ECS K7S5A low audio - almost no sound

[Optical]

Hi all,

I've so far picked up 2 boards from Fry's with the same problem. With the first board, I thought it was a hardware thing but with same result on the second one then something must be up. The everyting on the mobo worked fine with the exception of the sound. The volume is extremely low even with a headphone connected to audio output port. Volume on the XP pro is all the way way and has no affect what so ever. XP pro recognized the audio controller fine and operational. What's up with this thing? I've spent way too much time on trying various drivers on the net. Please help.

I found on another thread here with a similiar problem and someone had mentioned about a driver for the specific AC97 audio chip. I can't seen to even find one on my board. It's either too small or not marked at all. If this is the case then I don't want to d/l the driver for the wrong chip. Dang....so much pain.

Any suggestions? I'm getting desperate....

Thanks!

 

[Peter]

For one, the line-out is a line-out, not a headphone/speaker out. You are supposed to plug it nowhere else but an amplifier, or speakers that contain one.

Then, the K7S5A comes in two flavors regarding the audio. Both are using the SiS chipset's integrated audio engine, but combine with different codecs - the standard version comes with a stereo Realtek ALC100 codec, while the 4-channel version uses a C-Media 9738. Pick up the correct driver set from the ECS web site at www.ecs.com.tw and you're in.

regards, Peter

 

[Peter]

Looking for the codec? Search for it near the audio connector block. There are two tiny square 48-pin chips there, one is a Realtek 8201, this is the physical interface chip for the chipset integrated LAN. The other one is your audio codec (also a physical interface chip if you please).

regards, Peter

 

[Buz2b]

Your problem is a fairly simple one to "fix". Attach "powered" speakers to the system instead of non-"powered" ones. The onboard audio on the K7S5A is not amplified. Be careful when you do this also, since you have the sound turned all the way up!

 

[Optical]

Then this is rather disappointing. I don't think I've ever used a mobo that has to have an "amplifier" on line-out. This also means that I can't use a headphone/mic setup for voice calls since. With my old mobo, which is an andara KT133 barebone special, no "amplifier" is needed. How can other mobos I've used don't need this? wtf?

Should still try an 'updated' driver for the audio codec?

 

[Optical]

Also, would volume control having no effect also part of the no 'amp' problem? I would think that even w/o an amp, the volume control should vary the audio somewhat.

 

[Buz2b]

There are other boards out there that have the same "condition". Case in point is the AK31 I'm working on/building now. There are others but I'm just not familiar with them. You could always add an "inexpensive" sound card to the system. Most people do as the onboard sound is marginal.

Should still try an 'updated' driver for the audio codec?

Won't make any difference at all. Do yourself a favor and try a "powered" speaker set (borrow one?) just for testing purposes to make sure all is well with your MB. I'm sure it is but a good thing to confirm at any rate. Either that or disable it and get a sound card. The volume control has little, if no effect on this.

 

[MetroRider]

I fully agree with what Buzz2b states. Heck, he's the one that gave me that same exact advise several months ago when I built another system with the ECS K7S5A and got worried initially when I wasn't getting any audio with a pair of connected headphones.

However, once I connected in a power set of speakers, the audio was fine. Initially, it is annoying that you cannot naturally use any headphones with it, but it is not the worst thing in the world.

Heck, right now, I am using another K7S5A mobo and just plugged in one of my SB Live sound cards into it, and sound it really working fine

good luck...

 

[Optical]

OK, I'm convinced. Thanks for all the insightful response. I know what to look for from now on. I guess now I have a reason to get to 5.1 sound card. Anyone have a recommend BIOS settings get the squeeze best peformance for this mobo? Any particular bios setting I should go with? I have the following:

Athlon 1.0. G
512MB PC100
60 WD 7200RPM
ATI Radeon 32DDR.

 

[Buz2b]

Best bet is to go over to the OC Workbench ECS Forum and check out their FAQ's and overclocking BIOS files. The BIOS files are basically "stock" ECS BIOS that have had their "hidden settings" exposed to be used. You can get some mild overclocking with those. I just built a system with my nephew and installed the OC BIOS (Chepo429, I think?) and it was wonderfully stable and we had a 950 Duron running @ 1200 with no sweat and rock solid.
If you don't want to do any significant overclocking you can always take a look at what has worked for others to "squeeze best peformance for this mobo". YMMV of course. Good Luck!

 

[Optical]

Thanks again Buz2B!

 

[stevewm]

The audio out on PC soundcards is line level. Its meant to be fed into a amplifier before being listened to. Line level just happens to be enough for most headphones to work however.


The K7S5A's output for some reason is BELOW line level output! There is nothing you can do to fix this.

Ethier use a set of powered speakers with a headphone jack on them, or get a different soundcard.

 

[Peter]

Nope, using the _right_ set of drivers it's fine.

 

[Optical]

If that's the case, which drivers is working for you? I can't seem to get my working with several drivers I've downloaded. I even tried d/l'ing the one from Realtek ACL100/P.

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: Peter
Nope, using the _right_ set of drivers it's fine.

Peter, I respect your knowledge so if you can correct me on this I would be grateful. However, I have never had the K7S5A work with anything but powered speakers in the past. In fact, it is/has been a "fix" for many people in the past with just such a problem as this.

 

[Optical]

Ya, Peter. I thought it was a done deal for me. So, if there's driver I (all) want to know.

 

[incallisto]

I had this same problem. I built a headphone amplifier for each of my K7S5As. Instruction for building one can be found here.

 

[Optical]

nice project but I think I'll buy a cheap sound card.

