analog 3.5mm at sample rates up to 192KHz/24-bit, which is exactly what a modern TV with no headphone jack needs.
• Tackston 192KHz — biggest trade-off: it is strictly one-way digital-to-analog, needs constant 5V USB power, and your TV remote generally will not control volume through it.
• Pick cooidea 3.5mm if you are juggling two wired playback devices or two analog sources and just want a button to flip between them.
• Pick Tackston 192KHz if your source is a TV, console or other optical-only device and your destination is a 3.5mm speaker or pair of headphones.
The cooidea switcher is a mechanical-style audio router for the 3.5mm world. It gives you one common port and two channels, and the same little box works in both directions: connect a phone or laptop to the common port and two sets of speakers or headphones to channels 1 and 2 for a 1-in-2-out split, or connect two sources to the channels and a single headphone or amp to the common port for 2-in-1-out. One press of the selection button moves the audio to the other channel. There is no power adapter, no driver, no app — it just works the moment you plug in the included 1-meter audio cable.
Who should buy it: anyone with two analog audio destinations or two analog sources and a mild hatred of crawling behind the desk to swap cables — a PC plus a phone feeding one speaker, or one laptop feeding both desk speakers and headphones. Who should skip it: anyone dealing with an optical-only TV, and anyone who needs the microphone line to pass through. It plays audio from a four-pole (TRRS) plug fine, but mic functionality is not supported, and it is built for three-pole stereo plugs. It is a switcher, not a converter.
Tackston 192KHz: Who It's For
The Tackston cable solves a completely different problem. It takes an optical/TOSLINK digital signal and turns it into analog 3.5mm output, which is the classic fix for a flat-screen TV that has no headphone jack. You run the optical cable from the TV into the converter, plug the 3.5mm end into a speaker or headphones, and you are watching late-night TV without waking the house. The same trick is genuinely useful for a hearing-impaired viewer who wants to run TV audio straight into a personal headphone. Sample rates are handled up to 192KHz/24-bit, with support for 32, 44.1, 48, 96 and 192KHz optical inputs, so it is not limited to basic stereo streams.
Two setup details matter more than anything else here, because ignoring them makes people think the unit is broken. First, the USB cable must be plugged into a 5V USB power port during use — it will not work unpowered. Second, you have to set your TV's digital audio output format to PCM or Stereo; leave it on a surround/bitstream setting and you may get silence or noise. The converter is also strictly unidirectional: optical in, 3.5mm out. You cannot use it to send a 3.5mm signal back into an optical input.
There is one more quirk worth knowing before you buy. While the converter is in use, the TV remote typically will not control the playback volume, so you adjust loudness on the speaker or headphones instead. If you rely on the TV remote for volume every night, that is a real habit to unlearn.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for switching between two devices → cooidea 3.5mm. Its whole reason for existing is flipping between channel 1 and channel 2 with one button.
• Best for a TV with no headphone jack → Tackston 192KHz. Optical-to-3.5mm is precisely the conversion it performs.
• Best for cable-free simplicity → cooidea 3.5mm. No power supply required; the Tackston must be fed 5V USB at all times.
• Best for high-resolution digital sources → Tackston 192KHz. It accepts optical input up to 192KHz/24-bit, well beyond what a simple analog switcher deals with.
• Best for desk clutter and portability → cooidea 3.5mm. A 14g aluminum box roughly 33mm x 28mm x 13mm beats a converter plus optical cable plus USB cable.
• Best for private late-night TV listening → Tackston 192KHz. It routes TV audio to headphones, but remember the TV remote will not control the volume.
• Best for analog-only setups → cooidea 3.5mm. If your gear is all 3.5mm jacks, the Tackston has nothing to convert.
• Best for microphone users → neither, as sold. cooidea 3.5mm passes audio only and does not support mic function; the Tackston is output-only digital-to-analog.
If I had to pick one for the average shopper reading this, I would buy the Tackston 192KHz — but only because the most common audio headache people search for is "my TV has no headphone jack," and this converter is built specifically to fix that, at up to 192KHz/24-bit. That said, the cooidea 3.5mm is the smarter buy if your problem is juggling two analog sources or two playback devices, and I would recommend it without hesitation for that job. Decide by your source first: optical digital means Tackston, plain 3.5mm means cooidea. Check the current price on Amazon before you commit, since that is the one number I will not guess at.
Yes, for optical-only TVs. The Tackston converts optical/TOSLINK digital audio to 3.5mm, while the cooidea only switches analog 3.5mm signals and cannot read an optical output at all.
No. It is plug-and-play with no power supply required. The Tackston 192KHz, by contrast, must be connected to a 5V USB power port or it will not work.
No. It is unidirectional — optical in, 3.5mm out only. It cannot convert a 3.5mm signal to optical, and it also requires your TV's digital audio output to be set to PCM or Stereo.
Generally no. During use the TV remote will be unable to control playback volume, so you adjust the level on the connected speaker or headphones instead.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
When you buy through links on this page, we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon or its affiliates. This site is an independent third-party review and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon or the product brands mentioned.
See also: Howard Leight Impact Sport Electronic vs Perytong 2, DUVOSS Open Ear Earbuds vs FJX Bone Conduction Headphones, OneOdio Focus A10 vs syndesmos Headphones, HyperX vs PDP Airlite