Have you ever tried outputting the same sound channel from two audio devices at the same time on Windows? It's not an easy task; the last time I checked, you have to play around with the Stereo Mix to get audio output from two devices at the same time, and it's not very intuitive. In fact, it's kind of hard to believe that Windows has gone so long without an easier way of achieving this.

Well, fortunately, it appears my prayers have finally been answered. There's evidence that Microsoft is working on a way to allow us to play audio over multiple devices via the volume controls, and it reminds me how feature-starved we truly are when it comes to what Windows offers.

Windows 11 is getting a handy shared audio feature

This cool feature was first spotted by PhantomOfEarth on X. If this is the first you've heard of them, I can guarantee it won't be the last if you're keeping up to date with your Windows news. Phantom's specialty is going through the Beta and Dev builds and looking for hidden features, which are usually elements that Microsoft is still working on and has disabled while it still irons out all the details. Phantom likes to search through each build and locate these hidden treasures to see what the Redmond giant is up to.

This time around, they've located a cool "shared audio" feature that's still a WIP. Fortunately, while it may not work perfectly (or at all) right now, we can still take a look at the UI and get hints as to how this feature will work. By the looks of the screenshots, you'll soon be able to channel the same audio through two devices from the comfort of the volume controls on your taskbar. Handy.

Unfortunately, it looks like you can only share audio between two devices, so your dreams of blasting music over every speaker you own are likely not going to come true just yet. We'll have to see if Microsoft will work on this feature more and allow people to add more devices. Until then, we'll have to wait and see how this Shared Audio feature will play out when it finally arrives in the Beta and Dev branches in the near future.

Windows 11 is missing a few key features against the competition, but it also has some features that some people wish weren't there in the first place. If you want to streamline your experience, check out these Windows 11 features you can disable to improve performance and security.