 

[Peter]

Last time I did a Windows installation on a K7S5A I used the plain reference drivers from www.sis.com which was OK (on amplified speakers of course). I hear www.ecs.com.tw has much newer drivers for both the ALC100 and C-Media 9738 equipped versions. Mind picking up the right one, that's the point.

regards, Peter

 

[Buz2b]

Originally posted by: Peter
Last time I did a Windows installation on a K7S5A I used the plain reference drivers from www.sis.com which was OK (on amplified speakers of course). I hear www.ecs.com.tw has much newer drivers for both the ALC100 and C-Media 9738 equipped versions. Mind picking up the right one, that's the point.

regards, Peter

Peter,
I think there may be some confusion here. He was not using amplified speakers and couldn't hear the sound. He tried different drivers as did I a long time ago. The system/that MB does not work without amplified or powered speakers. That is why he is going to get a "cheap" sound card. As I mentioned earlier in this thread though, if you have the driver or method that will make it work without powered or amplified speakers, please share it. I'd like to know myself. Seriously.

 

[Copperpipe]

Buz:

This is off-topic but I was wondering if you?d mention how you like the performance/operation of your Shuttle AK31 in comparison to the ECS K7S5A since they are nearly the same price at Newegg (when available) now. Of course, you need DDRAM for the AK31, but don?t factor this into your evaluation.

I got no complaints with the ECS board other than having to be careful when changing RAM, video card, or CPU?s, and having to clear the CMOS occasionally.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Buz2b]

Performance is pretty close and you would have to run some benchmarks to see any clear differences. I'd say that there is about a 10% difference though. However, the AK31A does a much better job of overclocking, even though the k7S5A can do a half-decent job with an OC BIOS. For that reason, there are some that should consider the AK31A. It is not without it'a own quirks though. The onboard sound is actually worse than that of the ECS board. To me, that adds to the cost. I know some will say that their onboard sound "works OK" but it is really a pit. That has to add $20-$25 to the cost, even for a "cheap" sound card. Of course, if you don't have powered speakers with the ECS board, you need to add that expense also. The vcore voltage is a bit flakey with the AK31 also. This is a "hit and miss" problem but so far on the two I have built, it has been a "hit"/problem. In a nutshell, the voltage sent to the cpu is lower than it should and increases in the BIOS don't always equal what is sent to the CPU. On the one I built recently, it ran (stock) at 1.73-1.74 volts. A bit low but tolerable in most instances. I can increase it by .025 volts in the BIOS and it then shoots up to 1.78 to 1.79 volts. This is with a Sparkle 300 watt PS which has been superlative in performance; even with the very picky K7S5A. Now, this is a fairly small difference but it can be important if you are trying to maintain temperatures in an overclocking envoirment; it can add a degree or two.
I like the MB layout better with the AK31A. The ports are better labeled and located. There is also a better manual that comes with the AK31A.
As to clearing the CMOS occasionally, I have never really had that problem with the K7S5A. Once I had an issue with a bad CMOS battery but that was easy to remedy with a new battery. I really like the K7S5A as is evident with my posts in various threads here. It enables builders and customers to get a decent system for a reasonable price when upgrading. It also has support for just about all the current AMD processors. That equals future upgradeability without additional expense. The Shuttle board seems to have decent quality also. There still is a bit of a difference in price though. It may be getting lower now that the AK35 has gotten into the market more.
I'd say if it was an "Upgrade" situation only, I'd go for the ECS board. If it was putting together a new system (between the two boards), it would be a toss-up if you already had DDR with a lean towards the Shuttle because of it's overclocking tweaks. If there were to be no overclocking and I wanted the best performance I could get for the price (and you already have a sound card), I'd go for the Shuttle.
Remember though; these are my own opinions and may differ greatly from others. BTW, I don't own either of these systems. I have family members I have built them for (both of them) and I build them for customers also. In fact, I have an AK31 sitting on my workbench right now. Just built it for my #3 stepson. It has a 1.0 GHz t-bird running at 1.2 very nicely and stable as a rock. He will be so happy!! His previous system was a P266. :Q

 

[Copperpipe]

OK thanks for your in-depth evaluation, Buz. I don't have experience with the AK31 but I do own an AK35GT2 (and a Soltek SL75-DRV4) in addition to the K7S5A.

My K7S5A has the older onboard sound which sounds tinny (as in tin can) to me. Consequently, I have it disabled and a separate PCI sound card in its place. I understand the newer ECS boards have very good onboard sound now.

Performance wise, it's a bit hard for me to see much difference in real world apps since I've got different processors and types/capacities/timings of memory in each system. But Sandra memory benchmarks show a big difference between the Shuttle and Soltek vs. the ECS even when running with DDRAM in each. But I've been told that it isn't necessarily meaningful to compare Sandra memory benchmarks among boards with different chipsets (as opposed to boards with the same chipset).

It's apparent that the video card is what makes the difference for the systems at this level.

I don't think I'd buy another K7S5A but my main reason is that I prefer to have a more tweakable board. The K7S5A is a great board if you don't want to tweak.

Thanks again.

 

[Optical]

While we're on the sound topic. Can someone enlighten me on the reason having 5.1 on a PC? Do games actually support 5.1 channels? 2.1's are pretty cheap but buying a 5.1 sound card for K7S5A to fix my original problem now steers me towards a 5.1 speaker system. I'm not a hardcore gamer but one in awhile I do play so not sure if investing in 5.1 system is worth it.

 

[Buz2b]

Possibly you might have to go by your own ears on this. On previous PC's did you have any "issues" with the 2.1 sound? Was the level acceptable? You yourself are the best judge. The 5.1's will give you more depth in sound and better side to side/front to back "feel" during game play. The sound quality during playback of CD audio will also be of better quality if that is something you are looking for. Kind of like a good boombox vs a nice component stereo, for lack of a better analogy. I'm happy with the "boombox" on my PC but then, I have a home theatre system in the living room if I want better.