AUDIOBIND VS ACTUAL MULTIPLE MONITORS: WHICH DO YOU NEED?

TWO VERY DIFFERENT TOOLS WITH ONE SHARED FEATURE

If you've searched forums for ways to make Windows automatically change your audio device when you drag an application to a different monitor, two names regularly pop up: Actual Multiple Monitors and AudioBind.

On paper, both programs address the exact same annoyance: you have multiple screens (for example, a desk monitor and a living room TV), and you want whatever window is playing video on the TV to output its sound through the TV speakers, without having to dive into Windows Settings every single time.

Beyond that single feature, however, the two pieces of software have completely different architectures, scopes, and price points.

WHAT ACTUAL MULTIPLE MONITORS ACTUALLY DOES

Actual Multiple Monitors (AMM) by Actual Tools is a long-standing, comprehensive utility designed to solve Windows' historical limitations with multi-monitor desktop management. Its core features include:

• Secondary taskbars with full notification areas, Start menus, and toolbars on every display.
• Custom title bar buttons on every window (e.g., "Send to Monitor 2", "Snap to Screen").
• Multi-monitor wallpaper managers, screen savers, and virtual desktop organizers.
• Audio Device Switching: A feature that detects when a window is moved to another monitor and reassigns its audio output to that display's associated soundcard.

Because AMM hooks deeply into Windows Shell, desktop rendering, and window managers to inject taskbars and buttons across all displays, it is a substantial suite with a noticeable background footprint and a $29.95 single-PC price tag.

WHAT AUDIOBIND DOES INSTEAD

AudioBind was built from the ground up for one specific job: solving Windows audio routing cleanly, reliably, and with negligible resource overhead.

AudioBind does not try to replace your Windows taskbar or draw extra buttons onto your windows. Instead, its background service runs at roughly ~30MB of RAM and focuses entirely on audio endpoints:

• Instant Monitor Rules: Uses native Windows Core Audio APIs to route an app's audio the instant its window crosses screen boundaries.
• Persistent App Rules: Hard-locks specific programs (like Discord voice chat) to an output regardless of which screen they sit on, outranking monitor rules.
• Multi-Device Synced Mirroring: Play one application across multiple speakers or headsets simultaneously. Faster devices are aligned to match the slowest, and a fractional anti-drift engine keeps clocks aligned over long sessions without pops or clicks.
• Smart Disconnect Handling: Unplugged devices are marked as SKIPPED and rejoin automatically upon reconnection.

HEAD-TO-HEAD FEATURE COMPARISON

WHICH ONE SHOULD YOU ACTUALLY CHOOSE?

The choice comes down to what problem you are actually trying to solve:

Choose Actual Multiple Monitors if: You want an all-in-one desktop productivity overhaul that replaces your secondary taskbars, adds window title buttons, handles complex multi-monitor wallpapers, and happens to include basic monitor-based audio switching.

Choose AudioBind if: Your desktop layout is already fine (especially on Windows 11, which natively provides secondary taskbars), and you specifically want rock-solid, automatic audio routing without bloat. If you also need to mirror audio across two headsets, lock Discord to your headset while games play on speakers, or prevent audio drift, AudioBind gives you specialized audio control for a fraction of the cost ($4.99).

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