Do they make a PCI audio card that has headers for front panel headphone & mic?

[Glendor]

I know that I could get a Audigy w/ LiveDrive, or a drive bay media card reader w/ audio ports, but what about a nice soundcard that has a header to plug the internal cable into?

Glendor...

 

[videopho]

I know mine does: SB X-Fi Platinum and I love it!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Chaintech AV710 has it, but it's not the best gaming card.

You can also make your own cable to make a connection to an A2 from what I've seen.

 

[Glendor]

That sounds promising, but what exactly is an A2 ???

Glendor...

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Sorry, meant Audigy 2 series

 

[Glendor]

Any idea where to get the plans for that connection?

Glendor...

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Here's some info to start with

http://www.devhardware.com/forums/multi...-mic-connectors-15584.html?mode=hybrid

 

[AsianriceX]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Chaintech AV710 has it, but it's not the best gaming card.

You can also make your own cable to make a connection to an A2 from what I've seen.

Yeah, I have that same card. The only part that sucks about using the front panel headers on that card is that it doesn't use the Wolfson DAC for those headers. You're stuck using the other inferior DAC... bleh.

Luckily my promedia 2.1's have a headphone out

For the most part though, I think most modern soundcards have the front panel header since I believe it's an Intel standard pinout. You can find details at intel's site and since newegg has pictures of the pcb's you can search for a header that matches the look of the Chaintech AV-710.

 

[igowerf]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Chaintech AV710 has it, but it's not the best gaming card.

You can also make your own cable to make a connection to an A2 from what I've seen.

If you have the cash, you can get a Audigy/X-Fi along with the AV710. Set the Audigy/X-Fi as your default card in Windows so all games will use it and then set your media players to use the 710 for input/output.

I had a similar set up a while ago where I had my SB Live! go to my speakers and my onboard sound go out to a TV. Games and Windows Media player would use my SB Live! for output so I could play games and watch stuff on my monitor. Media Player Classic would output to my TV so I could watch movies that way too.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: igowerf

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Chaintech AV710 has it, but it's not the best gaming card.

You can also make your own cable to make a connection to an A2 from what I've seen.

If you have the cash, you can get a Audigy/X-Fi along with the AV710. Set the Audigy/X-Fi as your default card in Windows so all games will use it and then set your media players to use the 710 for input/output.

I had a similar set up a while ago where I had my SB Live! go to my speakers and my onboard sound go out to a TV. Games and Windows Media player would use my SB Live! for output so I could play games and watch stuff on my monitor. Media Player Classic would output to my TV so I could watch movies that way too.

There's the A2 zs for $48 AR now from newegg.

With the X-Fi, I'm not sure if it would be worth it at all to get a Chaintech too since the X-Fi seems to be very good for both music and games now.

 

[imported_Tango]

Originally posted by: igowerf

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Chaintech AV710 has it, but it's not the best gaming card.

You can also make your own cable to make a connection to an A2 from what I've seen.

If you have the cash, you can get a Audigy/X-Fi along with the AV710. Set the Audigy/X-Fi as your default card in Windows so all games will use it and then set your media players to use the 710 for input/output.

I had a similar set up a while ago where I had my SB Live! go to my speakers and my onboard sound go out to a TV. Games and Windows Media player would use my SB Live! for output so I could play games and watch stuff on my monitor. Media Player Classic would output to my TV so I could watch movies that way too.

I am exactly having the same question... using both onboard audio and a discrete audio card at the same time. I would use an X-fi music for everything but I/O and then connect the front panel ports to the motherboard audio module. Would it work?

 

[igowerf]

Originally posted by: Tango

Originally posted by: igowerf

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Chaintech AV710 has it, but it's not the best gaming card.

You can also make your own cable to make a connection to an A2 from what I've seen.

If you have the cash, you can get a Audigy/X-Fi along with the AV710. Set the Audigy/X-Fi as your default card in Windows so all games will use it and then set your media players to use the 710 for input/output.

I had a similar set up a while ago where I had my SB Live! go to my speakers and my onboard sound go out to a TV. Games and Windows Media player would use my SB Live! for output so I could play games and watch stuff on my monitor. Media Player Classic would output to my TV so I could watch movies that way too.

I am exactly having the same question... using both onboard audio and a discrete audio card at the same time. I would use an X-fi music for everything but I/O and then connect the front panel ports to the motherboard audio module. Would it work?

You can do that, but probably not with the fancy Creative Labs front panel. A lot of cases already have built in Mic/Headphone jacks that can easily connect to motherboards with onboard audio. You just plug the front panel connectors to the audio connectors on the motherboard. If your case doesn't have built in jacks, you can easily find front panel that will fit into a drive bay and do the same thing.

 

[imported_Tango]

Originally posted by: igowerf

Originally posted by: Tango

Originally posted by: igowerf

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Chaintech AV710 has it, but it's not the best gaming card.

You can also make your own cable to make a connection to an A2 from what I've seen.

