Audio: 2.1 + headphones for the lazy

I've decided that I should document as much about my setup as possible. I'll start off easily with my audio setup.

My computer has a pair of normal speakers and a subwoofer. During the night I use a headphone. In the past this involved plugging the headphones into the amplifier to switch.
However the Creative SoundBlaster Audigy allows for a much more nifty setup. I suppose that other 5.1 capable sound cards are probably able to do the same.

As I don't know jack about audio, it might be wise to point out that when I wrote "output" I mean the physical connector on the back of your computer.

The Audigy has three two-channel analog outputs intended to be used in a 5.1 setup. These outputs are Front, Surround and Center/LFE. Don't be confused by the name "Surround", it's the rear speakers. LFE is usually called the subwoofer or bass output.
I recently discovered that when surround is disabled and analog output is used, that all these outputs are identical. This allows for a very convenient setup.

The Front output (the "normal" 2.0 output) goes to the amplifier that drives the main speakers.
My headphones are plugged into the Surround output.
The subwoofer is connected to Center/LFE output.

Nothing fancy, all very simple. Sound comes out of the speakers, out of the subwoofer, and out of the headphones.

The setup is almost perfect except for a few details. First, my amplifier is just out of reach when I sit behind my computer. If I want to switch the speakers off, I would have to stand up! Ofcourse this is unacceptable for a nerd like me.
Secondly, the subwoofer has an amplifier of it's own, and has to be shutdown seperately. That's two manual actions, just to turn off the sound. Again, unacceptable :)
Thirdly, as the volume button of the amplifier is out of reach, I use the master volume control on my sound card to control the volume (yes, really). This means that the volume to the headphone is also changed. My headphones are quite loud, and I fear that I will blow them up one day. Ofcourse I could change the volume by changing the volume on the individual outputs, instead of using the master control, but that would mean that the subwoofer and main speakers need to be adjusted seperatly. Yet again, completely unacceptable!

Software to the rescue. I wrote a tiny shell script to control the volume and placed it in the quicklaunch area. A single mouseclick mutes the speakers and subwoofer, resets the volume of the master control and turns on the headphones. A second click reverses it. Lazy man's audio Nirvana :)

PS. I realise that the same is possible with PulseAudio or Jack, but my setup is much easier. PulseAudio sucks and Jack is too complicated for an old desktop computer.