If you have the cash, you can get a Audigy/X-Fi along with the AV710. Set the Audigy/X-Fi as your default card in Windows so all games will use it and then set your media players to use the 710 for input/output.

I had a similar set up a while ago where I had my SB Live! go to my speakers and my onboard sound go out to a TV. Games and Windows Media player would use my SB Live! for output so I could play games and watch stuff on my monitor. Media Player Classic would output to my TV so I could watch movies that way too.

I am exactly having the same question... using both onboard audio and a discrete audio card at the same time. I would use an X-fi music for everything but I/O and then connect the front panel ports to the motherboard audio module. Would it work?

You can do that, but probably not with the fancy Creative Labs front panel. A lot of cases already have built in Mic/Headphone jacks that can easily connect to motherboards with onboard audio. You just plug the front panel connectors to the audio connectors on the motherboard. If your case doesn't have built in jacks, you can easily find front panel that will fit into a drive bay and do the same thing.

No no, I am trying to connect the CASE front ports, not the X-fi ones. Actually I have the vanilla X-fi that comes with no front panel. This is the reason why I would rather find a way to connect those ports to something. My PC will located in a way that will make using the back ports a mess... It's kinda unbelieveble that considering how almost every case these days provides front ports Creative ignored that and produced an audio card with no internal connections...

So.. your advice is to connect the case ports to the motherboard plugs and use both cards at the same time? Disabling the onboard sound module would also disconnect the ports?

 

[igowerf]

Originally posted by: Tango
So.. your advice is to connect the case ports to the motherboard plugs and use both cards at the same time? Disabling the onboard sound module would also disconnect the ports?

Yeah. That'll work fine. That's exactly what I've been doing with my Shuttle XPC. I have 3 front ports that use my onboard sound, and I also have an SB Live!. The SB Live! is used for stuff that needs higher quality sound like games and my computer speakers. My onboard sound goes out to my crappy 19" TV.

 

[imported_Tango]

Originally posted by: igowerf

Originally posted by: Tango
So.. your advice is to connect the case ports to the motherboard plugs and use both cards at the same time? Disabling the onboard sound module would also disconnect the ports?

Yeah. That'll work fine. That's exactly what I've been doing with my Shuttle XPC. I have 3 front ports that use my onboard sound, and I also have an SB Live!. The SB Live! is used for stuff that needs higher quality sound like games and my computer speakers. My onboard sound goes out to my crappy 19" TV.

Hey thanks a lot for the informations!

Does the OS take care of everything or you need some third party utility to get this setup work?

 

[igowerf]

Originally posted by: Tango
Hey thanks a lot for the informations!

Does the OS take care of everything or you need some third party utility to get this setup work?

You'll need to tell your video/audio players which soundcard you want them to use. You should also make sure to tell Windows which soundcard you want as default. Those settings can be found under Control Panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices.

I have my SB Live! set as the default soundcard in Windows so games will automatically use it. I also have Foobar (my mp3 player) use the SB Live!. I have MPC (my video player) set to use my onboard, and WMP (my other video player) uses my SB Live!. You can find the settings for each program under their own options/settings.

 

[imported_Tango]

Originally posted by: igowerf

Originally posted by: Tango
Hey thanks a lot for the informations!

Does the OS take care of everything or you need some third party utility to get this setup work?

You'll need to tell your video/audio players which soundcard you want them to use. You should also make sure to tell Windows which soundcard you want as default. Those settings can be found under Control Panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices.

I have my SB Live! set as the default soundcard in Windows so games will automatically use it. I also have Foobar (my mp3 player) use the SB Live!. I have MPC (my video player) set to use my onboard, and WMP (my other video player) uses my SB Live!. You can find the settings for each program under their own options/settings.

Sorry to bother you again... you have been incredibly helpfull!

Do I need to do anything in the BIOS or just assign a soundcard as the default and then assign one card to each program?

Thanks again!

 

[igowerf]

Originally posted by: Tango

Originally posted by: igowerf

Originally posted by: Tango
Hey thanks a lot for the informations!

Does the OS take care of everything or you need some third party utility to get this setup work?

You'll need to tell your video/audio players which soundcard you want them to use. You should also make sure to tell Windows which soundcard you want as default. Those settings can be found under Control Panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices.

I have my SB Live! set as the default soundcard in Windows so games will automatically use it. I also have Foobar (my mp3 player) use the SB Live!. I have MPC (my video player) set to use my onboard, and WMP (my other video player) uses my SB Live!. You can find the settings for each program under their own options/settings.

Sorry to bother you again... you have been incredibly helpfull!

Do I need to do anything in the BIOS or just assign a soundcard as the default and then assign one card to each program?

Thanks again!

Nope. Nothing in the BIOS. Windows can handle multiple sound cards without any problems. You just have to go into the Windows settings to set your default one. All programs will use that one as their default card too, unless you go into their individual settings and specify another card.

 

[Glendor]

That sounds pretty good. I just want the front panel ports for my headphone mic that I use in TeamSpeak, and for some games. This might work okay after all. Thanks for the advice...

Glendor...